Ash x Gary (Palletshipping)

A Gary Oak Daydream

Pikachu: Pika-pi? Pikaaa! Pika? *Wanders aimlessly, searching for someone—anyone* Pi?

Me: *Watches from bushes*

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It's been like ten years since I last saw Ash, and he hasn't changed a bit. He's still the goof that I've always known and secretly loved. Yeah, I admit it: I enjoyed every second of the time we'd spend together, even if I pretended otherwise. At first, it wasn't love-love or anything...

*Flashback*

A small Gary, in a rare moment of unguarded emotions, cries by a creek in Pallet Town. Unbeknownst to him, a small Ash is watching quietly from behind a tree.

"Huh?" Gary turns around, having felt a tap on his shoulder. His dark eyes are red and puffy, and his auburn hair is matted against his forehead. In fact, it would seem that the poor boy is soaking wet—perhaps he fell in the creek?

"Are you okay?" Ash asks softly. His brown eyes are wide in disbelief at catching Gary crying.

"Yeah, Ash, it's nothing," Gary grumbles sharply, his face hardening into a scowl—he's not about to let Ash know how much of a crybaby he really is.

Gary's face flushes bright red as two small arms pull him into a warm embrace. "Whatever it is, it's okay: I'm here now," Ash assures the slightly older boy.

"I-I-" Gary stutters, trying not to burst into tears, "I saw a Poliwag, and when I went to pet it, a Goldeen came out of nowhere and splashed me!" he wails, breaking down and pressing into Ash for comfort. Ash tightens his arms around Gary and waits for him to finish letting it all out...

*Back to reality (LOL—yeah, sure, this is totally reality)*

At that age, I couldn't fall in love with him: he was just my best friend. He knew me better than anyone else did, and he was always there for me. Even when I was mean to him, he'd still come back to play with me. But then we had that fight...the stupid one where we fought over a poké ball we'd both caught while fishing. For some reason, on that day, we just couldn't let go of our pride and apologize. So we grew apart and fought against each other as rival Pokémon Trainers. But the bond we had forged when we were young kept haunting me—I couldn't forget how much he had meant to me. And when puberty came? Forget about it: I was head over heels in love AND lust...

*Flashback*

Gary has taken a break from his travels and come to visit his grandfather, Professor Oak. He's holed up in the guest room, supposedly taking a nap. It's time for dinner, though, and so Professor Oak comes upstairs to wake him.

"Ash..." Professor Oak frowns, swearing he just heard his grandson say that goofy boy's name. He puts his ear to Gary's door, suspicious of what the teen is doing in there.

"Ash...Oh, Ash! Right there, Ash!" Professor Oak can hear moaning coming from the other side of the door and flushes bright red in sudden understanding. He pulls away to give his grandson some privacy, knowing that there's no one else in his room.

*Back to reality*

Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face—gotta love teenage hormones, huh? But I'm sorry to say that I could never let go of my pride and just confess my feelings to Ash. I had to go and be a dumb asshole. Yeah, I had to go and do something I can never take back. I sigh every time that I think of the lame excuse about researching on a distant island that I gave Ash—I wish I had just been doing research. But no, I had a different responsibility to tend to, and I just wasn't man enough to tell my forever crush about it...

See, I had to marry one of my fangirls...

Because I had gotten her pregnant.

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Me: *Bursts out of bushes, startling Pikachu* Dun-dun-dun!

Pikachu: *All color drains from face* Pi?

Paul: Good. That means I have a chance at Ash, right?

Me: *Stares at Paul blankly* You're weird looking, though.

Paul: *Scowls*

Me: Okay, folks! If I didn't get your hearts racing with this one, you must be zombies! Anyway, next time on Ash x Gary (Palletshipping), we'll get to see whether Ash agrees to go on a date with Gary. But keep in mind that Ash has no idea that Gary's been hiding a secret family all these years—will Gary ever tell Ash the truth? Or will our favorite trainer have to find out the hard way?

Pikachu: *Tilts ears back and starts crying* Piii! Pika-pi!