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“This is, quite possibly, the stupidest idea you had in your life” a visibly annoyed Koharu commented, looking up to the ceiling.
“A little higher… Lower… Lower… Koharu shut up!... Great! Stay right there for a second, Scyther!” Gou commanded his Pokemon, who happily obliged, supporting the weight of his trainer mid-flight.
“You shouldn’t put it up there so high! Ash is never going to notice it!” His childhood friend protested, pointing at the mistletoe
“That’s exactly the point, silly” Gou replied descending with the help of his Pokemon and admiring his work “It’s a surprise”
“Another one I´m sure he’ll miss” the girl insisted
“Which is why I have a total of ten mistletoes strategically placed all around the lab” Gou explained
Since the moment his friend confessed to Koharu that he had fallen in love with the Trainer from Pallet Town, she watched every single of his “plans” to confess fail.
A romantic picnic outside the lab? Ruined by Ash’s Ketchum appetite. Looking back, at least the trainer had the decency to thank him for the food, but he never seemed to notice any of Gou’s efforts to confess.
A heart shaped carving with the initials G+A on a tree? Obliterated by a family of Pikipeks moments before Ash could see it.
Gou was getting more and more irritated with each failure. So this time, he simply hung up mistletoe on the ceiling and prayed for the best.
“I bet you 20 bucks Ash will not notice it. Neither this one, nor any of the others” Koharu said with a half smile.
“I would take that bet, but your father doesn’t pay us for our job as researchers” Gou countered “Now if you excuse me I have to prepare for tonight!”
The young trainer was gone from sight in a flash while Koharu whispered:
“Go for it, you irremediable idiot”
That night, as soon as Gou entered the living, he was surprised, to say the least.
The lab was packed with guests, selected by Professor Sakuragi and Ash himself. Gou didn’t mind the extra company, but he wasn’t used to being surrounded by so many people.
However only one person was occupying his mind at that moment. Ash Ketchum looked at him from across the room with that big, goofy smile of his. He was dressed in a blue outfit and Gou couldn’t help but notice that it suited him very much.
“Bonnie… Ssshhh!!” Ash exclaimed as soon as he saw Gou approaching him and his friends. “Gou these are my friends from the Kalos Region, Clemont and his sister, Bonnie”
“Pleasure to meet you” Clemont said, giving a handshake to Gou
Before he could reply, a little girl jumped in front of him, with a cheeky grin reminding him of a younger Koharu.
“Hi! I’m Bonnie! So you’re Gou! “
“Yes I’ve…”
“Not bad, not bad at all!”
“I’m sorry?” Gou questioned “What’s that supposed to…”
“Oh! Don’t mind me! And don’t bother introducing yourself! I know everything about you!” Bonnie interrupted, and then, with a mischievous look, added “Ash never stops talking about Gou!”
“Really?” Gou asked, genuinely surprised.
“Yep! Okay! Gotta run! I need to take a sip of that punch!” And with that final comment, Bonnie disappeared.
“Bonnie no!” Clemont shouted, running behind her, leaving Ash and Gou alone.
“Well, your friends seem to be…” Gou started
“A handful. Especially Bonnie” Ash completed
Before Gou could reply a brown blur invaded his line of sight and placed herself right in front of Ash.
“You forgot your mint, doofus” A girl chastised Ash, handling him the item and turning around to face Gou “Hi! I’m May! Hope you have a great night!”
In an instant, she was gone
“A mint?” Gou questioned “Why would you need a mint?”
“Just don’t ask”
“I wonder Ash…” Gou inquired, still surprised for the sudden appearance “Do all your friends jump to you out or thin air?”
“Curious expression” A tall, green haired guy commented, scaring Gou “I’d say Ash has a way to rub his explosive demeanor on us all. Cilan, pleasure to meet you”
“Likewise” Gou replied, still recovering from the shock
“Now Ash” Cilan added, grabbing his friend by the suit “Remember what I told you. At least for tonight, stay away from the entrée”
“But it looks delicious!” Ash protested, much to Gou´s amusement
“Young boy” Cilan commented showing his own suit “Repeat after me: Presentation is everything!”
