Obsidian and Plum: Unlikely Events
Chapter eight – A trainer's quandary

"Ash honey? I'm going shopping now…" Delia called up to her son.

Ash was in his bedroom, standing by his dresser in his underwear and trying to decide what to wear, he rolled his eyes at his mother, sighing as she continued.

"…Are you quite sure you wouldn't like me to get you anything that isn't on my list already?"

"I'm good mum, really!" Ash replied for the umpteenth time.

Choosing one of his new tracksuits, he walked back to his bed – a slight limp was apparent as he walked across the floor. He sat down on the edge of his mattress to get dressed.

Ash looked healthy now, apart from a fading yellow bruise on his right cheekbone – which was actually a new development involving the stairs.

Ash still suffered the occasional shooting pains and aches in his right leg, and there was a visible scar where the bone had broken through the skin – and where the surgeons had made the incision to realign and mend the bone. They had also fixed a metal rod in there somehow. The good two-inch scar was a permanent reminder of his accident, and the raised line of healed skin across his shin was still very red in colouration – even now, eight weeks after his operation. The scar didn't bother him at all, and Ash had laughed at airport security when he'd set off the metal detectors and told Pikachu he was a metal type now.

Ash looked at Pikachu with exasperation as his mother's voice reached his room once again. Pikachu just shrugged.

"Well okay, but please be careful on the stairs honey." Her voice was filled with worry and concern, and Ash knew she was remembering his small mishap coming down them two weeks ago.

It was about six weeks after his operation, and his first week home when it had happened. He'd been coming down the stairs carefully on his own, having already proved to his mother that he was more than capable. He'd already refused to let his mum move his bed into the living room because he wanted to sleep in his actual bedroom…. Well, he'd been on the last few steps when a sharp pain had taken him by surprise. He'd been unable to bear weight on his leg for a few seconds, had panicked and grabbed the hand rail, and had managed to collide his face with the newel post at the bottom. Being far more embarrassed than actually hurt – with a purple eye and cheek bone, his mom had almost won the argument that he should sleep downstairs… Almost!

Ash pulled the black t-shirt over his head and down to his waist, then sorted his tracksuit bottoms ready to put them on one leg at a time. "Will do mum, don't worry!" Ash replied, he knew better then to argue.

Delia called goodbye to her son, and Ash sighed in relief when he heard the door close.

"You know, Pikachu? I love mum, I do! But I'm nineteen! I'm fine now. I wish she'd stop smothering me."

Pikachu just nodded in agreement to support his trainer, and watched as Ash pulled up his tracksuit bottoms and finished getting dressed.

His leg didn't hurt all the time, and he had limitations that he had to get used to, but he refused to let that stop him. The doctors had told him that he had to start small, gradually rebuild the muscles in his leg, but no matter how much time past, there was always the chance that his leg would never return to normal.

It had been a painfully slow and tedious process, arduous too, but the physiotherapist had been rather impressed with his willpower and determination. She'd also said that he never knew when to stop and admit defeat, that he'd tried to run before he could walk. He'd been bored being confined to a bed, dependent on someone else for nearly everything, and embarrassed when he needed help with certain needs. He'd been desperate to get his life back, so he'd worked hard and pushed himself to get up and work through the pain. It was his body!

"Let's go get Sandshrew shall we? Professor Oak said Gary had finished with him." Ash told his loyal Pikachu.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu leapt from the bed excitedly and onto the floor.

Ash smiled at his electric type pokémon and signalled to him that it was okay if he wanted to ride on his shoulder. Pikachu climbed up Ash carefully and excitedly squealed, rubbing the side of Ash's face with his head.

"Right where you belong buddy! Let's go!"

Walking to the laboratory wasn't too hard… but he'd forgotten that there were thirty plus steps up a hill. No problem! Ash thought to himself, slowly making the climb.

By the time Ash had greeted Professor Oak and Gary, and had reunited with his Alola Sandshrew, his leg was causing him a few difficulties and becoming extremely painful. He'd almost lost his balance just as they'd entered Gary's office, when a sharp pain shot through his leg; he winced, biting his lip, and embarrassingly, Gary had grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Ash! Are you okay?" Gary asked, concerned.

