A.N. Pokémon Conquest. The idea came to me first but then they finished it for me too perfectly. Also, will they somehow add this into the next game too? I'll explain more in the bottom AN. That's all that needs to be said.

Too loud. That was a great way to describe this state of being at the moment. Absolutely everything around him was just too loud. He couldn't see anything and all the noise around him sounded like a jumbled mess. A few times, he thought he heard people yelling out commands. Most likely to their Pokémon while fighting in a Pokémon battle.

Thinking of this brought Shigeru slowly back into reality, realizing that there was in fact another battle going on near him. Whatever he was laying on was hard and didn't have too much room, but it was cold.

But his mind continued to blur in and out of reality as he tried to force his eyes open. Finally having control of himself, Shigeru opened his eyes to only see black. But after a few moments, his vision cleared up and he was able to see a ceiling up above him. There was also a large hole on the ceiling, revealing a bright, blue day. He winced at the brightness, finding it painful. All the people talking wasn't helping either.

He suddenly felt himself blacking out again and when he was able to see, he noticed he was now on his knees, struggling to pull himself up. All that movement must have been difficult, however, as his whole body was jolting in pain. It didn't last though as it only brought a strain to his muscles. More than anything, he just felt weak. It reminded him of that night with Vencent, but that thought was abruptly pushed away. He didn't want to think about that now. Right now, he was trying to recollect his memories as to how he got here and why he could not focus.

After giving it as much thought as he could, the memories of Giovanni and that unknown Pokémon finally came to mind and gave him a chill down his spine. The terror he felt as that Pokémon held him was something he had never felt before. Even almost dying in the Rock Tunnel couldn't compare to the fear he got then.

He then tried to figure out why he couldn't think properly. The way he continued to suddenly lose consciousness was like when you were so restless that your body was forcing itself down. Yet, he never stopped fighting it as he knew he had to stay up. He wasn't sure why, but he knew he had to.

Finally pulling himself up to sit on his knees, Shigeru was able to take a good look around and soon realized that he was on the bleachers of the Gym he fainted in. He could see two people were battling in the Gym. However, it wasn't Giovanni as the Gym Leader. As of now, it was a red haired person, but their body was too blurry to give them an exact label. They stood atop of a raised platform and so did the challenger.

He looked over to the challenger, seeing a short blur with black hair and a red hat. Of course it had to be Ash. He always had a tendency of being where Gary was right after his most dire moments. But he had no way to clarify this statement as his vision went dark again.

It came back, revealing his shaking hands placing his pokeballs into his bag. Somehow he knew that they were all in there and put them away without a second thought, throwing the strap of the bag over his arm.

He managed to get onto his feet and down the stairs of the bleachers, limping the whole way down. He looked around the room, his eyes squinting because of the pressure behind them. His entire head felt swollen and as if it was pulsing like a heart. There was so much pain that he had to pause and take a breath, but even every inhale brought about another tinge of pain.

He noticed another black out about to come in but the sounds of electricity made Gary jump and look up at the red-haired person. They were complaining, asking someone why he had made both platforms shock the person within it.

"Luckily, I made this little gadget in case we did lose!" said a Pokémon who Shigeru was very close to. He didn't even remember moving this close to the battle. And for some reason, that Pokémon's voice was louder than everything in the room.

"All I do is hit the button and good bye competition~!" It said.

Hearing this brought Gary into his senses for a moment, realizing that the challenger (who he was assuming to be Ash) was in danger.

"Oh no you don't!" Gary managed to yell out, pushing his body forward to run towards the Pokémon. He pushed it down and the gadget in its hand went flying to who knows where. Since he was on the floor, he decided to sit there and hold the Pokémon down rather than move away.

At first, the brunette loosely held onto the Pokémon but when he felt it scratching at his arms, he held on tighter so it could stop hurting him.

He then heard other voices that were stronger than the rest, but his mind was already blacking out again, and his only objective at the moment was to stay awake. But when he heard footsteps of others coming, a headache came in full blast, making him hold onto the Pokémon tighter.

"Wha- what the heck are you up to?! I ain't your doll or somethin' let me-" but it eventually stopped struggling. Slightly opening his eyes, he looked down at what he now realized was a Meowth, loosening his grip so it could look back at him. Meowth's eyes were wide, looking right into Gary's even though they were barely open. But before any interaction could be made, someone snatched up the Meowth, complaining about something or another.

"He looks sick! Meowth what's wrong with him?" the person asked, but he got no response. This made Gary look up at the Pokémon again, noting that he was still staring at him. For some reason, this was the only thing he could truly focus on. Slowly, he made his way back onto his feet, noticing that two others were behind him.