Silence
“Come on. Don’t make me call our common friend…”
“Presentation is everything” Ash said, without conviction
“Much better. Now boys if you excuse me, I must retire”
“Please let’s never talk about this again” Ash said, visibly embarrassed
“Tell Ash to stop acting like such a kid! ” A girl shouted in the background
“Was that your common friend?” Gou asked
Ash simply nodded, and immediately added:
“Would you want to go outside for a while?. You know, as far away as possible from the eyes of my friends?”
“Sure”
Maybe the mistletoe won’t be necessary after all Gou thought. Maybe he could make a speech about how the light of the stars could only be matched by the light of Ash’s smile. Or how even in the darkest night he felt safe being by his side. Or…
“Something on your mind?” The raven haired boy, as usual, interrupted his train of thought
“Actually …”
Gou never finished the phrase. Two short-haired girls, one blonde, the other redhead, came out of nowhere (how surprising) and snatched his crush from his side. They took Ash to a corner and started chatting frenetically with him.
And that was when Gou’s mild annoyance became concern.
“No Serena, not yet…” Ash said
Was that… A blush on his face?
“What do you mean NOT YET?!” The other girl shouted
“Misty, for Arceus’ sake, leave me alone!”
Now that was definitely a blush on Ash’s face.
“Girls, please, it’s a tough choice…”
“A simple choice, you mean” Serena commented
“You better act quickly, before the others find out you STILL haven’t made up your mind” Misty added, pushing Ash back to Gou and waving at him
“Good luck!” Both girls said, running away from the scene
“Now that’s intriguing…” Gou said “What was all that about?”
“I…” Gou noticed how Ash hesitated for a second “I can’t tell you”
“Oh… Okay” Gou spoke, visibly disappointed
Both boys fell into a silence, and Gou wished for something, anything, to happen so the awkwardness could end.
A blue haired girl made his wish come true. But instead of speaking to Ash, she simply put a Santa hat on Gou’s head and commented:
“Well look at that! I was right! It looks great on you!”
“Thank you… I guess?” Gou replied
“Oh, don’t mention it. I’m Dawn, by the way “She said, turning around and facing her old friend “Say Ash, did you already”…
“No, I did not” He quickly responded “And it would be much easier if all of you didn’t interrupt me every five seconds. Would you tell the others to cut it off?”
“Can’t make any promises” Dawn confessed shrugging and promptly leaving
Before Gou could say anything else, Ash grabbed his hand
“Let’s go to our room” He said, not noticing Gou’s deep blush “At least we can be at peace in there”
They rushed to the place, but before entering Ash heard a few soft giggles.
“Not again” He whispered, facing his inevitable fate “Now what?”
As soon as they opened the door, both boys went into shock, but for very different reasons.
Gou thought he was witnessing some kind of Christmas miracle. Koharu was laughing. Not just smiling, or grinning, no, she was really, wholeheartedly laughing, chatting non-stop with other three girls (more of Ash’s friends, Gou supposed)
As for Ash’s, he was sure his embarrassment was going to reach critical levels as soon as he saw Lana, Lillie and Mallow in their room. The first of the three girls got up quickly
“There he is! The man of the night!” She said in a much excited manner, which reminded Gou of Bonnie’s previous antics “So…”
“Don’t ask” Ash said, putting a hand in front of her mouth. This action caused Lillie and Mallow to also get up really quickly. The green haired girl went up directly to hug Ash, which made Gou extremely jealous. 'How can they hug him and talk to him like is the most normal thing in the world, but if he says Hi! to me I immediately blush?' He wondered
“Tell us everything!” Mallow demanded
“Nothing happened yet! ” Ash responded “And nothing is going to happen if you keep insisting”
“Oh come on!” Lillie intervened “It’s easy. It’s just a choice! Pick a place, a line, and confess!”
“Aren’t you going to introduce me like you usually do?” Gou asked, trying to ignore the fact that Lillie just used the word “confess”.
“Lana, Lillie, Mallow” Ash began, sheepishly “This is Gou”
The three girls launched a screech that could only be described as a mixture between a firework, a car alarm and Pikachu launching a thunderbolt, all at the same time. Once again, Ash grabbed Gou’s hand (And once again, the other boy blushed) and dragged him out of the room.