"I'm good." He lied, but Gary wasn't fooled. Gary pulled over a chair and had Ash sit down. If it wasn't for the fact that he would end up on the floor from exhaustion and pain otherwise, he would have complained. He hated that everyone was always fussing in concern over him.

"Wow Gary…" Ash tried to make light of things. "Not like you to stop me embarrassing myself. Thought you'd enjoy the laugh if I suddenly wanted to kiss the floor."

"As fun as that would be Ashy-boy, your body needs time to heal. You've just recovered from a multitude of ailments and had surgery only eight weeks ago. You know you're an idiot for that by the way, what loser thinks they can beat mother nature." Gary was shaking his head in disbelief.

It wasn't a question – Gary had already had his digs about Ash's mistake, and he knew full well that he felt guilty and embarrassed about that.

"I made a mistake Gary! Are you ever gonna drop that? Besides you can talk… what idiot can't even carry a stack of books?" Ash sassed back, smiling deviously.

It was Gary's turn to look embarrassed as that horrific memory came back to him.

Gary had been so excited about studying… something, that he'd gathered so many books to help with his research that he hadn't been able to see where he'd been going. He'd therefore, tripped over his own sleeping Umbreon, twisted his ankle, dropped all the books, and landed on the keyboard to his grandfather's computer. The worst part was that Gary had somehow managed to delete over six hours' worth of the professor's work. Professor Oak had been livid with Gary.

"I still have no idea why he had to tell you about that." Gary sulked.

"He told everyone about that!" Ash reminded him, laughing, and getting his kicks out of embarrassing his old rival. Payback really was sweet.

Ash had become best friends with Gary again not long after his time in Alola. He'd travelled to Alola and joined the pokémon school for teenagers when he was seventeen. His mom had explained about Gary at some point during a video call to him, that Gary was living with his grandfather again but didn't know what to study at the time. Gary had been confined to the laboratory, because he'd agreed months ago to watch over the facility while his grandfather travelled to a different region – a research trip relating to his current work apparently.

Ash had offered to catch and send him a few Alola pokémon to study, and when Ash had sent him Alola Diglett, Grimer, Vulpix and Geodude over the course of four months, Gary had been so excited – rattling on and on about complex and confusing data, research findings and information. He would burn Ash's ears off each time he sent a new pokémon, and Ash remembered Gary positively gushing over how cute Vulpix was.

Gary was still continuing his work in that field now – studying regional differences between pokémon of the same species, and the impacts the different environment had on them. It was already a topic that had been studied by many researchers before, but Gary was now focusing on the impact that moving one region Pokémon to another region had on it, and Its interaction with the same species of Pokémon from different regions when living together. Its why Gary had asked to borrow his Alolan Sandshrew.

"So… I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Ash hesitantly admitted. The last eight weeks had been focused on healing, but now that he was about as good as he was gonna get anytime soon, he wanted to approach the one thing he'd been avoiding but thinking about constantly.

"Sounds serious Ash. You want to get a drink and take this into the living room?" Gary asked. He knew Ash well enough to read the signals – this was something Ash felt awkward discussing.

Ash nodded, but he asked if they could talk in Gary's room instead – he didn't want Professor Oak overhearing the conversation. At least Sandshrew and Pikachu had wondered off to play for a while.

They both sat on the bed in Gary's room; Gary leaning against his headboard with his legs straight out, and Ash leaning on the foot of the bed facing him. Ash sipped his cola from the tall glass, trying to organise his words and figure out how to start the conversation.

"So Ash, what's up?" Gary coaxed, dipping his brows with curiosity. Ash had been rather quiet since he'd announced that there was something he wished to talk about.

Ash glanced up to meet his eyes before they travelled back down to his glass, turning his drink in his fingers as he spoke. "I've been thinking about… me, and-"

"Wow Ash…" Gary just couldn't help himself, and Ash made eye contact with him. "Never knew you had such a big ego – guess I shouldn't be surprised really..." He smirked.

Ash ignored him. He knew Gary was just being a jerk – joking around and trying to lighten the mood in his own strange way. Ash looked away as he continued what he was trying to say. "I think… no." He shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I recently learnt something about myself, something that I didn't know about before." He looked up and into Gary's dark viridian eyes. "It's not a bad thing but … … it's a bit … unexpected, you know?" Ash explained, his embarrassment growing. He bit his lip, nervous of how Gary would react to his revelation.