He was about to ask the Meowth what his problem was, but instead, the most unexpected thing happened.

'Can you hear me?'

The brunette panicked at the words that were not his and in his head and fell back, falling on someone who managed to keep him up. The pain in his head came back, forcing his eyes to shut and making him cry out in pain. He never even noticed when he suddenly blacked out again.

It only felt like seconds, but Gary awoke again to loud sounds of something breaking. When his vision cleared again, he had to quickly shut them as the sun's light was too brilliant. Wait, the sun?

Looking around, Gary realized he was outside and that the Viridian Gym was falling apart. What kind of crazy dreams was he having?

"Gary! Hey can you hear me?!"

Wincing at the sound, the voice abruptly brought Gary back into reality, looking at the face right in front of him. It was Ash who was apparently holding his upper body up at the moment and trying to keep him awake.

"What...Yeah, yeah I can hear you," Gary mumbled out as he rubbed his forehead. There were so many more voices out here but they sounded distant, lessening his headache.

"We called for an ambulance and they should be here soon, ok? Just stay with me!" Ash said, giving him a good shake to keep his eyes open.

This brought a frown to Gary's lips, wondering what happened with the battles they were in.

"Wait did you...get your Gym Badge?"

"Mine doesn't matter right now, what happened to you? Why were you in the Gym to begin with?" Ash asked, looking nothing but concerned.

Before he could answer though, another headache came surging into his head, making him groan and turn to the cause. He could see the two people walking towards him and for some reason, the closer they got, the worse his headache became.

"Stay away," Gary said between gritted teeth, roughly pressing his fingers down onto his eyes.

"What?"

"Dammit, it hurts! Stay back!" he cried out as he gave Ash a good shove, causing himself to fall back onto the ground. Once again, though, his vision started going black. Even though he felt himself falling back into slumber, he was seriously getting tired of this. He tried to fight it as hard as he could but everything went black again.

"S-sorry. Didn't mean to shove," he murmured afterwards. But when he opened his eyes again, he was confused to see himself on some sort of bed and being pulled into a car. It finally hit him that he was being put in an ambulance.

He saw Ash jump into the vehicle as well, but this managed to bring his headache up again. When the boy moved in close, Gary's eyes looked over to the yellow blob on his shoulder, which he realized was that Pikachu of his. He looked at it long enough to be able to focus on it and saw it staring him down like that Meowth did.

'No way. You're Linked?'

The brunette felt the headache come back with full force and panicked again, hating the feeling of having voices in his head. He tried to turn away from the Pokémon that somehow was giving him pain but the other men in the ambulance kept him on his back; all talking but none of them making any sense. He dared to look back at the Pikachu and saw it grabbing some things and jumping out of the ambulance. This calmed him down but turned his mind off again, turning back on as they were driving away. He also noticed that his nose began bleeding and someone coming to help clean it up.

He could hear all these weird noises and the voices of people, none being clear enough to comprehend. When his vision came completely back, he was able to make out his rival as he called out to him, seeming extremely close to his face.

Gary could feel himself once again slipping away but he began to accept the darkness, feeling too tired to fight anymore. But his eyes abruptly opened as he felt something hitting his cheek multiple times, looking up to see Ash at the brink of tears.

For some reason, this brought a smile to Gary's face. Ash was always so over emotional. Even when they were children and the boy didn't have his way, Gary would have to deal with his waterworks and make him feel better afterwards. Not that that was such a bad thing. He always enjoyed making his friend smile again.

Mustering up the last remnants of energy he had left, Shigeru pulled his arm up to Ash's face, wanting to place it on there but only managing to graze it with his fingers. Luckily, Ash grabbed his hand and held it up to his cheek, his face turning red as he continued to talk to the other. As the edges of his vision began to darken, Shigeru forced Ash's hand off of his and moved it to the back of his neck, using all of his might to bring the blackette closer to him. Ash seemed to have caught his drift as he let himself move down, giving the boy a confused look. He was close enough that Shigeru could feel Ash's breath on his mouth.

Shigeru watched as Ash's eyes widened and his face flushed even brighter. And as he shut his eyes to accept the darkness, he vaguely felt something on his lips, something that made his heart race and his face burn.

Holding both Trainers' bags, Pikachu jumped out of the ambulance, ignoring his Trainer as he asked where he was going. He knew this was for the best for that other Trainer. If so many Pokémon were around him, that would just make the connection harder to assemble.

As the car drove away, Pikachu opened the other Trainer's bag and pulled out his pokeballs, pressing the small button to let out the two that he knew, as they needed to know this information.