“Where are we going now?” Gou questioned
“Away! Somewhere! Anywhere!” Was Ash’s cryptic answer
They went outside again, only to find a shirtless boy and his Marowak doing some sort of dance involving flaming sticks and bones. As soon as he noticed Ash’s presence, the boy smiled and gave him a thumb up.
“Nope” Ash said, turning around, knowing Kiawe was going to say something embarrassing if he stayed there
They passed in front of a mirror, and Gou realized he looked ridiculous with a Santa hat. He took it and tossed it aside. Ash was never going to take his confession seriously with that thing on his head. But most importantly, after all that happened tonight, why would he confess?
They rushed to one of the sides of the Christmas tree in the center of the lab, but as soon as Ash saw Clemont, Max and Sophocles tinkering with the Christmas lights, they left the place
“Nope!” The raven haired repeated
They went to the kitchen, where Misty offered them a drink
“A toast?” The Cerulean City Gym leader proposed
“They grow up so fast…” Both boys heard from behind them
In that moment, Ash realized Serena, Brock and his mom where watching them intently.
“Nope, nope nope. So much nope!” Ash shouted, bolting with Gou out of the room
“You can’t escape fate forever!” Gou heard Serena shouted
“I can try!” Was Ash’s answer before a thought crossed his mind “I’ve got an idea!”
Ten seconds later, Gou realized it was a really, really bad idea. Ash dragged him to the place below the stairs in the lobby. He knew that place very well, pretty quiet, away from any eavesdropping eyes
One of the problems was, it was also a very narrow place, which caused him and Ash to stay facing each other. Very close.
The other problem was the mistletoe hanging above their heads. Gou insulted silently, but thanked Ash’s natural obliviousness as he realized the trainer from Pallet Town didn’t notice the small green object.
“Peace and quiet. Finally.” Ash commented, with one of those smiles that made Gou’s heart leap.
“So…” The other trainer began “Can you tell me what was all that about?”
Ash’s smile disappeared from his face, and Gou cursed himself
“I don’t know how”
Trying to play detective, Gou commented:
“Obviously you and your friends have some sort of bet going on”
“Not a bet. They want to force me to do something”
“That doesn’t sound nice, especially if they are supposed to be your friends” Gou replied
“What if I told you I want to do that, but I’m too much of a coward to do it?” was Ash’s response
“You? A coward? In the last three months you did so much crazy things that it would be stupid to call you a coward!”
“Thanks Gou…” Ash said falling silent
“Why don’t you just try to get your mind out of whatever you’re thinking?”
“What do you propose?”
“I would say a Pokemon battle would be ideal”
“You do know me well”
“However, I’m afraid your friends would want to support you and…”
“And they would ruin everything, go ahead, say it”
“Why don’t you introduce them to me?”
“Gou, I think we already did that”
“Not exactly” Gou explained “You introduce me to them. But I don’t know anything about them. Talk to me about them, without having to face them”
“You really don’t want to hear me talking for hours non- stop”
“Oh, I could hear you all day and all night, Ash” Gou replied with a blush
So, Ash did exactly what Gou suggested. He mentioned the beginning of his journey, Misty’s short-tempered but caring attitude, Brock’s medical and culinary abilities, Kanto, the Orange Islands, Johto…
He talked about Hoenn, about May and her talent for contests, and Max’s uncontainable desire for learning and adventuring, their fights, their agreements, their rivals, the Battle Frontier…
He then went to Sinnoh, commenting on Dawn’s carefree look on life but at the same time, how she would not let anyone stand in the way to her goals, about Team Galactic and that time they almost destroyed the universe (That part had to be made up, although Gou did remember a strange occurrence in Mount Coronet, a couple years ago)…
Ash spoke in a different tone about Unova, the distinguished Cilan, the mocking and sometimes crazy Iris, the tall buildings, the big cities, his stupid mistakes in Gym battles, oh, how much he regretted those…
Then came the passion in Ash’s voice. The Kalos Region, the ingenious and inventive Clemont, the ideas, the plans, the explosions. The bubbly Bonnie, the rush, the craziness, the fun. The smiling Serena, the fashion, the sweets, the intensity of it all. Greninja, the fights, the struggles, the failure, the snowballs launched directly at his face. The League, the power, the speed, the strategy, the dream so close, yet so far. The crisis, the darkness, the separation, the great final victory!.
