Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple

"Gramps. How come we haven't heard from Leaf? She said she was going to call."

"I don't know Gary. Why don't you call her?"

"I don't know where she is. The last time she called me she was in Ecruteak City. That was months ago."

Professor Oak sighed. He looked out of the window of the lab's kitchen. Outside he could see some of Leaf's Pokémon in the fields. She seemed to catch a new one at least every couple of weeks, but there had been no word from the girl herself.

She had been travelling in Johto now for a year. The professor figured she must be nearing the end of her travels there. But it was strange, as Gary had said, she hadn't made contact with them for months.

Pokémon

Leaf frowned in frustration.

Why couldn't she do this? What was she doing wrong?

"You need to train more. Focus. You need to be the very best to defeat me."

"I have trained!" Leaf shouted, tears coming to her eyes. "I've worked hard."

"Then train harder. Work harder. Come back when you are strong."

Leaf returned her Charizard. She turned and walked out the gym, head held high. She would not let Clair see her beaten.

It was a different story as soon as she stepped outside. She could not hold the tears back any longer.

It was the third time she had walked out of that gym, defeated. It was the third time Clair had mocked her.

It was the first time that she had not been able to beat a single of Clair's Pokémon.

Somehow, she was getting worse.

As much as she trained, as much as she worked with her Pokémon, as much as she asked other people for advice, none of it was working.

She walked into the Pokémon Centre, and handed Nurse Joy her Pokémon.

"No luck today?"

Leaf shook her head. "Can I make a phone call?"

Nurse Joy nodded her head. "Of course you can. Follow me."

Pokémon

"Gramps, someone has to know where she is."

"Of course they would, Gary."

"What if I called all the Nurse Joy's in Johto? One of them would have seen her."

"Do you really want to distract them from their work like that?"

"It's been months, Gramps! How can you not be worried about her?"

Gary slammed his hands on the table. He glared at his grandfather, but Professor Oak held his gaze.

"I know she can look after herself, Gary. Have a little faith in her."

"I've had faith in her since the moment she walked out of this lab, Gramps… I just want to know that she's okay."

His voice became soft, and Professor Oak could see the tears coming to his eyes. He walked over to his grandson and wrapped an arm around him, as he began to cry.

Pokémon

Leaf waited patiently as the call connected. She prayed that Gary would not be the one to answer. If he saw her like she was now, he would demand for her to come home and to let him protect her again.

Everything she fought for would be lost.

"Hello?"

"Professor Oak."

"Ah, Leaf. It's been so long."

She nodded her head. "I know. Sorry about that."

Professor Oak narrowed his eyes. "Leaf, is everything all right?"

She broke down again. Professor Oak gazed steadily at her through the screen, waiting for her to calm down. Something bad must have happened, he knew, but only she could tell him that.

"No, it's not. I can't do this. I'm stuck and no one can help me."

"Leaf. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

She sniffed a few times, trying to compose herself.

Looking up at the professor, she began, "I can't beat Clair. As much as I try to. I've tried three times now, and I seem to be getting worse. Today I couldn't even defeat one of her Pokémon."

Professor Oak frowned. He knew that Clair was a tough gym leader, but he would have thought Leaf was capable of defeating her.

She had poise, and a calm yet fierce battling style, which rivalled that of Clair's. He put it down to experience on Clair's part, but that did not solve Leaf's problem.

"There are other gym leaders, Leaf. Maybe you should try one of them."

"No!" Leaf cried. "I can't let Clair win. She tells me at the end of every battle that I need to train more, and I do train more, yet she still defeats me. I can't let her think that I am weak. I'm not."

He frowned again. "Why is this so hard for you? I know you can beat her, Leaf."

"I don't know…" she murmured.

"Maybe you need a distraction," Professor Oak suggested. "You know, it has been a while since you called, and I'm guessing you haven't been having fun and games all this time. Let me fetch Gary. You two can talk."

Leaf froze. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy. She couldn't let him see her like this.

As she bit her lip, Leaf made her decision.

Gary would hate her one way or the other.