Gary looked at Ash with a serious face. "Ash, I knew you was always a little slow on the uptake but… it's called a boner and perfectly natural." Gary finished with a smirk and started chuckling.

Ash blushed from embarrassment – he wasn't amused. "Gary! I know what a–" Ash shook his head. "Never mind. Are you going to take me seriously or not?"

Ash had to wonder if this was a good idea after all. He'd chosen to speak with Gary because his mother was… well, his mother! Professor Oak would have been weird, and his other friends were busy. He could have called Brock, but this wasn't a phone or video call conversation. Gary was his best friend; he'd hoped that he would take this seriously – obviously he'd been mistaken.

He told Gary then, that this was a mistake and opted to leave. Gary stopped him, assuring him that he would stop being a jerk and listen. They sat back down.

"For fuck sake Gary, this isn't easy for me. You're the only one I feel comfortable talking to about this." Ash played with the materials of his tracksuit bottoms – the half glass of cola left on the chest of draws behind him forgotten.

"Just say it, it can't be that bad. I know you Ash, you'd never do anything immoral." Gary coaxed, trying to encourage Ash's confidence again now that he'd essentially killed it.

"I don't think it's bad, just – – people have different opinions about it that's all. Some people might not like what I am. It's hard to know where you might stand about it, you know? Or mum … or anybody really. I don't even know if I am, but I have done nothing but think about it. I really think I am, or might be." Ash babbled before looking up at Gary inquiringly.

Gary blinked with his brows furrowed. "What do you think you are?" Gary asked, honestly confused, but trying to hold back from making more clever piss-taking comments. There was an uncomfortable pause before Ash mumbled, Gary just about heard him.

"I think I'm … gay."

More uncomfortable silence burned Ash's ears while Gary processed what he'd just admitted to him.

Gary didn't have anything against gay people, but why did Ash bring this up now, and how could he not know that about himself?

"What makes you think that Ash?" Gary asked, appearing nervous and uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"I think I like someone." Ash blurted out, the colour rising in his cheeks.

Gary gulped. "Ash I – – I have nothing wrong with gay people, but I – – I'm not!"

"I know that Gary!" Ash snapped. "What the hell has that got to do with me?" He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Just tell me … is there some sort of test I can take, or like a quiz or something? How do I know if I am? I can't go all the way to Sinnoh if I'm not."

'Sinnoh? Wait…' Gary thought. "You're not–" Gary wiggled his index finger between him and Ash, silently asking Ash if he was interested in him.

It took Ash a moment to realise, but his eyes opened wide in shock at the implication once he had. "What? No way!" He shouted in disgust. "That's just like you Gary! Assuming everything is about you. Eugh, that's just so wrong! Not that you're not good looking or anything but … wow! And you said I had a big ego!"

Gary was relieved that he didn't have to reject his best friend, but his ego had been stroked. "You think I'm good looking?" He preened. Ash rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "Ashy-boy? So, you think I'm good looking huh?"

"You don't need to repeat yourself Gary, I ignored you correctly the first time!" Ash told him. He'd learnt a few things from Gary over the years.

"Ouch! I'm offended!" Gary feigned hurt.

"So's your mirror!" Ash added for good measure, and when Gary went to rebuttal that with another clever or sarcastic comment, Ash continued. "So? What do I do?" Ash asked seriously, almost desperately. Gary was a genius; he should have all the answers.

"We could kiss and make up." Gary smirked.

Ash threw the pillow he was leaning on at Gary – they ended up in a bromance fight, the pillows becoming victims. It was light-hearted and fun – winding each other up was their thing. Ash was relieved Gary didn't treat him any differently because he might have been gay … or not.

Still Gary was … well, Gary! The git now had new ammunition to use against him. Ash shuddered at the thought of all the new snide comments, puns or jokes he would have to endure related to his sexuality, but that was Gary.

Gary and Ash eventually ended up having a serious conversation, one that left Ash with some things to think about. Gary had explained to Ash that it sounded like he was indeed attracted to this guy from Sinnoh. It was embarrassing, but Gary slowly got enough information from Ash to conclude that he was either gay or bi-sexual.