Blastoise was the first one Pikachu let out, but the Pokémon was weak and fell on his knees, panting and looking up at his old friend. Eevee was the second one out, waking up from a nap.

"W-where's our Trainer?" Blastoise said to Pikachu between a few tired breaths.

"He's leaving for the hospital with my Trainer. What happened to you guys?" Pikachu asked.

Eevee could only shrug as he was not in the battle during this time.

"It was Mewtwo..." Blastoise said, maneuvering himself so he could sit on the ground.

The two looked at the large Pokémon in shock. It had been thousands of years since that Pokémon was last seen.

"These bad guys put something on him and were controlling him through our battle. Mewtwo was trying to fight him off but he was too strong. He hurt me, Arcanine, but especially Shigeru... And I couldn't stop him..." continued Blastoise, looking down in sadness.

"No one can blame you. Mewtwo is strong," Pikachu stated, hoping Blastoise would feel better about the situation.

But the large tortoise only sighed, saying, "in the end, Mewtwo flew off so I guess those guys don't have control of him anymore. While he flew away, the Gym Leader called some people and went after him which gave me and Arcanine some time to hide Shigeru in the gym. We barely had any energy left so we did what we could and hid as well..."

"You two did good. At least he's alive," Eevee said as he placed his paw on Blastoise's leg.

"Yeah but for how long?"

"Like I said, he left in an ambulance. They should take care of him...but something happened that makes sense if Mewtwo was involved."

Shigeru's two Pokémon looked over to the electric mouse, wondering what he was talking about. His expression seemed a bit grim and after a sigh, he said, "he's Linked."

Eevee was the first to give Pikachu a confused expression, walking over and replying, "what're you talking about? That's not possible. Humans haven't been able to Link with Pokémon for hundreds of years."

"Mewtwo must have done something to him! You know he was alive during those gruesome times! And I felt it myself. I was next to your Trainer for only a little while but I could feel that connection. It's unlike any other and, I know I personally have never had a Link, but it matched the description perfectly."

"Wait, wait I barely learned anything about that old story," Blastoise said, cutting into the conversation of the two nerdy Pokémon.

"A long time ago, humans were able to talk to Pokémon telepathically, making battling much easier. They were called Warriors and, much like Trainers, connected with the Pokémon to battle and things like that," Eevee explained.

"The many nations all had a huge war to control all the lands and one person, in time, did. But they all disappeared without a trace after that, only elder Pokémon being able to pass down the tale," Pikachu finished.

Blastoise nodded, vaguely remembering the story from long ago.

"Mewtwo was there during those times...Do you think he could've done it on purpose?" Pikachu asked as he tried to makes sense of the situation.

"Why though? I didn't think he had the ability to give someone that power anyway," Blastoise asked.

"No one does. All a human needs is to open another section of their brain to be Linked. You know, they only use so little of their brains. Every one of them has the potential to Link, it's just that they need enough power for it to be accessed," Eevee answered.

"So...Mewtwo wanted to be heard then. He did look like he was suffering..." Blastoise replied, looking down in thought.

This was when Pikachu looked up at the Two Gym Leaders who were apparently waiting for their conversation to end.

"Let's talk about this later. We need to take you guys to a Pokémon Center to heal," Pikachu said as he pushed Blastoise's pokeball over to him.

Blastoise pressed the button without hesitation, feeling quite worn out. Eevee decided to walk with Pikachu and talk more about the situation along the way while the Gym Leaders held their Trainer's bags.

The whole time, the two spoke about the old stories of Linking and how Mewtwo was connected to that time. Only Pokémon from Kanto really knew about Mewtwo as the stories of those times were passed down mainly around this area. It would only make sense that the old nations were probably around here as well, hence why Mewtwo rarely ventured away. Still, the thought of him being caught was insane. He always hid so well...

Evening came fast and the group made it to the Pokémon Center. Many doctors and nurses were moving back and forth, busy as always on both the Pokémon side and the Human side.

Eevee and Pikachu waited on the floor as the two Leaders talked to the pink haired nurse, asking about their Trainers. Once they got the information needed, they walked over to the Human side, cleaning their paws and such on a mat that was there for Pokémon.

Walking into the waiting room, Pikachu was the first one to spot his Trainer who was pacing back and forth near the large doors to the emergency room. He ran up to his Trainer, jumping onto his leg to catch his attention. Ash quickly noticed him and looked down at the Pokémon, picking him up and greeting him with a hug.

As Ash pulled away however, Pikachu noticed something red on his lips and pointed to his own to point it out to Ash. The Trainer gave his starter Pokémon an odd look then touched his lips, looking at his fingers to find the red liquid on them. Pikachu watched as his face turned a bright red and vigorously wiped his lips, saying that it was nothing important. He then greeted his companions who asked if everything was alright.