If she talked to him, he would be on her for not calling. It was not her fault. She had been training, battling, getting stronger. She had learned to fend for herself in the woods, often going for weeks on end before returning to a Pokémon Centre.

Or, he would hate her for hanging up and not talking to him. For ignoring him, for fending for herself. For not getting him involved in her problems.

Either way, he would hate her for being independent.

For not needing him in her life.

But he was okay, alone in Pallet Town. He told her that he was managing fine without her as well. So what difference would it make if she did not need him?

Pokémon

"Gary. Leaf's called."

"Leaf's called?"

Gary ran from where he was in the research lab. He needed to see her. To hear that she was okay.

He just needed to hear her voice.

He missed her so much.

The year that she had been gone was painful for him. He had found that his battling skills dropped when she was not there to push him. He had lost the Champion title within two months of her leaving, and had quit battling altogether soon after. Now he was a researcher for his grandfather.

And she had no idea.

"Leaf? Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

Then her face came on to the screen. It was red and puffy, clear signs that she had been crying.

"Leaf?"

"I'm okay, don't worry about me. I'm tough now." She grinned at him through the screen, and it felt good to see it.

"Why didn't you call, Leaf?" he asked.

She hesitated before she spoke. He saw it.

Drawing in a deep breath, she said, "I kind of… forgot."

"What?" He narrowed his eyes. She had forgotten about him. There was no way she could have done that. "What do you mean, forgot?"

His voice was tight, just holding in the rage that had leapt to his throat.

"I was training."

He tried to speak but he couldn't. He opened his mouth but no words would come out.

"Gary?"

He shook his head, and hung up on her.

She was okay. He tried to tell himself that.

Leaf's okay. She is okay.

But he was not okay.

Pokémon

Leaf felt the tears come back to her eyes when he hung up on her. She let out a scream.

She was sick of feeling this way.

Gary's okay. He is okay.

But she was not okay.

She had taken a bullet for the both of them.

He would not need to worry about her any longer. She just added stress to his life.

She had been a pain to him since she left. She was off doing the things that he could now only dream of doing. Every time she had called, she told him of the exciting things she was doing, and how much fun she was having.

It would have been so annoying for him to hear.

That's what she told herself.

But in doing what she had just done, she had lost her friend. Her only friend.

She wanted him to be strong, stronger than her. He could still achieve things. She was the stupid one who tried for more glory instead of accepting it when she had the chance.

She had taken the bullet for the both of them, ever since she had defeated him a year ago.

Pokémon

He understood now.

He had taken a bullet for her.

It was three days after the phone call. Gary sat on his bed, going through all of the photos of his childhood. Leaf was in so many of them.

He lay back on his pillow.

She was okay. That was the main thing. She was okay.

He had to win the title of Champion, so she could live her own dreams. He had to lose contact with her, so she could become more independent. He had to get mad at her, so she could believe he hated her and he would no longer be a distraction in her mind.

"Gary?" Professor Oak stuck his head in the door. "Are you okay?"

Gary felt his body shudder, and start to shake. "No," was all he could say.

"If this is about Leaf…" Professor Oak trailed off. "I don't know what she said to you, but I don't know why you weren't on the first plane over to her."

Then he left.

Gary looked at where he had been standing.

He should be on the first plane to see her? Then that meant… she had told Professor Oak something she had not told him. And that meant…

Leaf was not okay.

He had no time to wait for a plane.

Gary jumped from his bed, and collected his Pokéballs. He released his Pidgeot.

"I hope you're feeling strong today, Pidgeot. I need to get to Johto."

He climbed out of his window and onto the bird Pokémon. He flew out into the field, spotting his grandfather.

"Gramps, I'm going to Johto. Where's Leaf?"

Professor Oak suppressed a smile. "From what I could tell, she's at Blackthorn City."

Gary took off. "Thanks Gramps!"

Pokémon

Leaf walked into the gym.

It was three days later.

She had trained harder than ever before. She knew how to beat Clair now.

Gary would help her.

She had to prove that that phone call had not been in vain. That she had made the right decision. His hatred for her fuelled her determination and desire to win.

Leaf walked into the gym calm. Clair followed her, going to stand at her side of the field.

She grinned. "I'm back. And I'm going to beat you."