Ash had never so much as looked at a girl twice, it most likely confirmed he was not into girls at all sexually. What Gary couldn't help Ash with, was if he should go to Sinnoh or not, or if he wanted to become boyfriend material. That Gary had insisted, was Ash's choice alone, but he'd given him some advice before he'd left that evening.

"If I thought there was a chance that someone wanted me Ash, I'd want to know. Especially if I thought I might return their affections. Love at first sight doesn't happen to everyone Ashy-boy. Sometimes you have to take a risk, go find the results, sometimes they surprise you. If you never take the risks however, you might miss out on an amazing breakthrough."

Ash lay awake in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling. Pikachu was fast asleep beside him; his small quiet breaths audible in the silent house. His thoughts kept circling back to Paul, he couldn't get plum-purple hair and galaxy eyes from his mind, and he couldn't sleep.

He needed to decide how he felt about the attractive, plum-haired man. He also had to decide whether to travel to Sinnoh or not. It really shouldn't be so difficult; make a choice, devise a battle plan, and carry out said plan… right?

Problem was, he just couldn't make up his mind or figure out his feelings.

He was most likely, possibly, quite certainly gay. He was hesitant to label or disclose his sexuality, at least until he had a boyfriend – it would be actuality then, certain and irrefutable.

Ash had decided therefore, that it wasn't a question of – 'am I gay?' It was simpler to ask – 'do I have feelings for Paul?'

He hadn't so much as heard from Paul, not since that night he'd fallen asleep in the cave. His last solid memory of the man: having his head rested on Paul's lap, hearing him confess that yes, he would want Ash if he was available to have.

Yeah, Ash remembered bits from his rescue, and the journey to the hospital, but it was just broken pieces and fragments. As far as Ash could remember, Paul hadn't spoken to him. Ash also thought, that Paul had held his hand at the hospital, had kissed him after his surgery … but it could just have been his drugged-up mind muddling his memories and playing tricks on him.

He never expected Paul to stick around, but the fact that he'd just left … it stung. It hurt, and that confused him too. It would have been nice to have the company at least; his mother hadn't been able to get to Jhoto until he'd already spent nearly three weeks alone at the hospital. Pikachu had eventually been allowed to stay, but only because Ash had managed to convince him to go to the pokémon centre for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If Paul liked him – had romantic feelings or something for him like the evidence suggested, like Paul had basically admitted, then why would he just leave like that?

Ash quietly snuck out of his bed, not wanting to wake Pikachu up, and threw on a t-shirt. His mind continued to think deeply of Paul as he carefully made his way down the stairs, and into the kitchen to make hot coco.

The fact remained that Paul had left, he couldn't change the past, but it left him unsatisfied with the way things had ended. Ash mentally checked off what he did know regarding his feelings involving Paul.

-He was upset that Paul had left without a proper goodbye – he didn't know why it bothered him as much as it did, but he missed the real Paul he'd seen, the Weedle under its evolved forms. He wanted to get to know the real Paul, not the fake one.

-Maybe it was because Paul had saved his life, but he felt more connected to Paul now than he ever had.

Ash finished making his hot coco, and sat down to drink it, sipping at the hot chocolatey liquid. As he licked his lips clean, he was reminded of smoke tasting vanilla-latte coloured lips.

-That kiss had been rather nice, and it almost promised more – something delicious. Could it get better? What if he'd kissed Paul back? It had shocked him enough to render him speechless and paralyzed, but he could admit to himself that he wanted to try kissing Paul properly – maybe he was just curious, still getting used to his sexuality perhaps.

- When Paul had restrained him, shouting – "Enough", and comforted him the way he had… there was a pleasant feeling that ran through him, one mixed with both shock and appreciation. He'd liked it. It had felt oddly comforting strangely enough – especially being so close to that warm body, but was he just craving human contact – any human contact? He had been ill, and stuck in a cave with emotions running high.

He couldn't remember anyone ever being so stern with him in that way either – in a way that he needed when he was being stupid. Brock could be stern, but not like Paul. Maybe that's why he was such a close friend with Brock too. Maybe he needed someone like that around him, to keep him in check when he spun off the rails. With Paul though, it felt stronger, almost as if he had a deep-rooted need to please the man – but wasn't that ludicrous! Wasn't it?