Pikachu's Trainer looked down, replying, "he blacked out again on the ride over here. But this time he really hasn't gotten up..."

"W-What?"

Pikachu looked down at Eevee who was looking quite shocked. The expression then turned into a mixture of fear and worry, his ears flopping down reflexively with his emotions. Ash noticed this reaction and bent down to pick him up as well. Even though the boy didn't physically understand them, he was good at telling how Pokémon felt.

"Don't worry, Eevee. The doctor's are taking care of him now so he'll be fine!" Ash said with a large smile. Pikachu knew him long enough to already recognize a fake smile from a real one and could visibly see his Trainer forcing himself to seem upbeat for another. He did this way too much and sometimes, Pikachu had to wonder if even his real smile was occasionally false.

Time passed without a word from the doctor about Shigeru's condition as the group patiently sat in the waiting room. After a while, Brock went out to get some food for them while Ash quickly went to heal up Gary's Pokémon. Pikachu, Eevee, and Togepi stayed with Misty in the waiting room; watching as others came in and out of the hospital. A few minutes passed and Ash rejoined the group with the fully healed Pokémon.

"They're all good," Ash said as he placed Shigeru's pokeballs in his bag. As he put them away, he paused, staring at something that was in the bag. Pikachu hopped over to him and looked in, asking what it was.

"Oh, uhm, nothing Pikachu."

Pikachu complained a bit and tried to make his way into the bag, knowing that this would make his Trainer eventually spill the beans. Ash laughed a bit and picked up the bag, sitting on the chair it was on before placing it on his lap and taking out whatever item caught his eye.

It was one half of a pokeball, the top red half to be exact. Ash handed Pikachu the piece and the Pokémon inspected it, wondering what the big deal was. His attention was then brought back up to his Trainer who picked up his own bag and pulled out another half a pokeball, the white part. Quickly realizing the connection, Pikachu held out the piece he had and Ash pressed the other against it, the two pieces fitting together perfectly.

Ash eyed the item for a moment as Pikachu held it, viewing it as a portrait in a museum but Pikachu only saw a worn out ball that was now useless.

"Two halves of a whole..."

Pikachu looked up at his Trainer's words, confused as to what he meant. But he never obtained his answer as Ash broke it apart again and put them in their original locations.

"So what now, Satoshi? Are you gonna wait until Shigeru gets better or keep going with your mission to become the Champion?" the Cerulean Gym Leader asked, holding both Togepi and Eevee on her lap.

Pikachu looked back over to Ash and saw him contemplating what he wanted to do. It didn't take him long to find an answer but Pikachu didn't expect he would make this choice.

"Wait for him. Becoming the Champion can wait."

Pikachu looked back over to Misty, expecting her to be surprised but was amazed to see her still looking down at the Pokémon on her lap, not in the least surprised. She began petting Eevee, who was looking down in deep thought.

When Pikachu really thought about it, he would be in a panic if Ash was the one in the emergency room for so long. He was truly amazed at the way Eevee was taking this. He seemed very stoic; much like his Trainer. It made Pikachu wonder if he became anything like his Trainer after such a long time; childish, dopey, and dense... He truly hoped not. But everything that Ash lacked in his mind was made up by his strong heart.

Eevee's Trainer wasn't like this. As much as Pikachu knew, that Shigeru boy was a tough person to live with. The Pokémon he had before would constantly complain about him, especially Squirtle (and up until now). Yet Eevee never did. Not once. It was as if he was the closest to his Trainer and understood him more than anyone else. It made Pikachu realize that Eevee's Trainer must have a strong reason for being this way. The electric mouse thought about asking Eevee about him, but knew that he probably wasn't in the mood to speak at the moment.

So instead, he walked over to his Trainer's lap and made himself comfortable. He didn't know how long they were planning on staying there, but a small nap would be fine, at least until the other Gym Leader came back with food.

"...Uhm...hey. I know you're not awake, but...I guess I just wanted to check on you. Heh, it's kinda weird talking to you like this but...I guess I need practice before you actually wake up."

Gary listened to someone who apparently was in this room with him. He felt as if he was in between being awake and asleep, but he had enough energy to hear things quite vividly. As of now, it was pretty quiet except for a beeping sound and this person's voice. The beeps gave him the quick assumption that he was in a hospital, although he wasn't too sure why. And the voice was obviously Ash's. He could never forget his voice. He was halfway hoping that this wasn't one of those weird dreams he used to have of his friend. He was also halfway hoping he wouldn't open his eyes and find him wearing something...interesting.

