All for You

Chapter 43

After school and aura training on Tuesday, Ash and Gary went to find an outfit for Ash for the dance. Because Drew and Goh were almost never in their dorm anymore directly after school, Gary took the oppurtunity to go through Ash's clothes and throw them onto their bunkbeds.

Gary held up the first garment in Ash's dresser drawer. "Ashy-boy, this is the exact same jacket you're wearing right now." Gary noted.

"Yeah, so? You already know I wear the same thing every day. You wear the same thing every day, too. What's the problem?" Ash said, confused.

"I thought you said that your Mom made that outfit for you by hand." Gary said, befuddled.

"She did...?" What's Gary's problem with this?

"Well, how many copies of the same outfit did your mom make?!" Gary dug deeper through Ash's drawer, throwing all the items onto the beds, only to find the exact same semi-folded jacket and pant duo occupying the entire space.

After Gary tore apart Ash's drawer, he sighed. "Alright then, Ashy-Boy. Shopping it is!"

Gary grabbed Ash, who was complaning about his ruined drawer, and dragged him to the shopping center.

---***---***---***---

"What about this one?" Ash asked, holding up a suit.

Gary barely glanced up. "No, that one's black. You're not a black suit type of guy, at least not for this event."

Ash sighed. "Alright, what about this one?"

"No, that one's gray, and gray suits are stupid."

"Why?" Since when are gray suits stupid?

"Because. Keep looking" Gary simply sat on an in-store seat lookinig at his phone, watching Ash pick up various suits.

"Why aren't you looking for a suit too? Or if you don't want a suit for you, at least help me look!" Ash asked, annoyed.

"I'm not looking because I already have a suit and tie that I look excellent in." Gary took a moment to strike a pose. "I'm not helping you look because I'm too busy laughing at your poor choice in formal outerwear." Gary replied, smiling sincerely.

Ash sighed. 

"Alright then, what about this one?" Ash pulled out a red suit.

"NO! No rainbow-colored suits. Only idiots wear suits that are a color of the rainbow." Gary looked horrified at the thought.

"Gary, if I can't wear suits that are black, white, gray, or a color of the rainbow, the only colors left are white, brown, and pink. Am I supposed to wear a pink suit to the dance?!" Ash asked, exasperated.

Many other customers looked strangely at Ash after he said this.

Gary shook his head. "You just don't get it, do you, Ashy-Boy?" 

He leaned back a little in his chair before sitting upright, having noticed something. "Hey Ashy-Boy, grab that one!" He pointed to a different rack.

"This one?!" Ash pulled out a a bright tie-dye suit from the shelf.

"What?! NO! The one next to it!" Gary cried out, appaled.

Ash grabbed the one next to it. It was a dark blue, around Ash's size, and formal while still relaxed.

"It's perfect, Ashy-Boy!"

"It is? But it's blue! Blue is a color in the rainbow! I though I couldn't wear that!"

"Dark blue isn't a color of the rainbow, Ashy-boy. Anyways, go try it one!" 

Gary's answer to Ash's question was dubious at best, but Ash tried it on anyways. It fit quite nicely. Or, at least, he thought. Maybe Gary would disagree on whether or not it fit. Ash sighed.

When he exited the dressing room to show Gary, Gary jumped up. "Yes! First try!" He shouted excitedly.

"First try? This is like the twelth suit we looked at!" Ash replied. 

"It's the first one I approved. Anyways, I don't even think we need to get it tailored for you, Ashy-Boy. It already fits great."

"Thank goodness, we're finally done!" Ash suddenly perked up. He finally figured out what his favorite part of shopping was: the end.

"Oh no, we're not. You still need a tie, some shoes, and corsage for Serena. But I need to coordinate everything with Dawn, so you can have a ten minute break."

Ash groaned. More shopping. Just what he needed.

Luckily for Ash, the rest of the trip went a lot smoother than shopping for the suit. He found a pair of shoes that looked formal but were actually sneakers he could run in, a pink and blue corsage set, and a red tie. He wasn't clear on why the corsage had to have pink, but he just shrugged. Gary clearly knew much more about this than Ash did, so he decided to roll with it.

Just as they were both about to leave, they ran into a famliar face.

"Oh, hi Miette." Ash said cheerily.

"Hi, Ash. What are you up to?" She said slyly.

"Oh we were-"

"Just about to go. See you around!" Gary tried to cart Ash out of there, but Miette grabbed Ash's arm.

"Hey Ash, I was wondering if you'd be my date to the dance this Friday." Miette said calmly.

Ash froze up. I really wish Lucario was here so we could stop time. He frantically tried to recall what Gary had said about politely denying girls. Something about still be friends or be vauge? Oh, right! I don't see you that way!

Ash had to reply before it would seem like he was ignoring her, so he opened his mouth. "Er, Miette, I'm sorry, but I don't see you that way. I hope we can still be friends, though!" Ash said, smilng nervously and hopefully.

He glanced at Gary, who gave him a big grin and a thumbs up. Whew, I didn't mess it up too badly.

He glanced back to Miette. She closed her eyes and looked down for a moment before looking back up. Her eyes were glistening lightly, but she was smling.

"Thanks for telling the truth, Ash. I hope you and Serena have a nice time at the dance."

She took a tenative step foward and gave Ash a quick hug before running away. Ash was about to take a step after her, but thought better about it.

Gary walked up behind him and pat him on the back. "Well done, Ashy-Boy. You did that perfectly."

Ash looked down. "Really? She seemed really upset."

"Like she said, it's better to tell her now then to lead her on. Now she can start thinking about other boys who she might actually have a future with." 

Ash looked in the direction MIette disappeared into, then smiled gently. "And I suppose if I said yes to spare her feelings, I wouldn't be able to ask Serena to the dance, huh?"

Gary smiled. "Now you're getting it! Come on, we have to hurry or we'll miss dinner."

Ash followed before realising something. "Wait a minute, how did she know I wanted to go to the dance with Serena?"

Gary laughed silently as he ran ahead.