-Ash also felt good when Paul had admitted that, if Ash was gay, he'd want him. Maybe that was just his ego talking or something, but It made Ash feel elated and uplifted. To be wanted by Paul… that was something alright! He couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"Mime?" Mr Mime tilted his head inquiringly. Ash hadn't heard him come into the kitchen, but he smiled at the psychic-type pokémon.

"Hey Mr Mime. I'm going back to bed soon, don't wake mum okay."

"Mime Mime!" The pokémon nodded, proceeding to clean up the sauce pan that Ash had used to heat his milk.

"Thanks." Ash smiled, and returned to his hot coco.

Mr Mime had spent too much time around his mother – the pokémon had escorted him back to his bed once he'd finished his drink, and Ash had returned to staring at the ceiling.

After thinking about everything, and thinking some more, Ash still couldn't take what he knew and make sense of it. He knew that If you didn't spell things out to him sometimes, then it either took ages for the penny to drop or he never figured it out. This, however, felt like Pikipek drilling into his head, trying to tell him something he hadn't figured out yet.

Ash listened to his gut usually, but even his gut seemed unsatisfied and angry at him. He liked things to be simple: yes or no: go for it or give up: do it or don't: fix it or leave it. He took risks, never backed down from a challenge, and never let things get in his way. So why was this getting in his way, why was this difficult?

He sighed and let his thoughts flow freely.

'Okay! I like Paul – the real one, but do I like, like him? The whole, want to hold hands and kiss his vanilla-latte coloured lips and stuff…

'I could go for vanilla ice cream right about now, with chocolate sauce and – Wait, what was I thinking?

'Purple lips… no, purple hair! Right, Paul. He's cute really…

'Did I just think that? Jeez I really am gay! Doesn't change the fact that Paul is cute… cute, with amazing eyes and a great arse – especially bent over a fire. He has a sharp tongue though – can say and do things that sting. I wonder if that's defensive though, maybe he's scared of something… Just like a tiny harmless Weedle really… with poison!

'I never did catch a Weedle… Shall I catch Paul? He isn't a pokémon duh! But hey, making friends is like catching them, right? What about a boyfriend? Is that like catching them? Do I want to catch Paul? Do I want a boyfriend? Would that be so bad?

'Something about seeking and catching Paul feels like… trespassing on a pokémon reserve – you get to see all the great pokémon, but it feels good because its so wrong and dangerous too…

'Reminds me of my Tauros actually, from the reserve. Ha!' (Ash covered his mouth and tried not to laugh; he didn't want to wake up Pikachu.)

'I still can't believe that I accidentally caught thirty of them that day, at least twenty-nine have new homes now. Some of them left to get laid… hahaha.' (Ash turned to smother his face into his pillow as he laughed.)

'Laid… I wonder if it's as good as they say it is… Paul… Oh fuck! No, no no no! I really don't need to be thinking about that, I really don't need a boner right now!' (Ash's mind had decided to conjure up helpful images of Paul fucking him, and he had to painfully think of his mother naked and being banged by Professor Oak.)

'That hasn't happened in ages. Am I sexually attracted to Paul now? Oh Arceus! I don't even know what he looks like under his clothes, just his face, and eyes! Oh, in the name of everything that is amazing, them eyes!'

Ash sighed a shuddered breath. 'That's it!' Ash decided stubbornly, annoyed with thinking. 'I have to see Paul again!'

Ash sat up on the bed so abruptly that he startled Pikachu. Paul made him feel like he was in the middle of a battle and anything could happen. That was the only way he could describe it, and he never gave up on a battle.

Paul had always told it like it was, never sugar coated his words, he was brutally honest, and that was something Ash had always admired about Paul. The fact he couldn't be honest about liking Ash, and felt unable to admit his feelings to him, annoyed and confused the hell out of him – it left him more determined to get answers.

If he didn't talk to Paul and sort this all out, he would feel like he was lost in a battle suspended in time forever, and wondering what could have happened. He did actions better than words, and It was like Gary had said – sometimes you have to take a risk and go find the results, if you never took the risk you might miss out on something amazing. He didn't know why it had taken him this long to listen to his gut, but now he was.

Ash decided he would march straight up to Paul, admit he was most likely gay, find out if Paul still wanted him, and then demand a retry of that kiss. He would figure out the rest from there.

Simple! Right? Well at least it was a plan.

"We're going to Sinnoh again Pikachu!" Ash said, smiling in determination.