"So uhm, the doctors said that you'll be fine and you should wake up by tonight. I'm really hopeful for that. I literally stopped my entire journey to wait for you...It's already been two days and you haven't woken up once."

Ash took a long pause after that, letting those words really sink into Gary's head. Two days? He's been sleeping for that long? And Ash was really waiting for him?

Gary was pretty sure that this wasn't a dream. It felt too realistic and his senses felt completely clear (his auditory ones anyway). The only problem was that his body didn't want to move. Almost as if it was used to staying put and didn't want to shift from that state. Even his eyes chose not to open. So instead of attempting to fight this, Gary patiently waited for his body to 'wake up', simply listening to his friend as he continued to speak about what's been happening ever since he fell into his coma.

"They thought that you had a concussion at first. But after a while, your head seemed perfectly fine. They said that it was much more active than most people, in fact... They...wanted to do tests on you and called the Professor because he's like your guardian or something. He said no."

'Good thing. I'd be pissed if he let them do that to me...' Gary thought as a reply.

"So uhm...I left all our Pokémon outside because yesterday you seemed like you were in pain whenever any were around. You seem fine now so I guess that's what it was. Hopefully, that goes away though. I mean, there's Pokémon everywhere so that wouldn't exactly be good."

'Unless I find some island and stay by myself till the end of time.'

"Well, unless you find some place to be by yourself until the end of time," Ash said with a small laugh afterward.

Gary wanted to smile at the fact that they thought of the same silly notion, but the muscles on his face merely twitched then chose to stay still.

Another awkward silence came into the room until Ash thought of another topic to bring up.

"Don't be mad but...I had to look through your bag the other day,"

'Yeah, I'm completely mad about that.'

"And I found this."

Gary then felt his hand being twisted around, his palm now upwards. Ash placed something on it; this action somehow livening up his senses and allowing him to feel something cool and smooth to the touch. It made him wonder what he had found in his bag.

"It's the pokeball we broke in half when we were younger...I actually completely forgot about that until a few days ago. For some reason, I really lost so much memory from when we were kids. My mind was always set on being the best and catching up to you that...I guess I forgot about the good times and only paid attention to the bad."

'I knew you forgot, stupid. But I didn't mind all that much. You were always forgetful.'

"I always kept my piece of the pokeball though. I forgot about it after a while but it's always been with me."

This was a surprise to Gary. He thought Ash had left that behind, finding the item a waste of space. He was pretty sure Ash thought the same about him too. Yet, oddly enough they both kept it with them.

"I'm kinda hoping you were holding it as a good luck charm, like me."

'I was.'

"But...I kinda also hope that you were holding it for other reasons too."

Gary didn't know how he would have replied to this. Most likely he would've asked him what he meant by that. He was hoping that this conversation was leaning a certain direction, but he came to the conclusion that that was impossible, as Ash already chose to push him away. The thought of that moment brought Gary down and he was thankful that Ash continued to speak so the memory would fade away.

"I don't know if you remember what happened in the ambulance or not, but that really opened my eyes to something. Not really an answer but more like...I had to question myself about a couple things. Like, why I decided to do this huge journey. One half was definitely for the Pokémon because, let's face it, I'm completely obsessed."

'No denying that one.'

"But...I did it for you too. I wanted to be better than you. I wanted to...catch up to you and beat you and your stuck up attitude. Put you in your place, you know?"

'I got that the first way you phrased it, geez.'

"And...it hurt. The way you made me feel the whole time. I hid it from you and everyone else but at some point I couldn't handle it anymore... then you told me that you did it all to keep me going."

Gary felt his mood lowering more and more. He expected Ash to throw a flurry of insults at him now, probably expressing what he's wanted to say for so long.

"I think...what I hate most of all is not that you did all that. But the fact that it worked."

'Wait...what?'

"I don't think I'd be as good as I am now if it wasn't for you pestering me the whole way. It's stupid really. You'd think Pokémon would be motivation enough for me but you were always the one that kept me really going. So...thank you, I think? You're still a douche though...but I'll forgive you under one condition."

By this time, Ash was practically murmuring these words, losing all the energy he had earlier. It was as if he didn't want to say this. Gary wondered, was he holding in as many secrets as he was this entire time?

"You have to make it up to me. For this whole year spent torturing me, you've gotta make it up and...make me happy."

He wasn't sure if this was visible or not, but Gary was pretty sure that he was blushing at this moment. He definitely loved that Ash forgave him and understood his side of the story, but did he actually have feelings for him too? Did he still have a chance?