"Big words for someone who has already tried that three times already. You haven't changed a bit. What a shame. I'll only need one Pokémon to do this. Dragonair!"

Leaf grinned back at her. "You really think I haven't changed? How cocky you are getting, Clair. I guess I'll just have to prove it to you then."

"Leaf?"

Leaf froze. She saw Clair look over Leaf's shoulder. Slowly, Leaf turned around.

There was Gary.

This was not supposed to happen. He was supposed to leave. That was what she was going to use to win.

But if he was here...

"Gary, you shouldn't be here."

"Bull. You need me here, Leafy."

Leaf shook her head. "I don't need you. I told you that."

That's what she had convinced herself.

Gary moved to sit in one of the benches surrounding the field.

"You're wrong. You're just being too stubborn to realise it. You really thought you would shake me off as easily as that? I'm not stupid. I can put the pieces together."

Damn.

"But, if you don't want to admit it, then I don't think there's any problem me watching your battle."

Leaf gritted her teeth. Two could play at that game.

"Fine, you can watch. You'll see." She turned back to Clair. "Let's do this."

She didn't want Gary to leave. She wanted him to watch her battle. She wanted him to see she was independent – that she really didn't need him. It would be for the better.

Leaf battled harder than she had ever battled before.

"Charizard! Flamethrower!"

"Dragonair! Hyper beam!"

The two attacks collided, smoke covering the field.

When it cleared, there was only one Pokémon left standing.

"Dragonair is unable to battle. The victory goes to the challenger, Leaf Green of Pallet."

Leaf was puffing. Sweat was dripping down her face. She felt the corner of her mouth twitch.

She realised something then. Something she had been too stubborn to admit.

Gary had come to watch her.

Because he cared for her.

He didn't hate her.

He never would.

Pokémon

That night, Leaf and Gary were in the Pokémon Centre, waiting for Leaf's Pokémon to be healed.

"Why did you want me to hate you, Leaf?"

She shrugged, staring at the ground. "I was so miserable. I only wanted for you to be happy. I thought I was making you sad."

"Leafy, you know you could never make me sad, right?"

She chuckled, "Obviously not."

He hugged her, and she fell into the embrace, taking in his smell, the way she fit so snuggly into his chest, everything.

"Don't try that again, okay? It pained me to know that you were completely okay without me… at first anyway. But then I was fine with the fact you were okay. Do you know why?"

She shook her head.

"I was happy that you were okay, because I thought that I was the one that was making you unhappy in the first place. That's what you made me think. Then I was unhappy again because I had lost you. It was a cruel cycle."

"I won't do it again, I promise."

He nodded, and on an impulse, kissed her hair.

She pulled back abruptly, and he thought he had done something wrong.

"I'm going to go and check on my Pokémon," she said.

She stood and walked away. The smile that was on her face was only meant for her.

Growing up was hard. But with Gary, maybe it would never be that bad.

Won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
And even though you want to, please try to never grow up
Oh, don't you ever grow up
Oh, never grow up, just never grow up

Pokémon

Thus concludes the 'Never Grow Up' portion of this story.

I still don't trust myself to write kiss scenes, and I still am trying to avoid clichés although it is really, really hard.

I'll write more chapters with various oneshots. Some will be when they are older, some will be when they are little kids. I'll let you know though before each how old they are. And I'll also put a quote or song lyric or something like that at the beginning and end of each which will kind of describe the two main points the chapter had. I'll keep all oneshots canon with each other, so Leaf's mother will still have died, these events still will have occurred etc.

Now I am in a really Leafgreenshipping mood so the next update will probably involve some cute fluffy moments.

Thank you to AquaStarlight and fawkespower123 for alerting this.

Thank you to LittleSpade, Louricam The Manga Freak, Midnight-Dawn-Morning-Star, Megadracosaurus and Ju5t An0th3r H3d63h06 for putting this story on their favourites.

And a big thank you to Megadracosaurus, AquaStarlight, Louricam The Manga Freak and WeirdHanz for reviewing. They meant so much to me. I'm sorry this update took so long to come. Thank you for your patience.

Cheers guys :)