Chapter Text
Gary Oak is twenty-five years old, and Ash Ketchum has been living with him for over a year.
He’s not sure exactly how that started. Maybe innocently at first - Ash’s mother was complaining about him being far too old to live with her, and Ash needed a place to (literally) hang his hat. The agreement was that he was supposed to be courteous of Isaac’s schedule and mindful of his cleanliness. No Pokemon battles in the front yard, no long jogs that ended at midnight after the toddler had gone to bed. There was nothing that wasn’t platonic in the beginning. Ash was barely ever there as it was, traveling around the globe and what not.
But gradually it just...sort of happened.
As lame as it sounds, that’s all Gary can helplessly tell people when they ask. Ash not only kept his promise about being mindful of the baby, he went out of his way to help out with Izzy. At some point, Gary could even get the man to change Izzy’s diapers - not a simple favor to ask of one’s friends. When Ash was around, they spent more and more time together without even realizing it. It was perhaps the most time they’d spent consecutively with one another since they were children. It was flat-out ridiculous to Gary that they never had before, once they started.
Their talks and their walks turned slowly into movies in with Izzy and dinner out in different towns. It took a stupid amount of time for Gary to realize that he was being courted...and to subsequently discover that Ash was doing it on purpose . Imagine! Ash Ketchum, taking the romantic reigns. People were going to laugh Gary out of town years later, he could feel it.
Soon, they go from having separate rooms to simply sharing Gary’s. Ash just sort of starts crashing there once he comes through the door after another long journey, and Gary’s not about to try and move a man almost two heads taller and fifty pounds heavier than he is. So there Ash stays, his things migrating over until they mesh with Gary’s entirely. It doesn’t happen often, but the times that Ash is around and shares the bed with Gary are wonderful.
People have begun to address them as if they’re ‘a thing’, too. That also just casually sort of happened. If anyone’s upset about their shared closeness, Gary isn’t aware of it. He notices this when folks call. Just this morning, Sam Oak told him to tell Ash hello. No question as to IF Ash was there, just assuming he was. There’s a pile of mail - official, personal, and some fan mail - addressed to the man on the table, too. Gary can’t remember when Ash switched over his mailing address.
And when Ash comes downstairs from putting Izzy to bed, nestling up on the couch beside him, Gary thinks about Izzy in general and how the toddler’s adjusted to Ash’s being here.
“He said it again.”
Speak of the devil. Gary lets his head fall onto Ash’s shoulder, lets the breath ease out of his lungs. “‘Big Dada’?”
“Yep. I’m not THAT big.”
“You’re taller than me. If the shoe fits, Ash…”
Ash must be too tired to argue. He rests one heavy arm over the back of the couch behind Gary’s shoulders, then thinks better of it and just wraps it tight around the researcher. “You’re okay with him calling me that?”
A yawn threatens to pop Gary’s jaw out of place. “Mmf...told you earlier: doesn’t bother me.”
“He’s your son.”
“And? You live here, you sleep in my bed, you help take care of him...I don’t see how that’s not an appropriate name for him to call you.”
Not that it hadn’t made Gary’s eyes bug out to hear it, earlier that day. A small smile crawls onto his lips at the memory - Ash had nearly dropped the boy he was holding high over his head, and his subsequent fumbling had made Izzy laugh and laugh and laugh. Maybe if Isaac didn’t adore Ash as much as he did, it’d rub Gary the wrong way to hear him call someone else ‘dada’. As it stands, it seems Isaac is very attached to the man who’s become Gary’s partner. Secretly, Gary’s relieved. Suppose Isaac HADN’T gotten used to or bonded with Ash while Gary was busy trying to remember how to play the romance game?
“Hey…~” Ash’s fingers sift through Gary’s hair, and any leftover tension from the work day prior easily is forgotten. “Y’know, I’m not usually the type to make stupid puns...but you look pretty sappy , Oak.”
The shorter man pretends to gag, rolling his eyes. “Disgusting.”
“You really do, though. What’re you thinking about?”
And Gary could continue on in their mildly joking manner...but instead, he gives in and says what’s really on his mind. “You always seem to be right here when I need you. For everything. So I think you sort’ve belong here, now.”
“...What, really?”
“No foolin’.” He promises the trainer. “So...thank you.”
The couch creaks a little as it shifts; Gary has the foresight to turn his head slightly and accept Ash’s kiss before it lands on his cheek instead of his lips. They linger that way for a few moments, and even after they pull away from one another there’s no more chatter. The silence is comfortable, and speaks volumes where they don’t feel the need to.
Gary Oak is twenty-five years old, and he has finally found exactly what he needs.