"Dammit to Arceus, I could never tell him something so embarrassing!" Ash quickly said, obviously very flustered at the moment. He could hear Ash as he ruffled up his hair then stood up from his seat. Was he going to leave now?

"I liked you even before this journey, you know."

He took a long pause after this.

"I liked you a lot but the way you acted just... It pushed me away. I believed that you hated me and that hurt back then. I tried to get over it and managed to forget all the good times to force me to hate you back. But now that I remember it all again, I guess I couldn't get over you."

Ash deeply sighed and walked around a bit, ending up near him again.

"I bet my entire life that you won't remember what you did in the ambulance. I hope you do though because..." but he stopped before he could finish, walking away again.

This made Gary (internally) squirm in curiosity. What did he do in the ambulance? He barely remembered even being on one to begin with. Was it something perverted? He hoped not. But apparently Ash wanted him to remember so it must have been serious.

Either way, Gary finally understood how Ash felt about him. It amazingly never occurred to him to think that the blackette felt the same about him and was hiding all of those feelings, just like he was. It seemed surreal because of that childhood feud they kept up for so long. They had feelings for each other all of this time, but both of them were far too dense to actually express those feelings. How stupidly dramatic was that?

"Just wake up already...please," he said as Gary felt pressure on the bed he was in. When Ash continued to speak, he realized that it was his head that was on the bed. He faintly could feel his rival's hand on his and could only assume that he was holding it tightly now.

"I couldn't even tell you. It's not fair. You at least got to tell me the truth but it's my turn now. So hurry up and wake up so I can tell you that,"

Ash cut off, making Gary feel guilty that he couldn't force himself to jolt awake. He just wanted something to use a quick ThunderShock on him so he could see and talk to his friend who desperately needed someone at the moment.

It was quiet for a long time after that. Gary wondered how long it was and tried time and time again to open his eyes. But the more he tried, the more this all felt like a dream. He read that people in coma's could hear others but he never thought he could actually experience it. He didn't even want to.

Finally, some sound broke the extreme silence as Ash began to move. His movements slightly shook the bed he was on, helping him try to break out of this sleep he was in. He could feel his eyes managing to move back and forth and continued to move them, hoping this could at least force his eyelids open.

"At least I can tell you're dreaming," Ash said, seeming much closer than before.

As another tactic, Gary tried moving his tongue, but even that felt too heavy and dry at the moment. All of his attempts to wake up distracted him from the person who moved even closer to him.

It felt like forever but before he realized it, Gary felt pressure against his lips; a soft pressure that was relaxing but made the nerves on his skin jolt at the same time. The brunette felt his heart race and a knot in his stomach tighten, realizing that the person he was so in love with was kissing him at the moment.

As if his body realized the situation he was in, all energy slowly came back to him and his eyes finally opened. It was all a bit fuzzy, but he was able to make out the person who was right in front of him. Gary's hand dropped his half of the pokeball onto the bed and slowly made its way to Ash's cheek, making the other's eyes open to see Gary looking at him. His eyes widened and he tried to pull away, quickly apologizing, but Gary made sure to keep hold of him; holding onto the back of his neck to keep him down to his level.

Ash was still in shock, but eventually calmed down as Gary brought his other hand up to his flushed cheek and pulled him close, pressing his lips against the smaller boy's this time. Ash was hesitant at first, but Gary soon felt him move forward, applying more pressure into the kiss.

There was no movement or extreme passion in the action. They simply held onto this loving moment as if it was their last, and only parted when they felt it was enough.

Gary opened his eyes to see the other's half lidded eyes, the top of his ears now a bright red. He couldn't stop the smile that forced his way onto his lips. He hadn't felt this happy in a really, really, really long time. Now everything truly felt like a dream.

"Hey," Gary said, his voice low and raspy.

"H-hey," Ash replied as a smile eventually formed onto his face.

"Satoshi, are you still in here?"

Ash's eyes widened as they heard someone walk into the room and he quickly jumped back, putting on his hat and standing a few feet away from Gary's bed.

"Y-yeah! I-I was about to tell you that he woke up! Look!" Ash yelled out, being overly dramatic as always.

The two Gym Leaders and a doctor walked in, looking over to Gary and smiling brightly.

"Uhm, I'm gonna go get him some water! His voice is a little hoarse, be right back!" Ash exclaimed as he walked out of the room with a laugh.

Gary couldn't help but to widen his smile at how the boy could never tell a lie without having a panic attack about it. Roughly rubbing his eyes, Gary stretched with all of his might, thankful that he could finally move to a certain degree. Still, he felt very weak and stayed on the bed as the doctor advised.