At that point, Ash took a deep breath. He let out a laugh.
And then he told Gou about Alola. Oh, Alola, where the sun never settled with Solgaleo at your side, and the Gods appeared just to dance around you. Lillie’s fears, Kiawe’s passion, Sophocles’ quick thinking, Mallow’s past and present, and Lana trying to catch a Kyogre because, why not? Anything could happen in Alola, he could get a family in Alola, he could witness a wedding, befriend an Ultra Beast, travel to another dimension. He could win a League in Alola. He did win a League in Alola! The first one in the history of the Region!
“And that’s the story, more or less” Ash concluded
He turned around and panicked as soon as he saw the tears escaping Gou’s eyes. He launched at him, and without a second thought, hugged him tightly.
“What’s wrong?” He asked
“How could they not…?” Gou responded
Ash looked at him; Gou was smiling, but still crying
“You touched so many lives” the boy explained “Met so many friends, did so many things, made so many people happy. How could they not fall in love with you, Ash Ketchum?”
“Love?” The trainer replied, a deep blush forming in his face “What are you tal…”
“Oh, I can see it in their faces” Gou interrupted “Maybe not all of them, but most of them, they do love you. Which explains the whole ‘making a choice’ thing .This is the perfect time of the year for a confession, and I guess you have to choose one of them. And here I am, thinking you could…”
“I could… what?” Ash questioned, still astonished.
“There are so many people in your life Ash” Gou said, evading the question for a moment “More talented, more beautiful, more charming and friendly than me. I must be at the bottom of the list”
Gou got up and tried to leave, but Ash grabbed his hand once again
“What if I said that I ‘ve made a choice?” The raven haired trainer commented, his face completely red “And I choose… you?”
“What?”
“You laugh at my jokes and my stupidity but never mock me for it. You accepted my help even when you could just dismissed it, you were with me, on top of a Lugia, in the middle of a field, about to be crushed by a Snorlax, and you never left my side”
“Well I…”
“And you learn from your mistakes” Ash continued, not even trying to hide his blush “you rush into action; you are always so full of energy. And you are so, so cute! And I noticed it, Gou…”
'He thinks I'm cute?' Gou thought, before asking: “You noticed what?”
“Some of my friends say I’m dense as a brick wall. But I can see things. The way you blush, or how you act, the picnic, the message in the tree…”
Ash sat again under the mistletoe and Gou did the same.
“And when I told my friends I had a crush on someone, and that I thought that someone felt the same way for me, they try to force me to confess. And they’ve been trying to do it the whole night, but I can’t, because I’m not sure. They know who he is of course, they now how hard these ‘say what you feel’ things are for me, but they still want to see me happy”
Ash took a deep breath and concluded:
“So I’ll just go ahead and say it”
The world stopped for a second
“I’m so glad you love me, Gou” Ash said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek “Because I love you too”.
Before Gou could react, Ash added, getting up: “Now excuse me for a second”
Ash took his hat out and started whipping the air around him.
“Stop using stealth mode! And stay away from us, for Arceus’ sake!”
Suddenly, Rotomdex appeared. He escaped from Ash’s hits and flew away to the other room, screaming:
“Guys, guys, zzt! I’ve got the whole thing on video, zzt!”
“Did you know that thing was there the whole time?” Gou questioned, as soon as Ash sat by his side again
“Yep” The other boy replied hugging him “But I didn’t want to stop mid-confession. Now… about those mistletoes you’ve been hanging around…”
For all response, Gou kissed Ash on the lips. Softly at first, then harder as soon as he felt Ash’s hand around his neck. It was his first kiss, and he planned to enjoy it as much as his lungs could hold (which it was, surprisingly, a lot)
As for Ash, after so many years of travelling, this wasn’t his first kiss. But it certainly was the best. He separated his lips from Gou and whispered
“Merry Christmas, Gou”
“Merry Christmas, Ash” he replied, kissing his boyfriend again.