The doctor explained everything that happened, including his supposed concussion and how his brain was now. He also told him about Ash staying the night and his visit the day before. This made Ash turn away in embarrassment, stating that he actually had a valid reason, but Gary only chuckled and thanked him for his kindness.

The issue of his pain towards Pokémon was also brought up and seemed to be the biggest issue.

"We still were not able to find the reason as to why you felt pain whenever a Pokémon was around. We were hoping that when you awoke, we'd try it again. Do you think you're ready for it?"

"Of course. No time better than now," Gary said with a cough. He tried clearing his throat but that didn't help at all. Luckily, Ash did get him some water and quickly gave it to him.

With a nod, the doctor walked back over to the door and looked down to the floor, telling someone that they could come in. For some reason, Gary already knew it was Eevee. Right when the Pokémon walked in, his presence was just instantly noticed and Gary wasn't sure whether to tell the doctor about this or not. However, he wasn't feeling any headache so that was a good thing.

A few seconds later, he saw his Pokémon jump onto his bed and look right at him, seeming quite worried. Seeing no pain being expressed, Eevee moved in closer until he was in arms reach of his Trainer. Gary pulled his hand up and petted his starter Pokémon, greeting it the same way he greeted Ash.

This gesture instantly effected Eevee as he cuddled into his hand then pounced over to him, licking his cheek and cuddling onto his neck.

"Well, I'm guessing everything's alright then," the doctor said with a smile.

They talked a little bit longer, the doctor asking many questions to see if his 'concussion' had any after effect on the boy. Once the doctor finished all of his questions, he told Gary that he seemed a-ok and that he could leave today once his papers were gathered and he felt rejuvenated. The man left right after, leaving the group to converse for a little while. Gary constantly looked over to Ash, not staring for long but simply looking over to him when he could. Ash looked away in embarrassment each time, but he could tell that it wasn't in a negative way.

"So what're you gonna do now? You can't jump back into battling and such. Doctor's orders!" Misty happily asked, reminding Gary that it was better to settle down for a little while.

"I guess...I'll stay home for a little while. Maybe visit finally Gramps," Gary said as a half joke. But right when Gary said this, his smile faded as he remembered what Giovanni told him. Would his grandfather want to see him right now?

"We visited him yesterday! He did seem very worried about you," Misty added, not noticing Gary's change of mood.

"He told us to tell you that he was really excited to talk to you about your adventure so far," Brock added, making Gary look over to him. A chill of fear ran down his body. Not one of terror but one of a child who knows that their parent knows all the bad things they've done. Not many knew of his grandfather's strict disciplinary system as he was very good at hiding it and was the master of holding secrets.

As his parents were gone, him and May were the ones who had to live up to the expectations of a Pokémon Professor; a famous one. For a long time, the two followed his policy of school first, games later, but eventually they managed to break away from his grip and do what they want.

May was the one who was completely out of his grasp as she didn't want to be a Professor. All of that scientific information was too much for her and personally bored her. She went into becoming a masseuse for people and Pokémon, which still disappoints his grandfather to this day, but he came to accept it. Everything now was on Shigeru, and luckily, he enjoyed a more scientific view of Pokémon, making their relationship a much safer road. However, he always kept a tight leash on Shigeru, wanting to know what he did, when, where, and by what time. It actually astonished him when his gramps actually allowed him to go travel around Kanto on his own. But when he confronted him about it, he simply stated that he was old and needed to keep track of Kanto. As a Pokémon Professor in training, it was also better for him to see the world and it's beauty.

His grandfather never contacted him throughout the entire journey, and Gary found it best that way. He could then show him how much he learned and how much information he could retain on his own for a long period of time. But that idea was shot out of the window with all of the drama that came with this journey. It was hard to keep his mind in check with his emotions in such a scramble. But now that things were calmer at the moment, Gary decided to try to clean up his internal hard drive and make it look presentable for his grandfather when the time came.

Still, would that be what he'd want to know? He knew of his many mistakes now and probably thought of him as a failure by now.

"Hey, you ok?"

Gary broke out of his deep thoughts and looked up to his rival who had a hand on his shoulder. Simply looking at his face was enough to push away such stressful thoughts and bring a smile to his face. The brunette shook his head, replying that everything was fine and he was just thinking. Ash gave him a long look but nodded and looked away, obviously still feeling awkward about earlier.

As they continued some more small talk, the door suddenly slammed open and Gary looked over to see his panting and disheveled older sister staring right at him. Her eyes were red and watering and she looked as if she hadn't slept in days.

"G-Gary!" she yelled out as she ran over and pulled him into a deep hug.

"Thank Arceus! I was so worried about you!" she said between tears, pulling back from her embrace to check if his face was alright before gripping him up again.

"May, I'm fine! What made you think something bad was gonna happen to me?" Gary said as he held her as tightly as he could.

"Oh shut up you stupid moron!" she angrily yelled out but not letting go.

"She asked me to stay with you as long as I could because these two days she was just too busy," Ash stated with a soft smile.

"But I came as soon as I could! I'm sorry I couldn't be here when you woke up," she said as she finally let go, sitting on the side of the bed and wiping her tears.

Gary told her as much as he could about the incident (without giving information on the unknown Pokémon as he felt that that shouldn't be brought up right now. She was already stressing about his health and one more problem wasn't going to help anyone) and May, in return, told him everything she and the group were doing to take care of him. Delia apparently visited as well but could only stay so long as she had errands to run. But May made sure to tell him that before anything he had to go and visit her as she was just as worried as everyone else was.

"The Professor must've been really worried as well, but he was probably too busy to come and visit," Ash added. May and Gary both agreed but gave each other a glance, knowing that that probably wasn't the case.

"Well yeah, you can visit him after," May added, being the professional liar that she is as she brightly smiled at the option.

A few hours passed and Gary was back on his feet, slowly walking out of his room. For someone who slept for two days straight, everyone was amazed that he regained his energy quickly, but Gary didn't think too hard on the subject and was just thankful that he was up. When they finally left the hospital, Gary saw all of his Pokémon running up to him. He had no headache but his head did feel strange around them. Either way, he hugged the group as they all greeted him and were happy to see that he was alright.

Putting them all away except for Eevee and Arcanine, Gary and May went on top of the fire dog and got ready to run back home while Ash took out his Charizard to fly there. He decided to take it slow though, so he could keep his eyes on them to make sure that they'd make it home fine.

Gary gave Ash a knowing look, reminding him of what happened not too long ago, before thanking him once again for caring for him. Ash replied with a rude yet playful remark, stating that he owed him for these three days now. But as Charizard began to fly upward with the trio on board, Gary replied, "no! For the whole year! You said that, remember?"

Ash's eyes widened as his face turned a bright red, realizing that Gary heard a lot more than he thought. Before Ash could angrily retort, Gary told Arcanine to go and ran into the fields of Route 1.

A.N. Ok I'm gonna be honest, I reread this chapter way too many times as I was trying to fix up everything on it. But by the end, my brain just went DERP. Lol So I'm really sorry if the end sounds bad and rushed. Please tell me how it came out lol Was it good enough? I really don't know and I'm done rereading this lol...

GAAAAHHHH FINALLY. THE KISS. lol I've been aching for this scene just as badly as the one from the last chapter lol You guys really were driving me though lol Like, I promised myself I wasn't gonna write anything today then I found ALL OF THESE REVIEWS and I'm like oh man, I wanna write the next one like now lol screw my life XD

Ok so for those who have not played Pokémon Conquest, it's pretty much what I said earlier. In the game, it wasn't in the past and it wasn't a bloody war (although that's how I portray it because dude I was a freakin Warlord taking over neighboring countries. I vote that it was a bloody war and I killed many who did not join my clan!). It apparently is happening in the same universe as the Pokémon we know. Just in a different area (a person in the game actually said something like "did you know that there are others far away who hold Pokémon in a ball and battle like that?" so yeah).

But uhm, they do have this thing called the Link that lets them telepathically talk with Pokémon. They don't actually show conversations but you apparently tell them what to do during battle. (Lol in my mind my Pokémon were brutal as hell. Cuttin up anybody in their path! I'm horrible lol but seriously, that game is SO much fun if you think of it that way).

Also! For those who get confused over Mewtwo's story, I practically changed up the whole thing. Mewtwo was in Pokémon Conquest and I'm making Pokémon Conquest as if it's the past, right? So for it to really make sense, I made it that Mewtwo is just like any other Pokémon; was not made or anything. He's just super awesome and instead of MADE and used, he was FOUND and used. So yeah I just wanted to make sense of that. I'm also not gonna move into the movie territory because that's just too much in an already complicated story lol

Oh! And I wanna know, how do you think the Professor is gonna take all this information, now that you see how I portray him? :) one or two readers probably already know what's gonna happen but I'm not gonna give any clues. All I'm gonna say is that he still has to become the Champion and that's gonna be tough, so would I really add extra drama after all the crap that has happened so far AND now that more tough times are coming? Lol who knows! (ME)

So uh, R&R for me dudes! Tell me what you liked, what you HATED, what you hoped for! And once again sorry for the end lol I'll make up for it in the next chapter, I promise.