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1 –
“So, what are we supposed to be?” Ash asked Gou one morning during breakfast
His partner was too busy checking on the latest news of the Galar Region, so he didn’t pay much attention to the question.
“What do you mean?” He wondered, sipping some orange juice
“You know” Ash explained “Are we friends, colleagues, partners… lovers?”
Immediately, Gou choked on his drink. He swear he saw Mr. Mime having the same reaction with his invisible drink, and he was completely sure he heard Pikachu and Scorbunny laughing in the background
“Why would you say such a thing?” Gou pondered
“I need to know. I mean, we confessed to each other, but it’s not like we were together for years”
“I guess…” Gou said, acquiring a deep shade of red “We’re… a couple”
“That would mean boyfriends, right?”
“Obviously, Ash”
“Can you say it?”
“Say what?”
“The word. Can you say… boyfriend? Or are you embarrassed of me?” Ash plead
Gou saw right through him. He knew he was pretending, but still, he decided to play along.
“I’m constantly embarrassed by you and your antics, Ash Ketchum” He said “Still, I love you, and I love being your boyfriend”
Ash immediately sat up with a toothy grin, pressing a button on his phone and running outside the room, shouting:
“Koharu! He said it! I’ve got proof!”
“It’s too early for this shit” Gou commented to no one in particular, blushing deeply and knowing Koharu would mock him, the guy with no friends and who never display any sort of emotion, until the end of times…
2 –
Another day, Ash and Gou were accompanying Koharu to school.
“Hey Gou, what kind of cheese do dragons like?” The girl asked.
“I’ve got no idea”
“Goodra”
Ash let a small laugh and commented:
“Didn’t know you liked Poke-puns Koharu. You could say that was Onix-pected to me!”
“You’re Absol-utely right I love them!” She said “You know what kind of bread gives you nightmares? Dark rye!”
“What did Chikorita say during Halloween? Chik-O-Treata!”
“What do you call a fossil Pokemon owned by Officer Jenny? Kabu-cops!”
“Are you done?” Gou asked, exasperated with so many bad puns
“Oh come on Gou” Koharu replied “Don’t be such a Grumpig!”
“Yeah” Ash insisted “Maybe a little Smoochum will change your mood”
Gou tried to reply something, but froze mid-place as soon as he saw Ash winking at him.
“What happened Gou?” Koharu teased “There’s no Shaymin admitting you liked what Ash just said”
“Maybe I could Raichu a love letter” Ash suggested
Koharu laughed and elbowed his friend, adding:
“I can leave if you Swanna spend some time with him alone”
Ash took a step in front of his boyfriend and whispered:
“You are asking Furret”
And that was it. Gou hid his face between his hands, unable to contain his blush, which only deepened when Ash admitted:
“You look so Cutiefly when you blush”
Ash gave Gou a quick peck on the cheek and started to laugh again as soon as his boyfriend said:
“Aw, Shuckles…”
“That was a really bad one” Koharu concluded
3 –
Three words. That was it. That’s all Ash Ketchum needed to make him go crazy.
Gou was brushing his teeth like every morning, and, like every morning, Ash entered the bathroom, hugging him from behind and kissing him on the cheek, saying
“Good Morning, Gou”
And then, like every other morning, he started brushing his teeth while Gou tried to stop the blush creeping in his face, failing miserably.
4 –
Gou still wasn’t used to public displays of affection. Even after two weeks of dating, he couldn’t help but wonder what people may think when they see two boys holding hands, or looking at each other lovingly or enjoying an ice cream together in a park, like they were doing right now.
“What are you thinking?” Ash questioned suddenly
“Nothing important” Gou replied
“I know when you are lying to me, you know?”
“It’s just… I really wish I could kiss you right now…”
“What’s stopping you?”
“Maybe is the fact that this city is not so… How can I say it?”
“You mean that is full of homophobic dumbasses, right?” Ash said, almost spiting the words
“Right… And I don’t want to cause you any trouble”
“I wouldn’t mind a kiss right now” Ash suggested
“The last thing Professor Sakuragi needs right now is a bunch of citizens protesting against his new researchers.”
“What do you mean?”
“He isn’t an experienced or respected Professor in the community. Not yet, at least. We shouldn’t put him in the center of a scandal just because we wanted to kiss”
Ash simply nodded, and Gou concluded:
“There’s a time and place for everything, I suppose…”
“Yeah…” Ash agreed, disappointed “I guess we’ll have to wait a few hours, at least until we get to the plane...”
Gou blushed at the thought. A silence felt between the two of them, but Ash quickly cut it with a shout:
“Look! Over there!”
Before Gou could react, Ash jumped between a couple of bushes and repeated:
“Gou! Look at this!”
Knowing it had to be something interesting if Ash was so excited; Gou imitated his movements and landed right beside him. He was lying there, smiling.
“Sorry for tricking you…”
MWAH!
They stayed there for about five seconds, completely covered in leaves and trying to move around, despite the uncomfortable position they were in. Like every other kiss they had until that point, they melted into it, ignoring the outside world and simply enjoying the feeling.
Finally, Ash got up; Gou followed quickly, the blush in his face evident as many other times.
“Sorry. I couldn’t wait.” The trainer admitted sheepishly, looking around “You think someone noticed something?”
“You think I care?” Gou replied, catching his breath.
1 –
“Garchomp, use Earthquake!” Jessie commanded to his brand new Pokemon
Pikachu tried to dodge the attack, but it was useless, the earth crumbled around him and Garchomp took his chance, slashing him with its sharp blades.
“Go Jessie Go!” James chanted, with his Beartic fainted at his side, excited at the prospect of finally beating the unbeatable yellow rat.
After another direct hit, Pikachu went up flying; Ash rushed to his side, knowing this battle was very close to being over. Suddenly, a voice behind him cried:
“Scorbunny! Use double kick!”
A ball of white fur launched himself directly at the Land Shark Pokemon, who not only dodged the attack, but countered it, once again, using its blades.
Scorbunny landed right beside Gou, fainted. Ash turned around angrily:
“Gou, what are you doing?”
“I’m trying to help you!”
“I told you to stay behind!” Ash countered quickly “I don’t want you to get hurt”
“Oh…” Gou whispered. Ash approached him and put a hand on his cheek, saying:
“Seriously, I couldn’t forgive myself if you got hurt”
“Errr… We’ve got a battle to finish, brat boy!” Meowth shouted
Jessie punched the Cat Pokemon in the head
“Shut up! Just look at that!”
“You think I want you to get hurt?” Gou responded
“You don’t need to fight my battles, Gou”
“But I want to help you!”
“About that…”
“Oh, I see” Gou said, visibly offended “So you mean we’re too weak to help you”
“Don’t twist my words like that!” Ash complained
Neither he nor his boyfriend noticed Jessie approaching them
“What’s going on here?” She asked, with James, Meowth, and even Wobbuffet looking behind her with curiosity
“Nothing of your business” Ash replied bitterly
”Don’t talk to her like that!” James intervened “We´ve followed you for at least eight regions for Arceus knows how many years! We know when something’s going on!”
“Just let’s finish our battle” Ash suggested, noticing Pikachu was up and almost ready to go again
“Sure you don’t want to finish your argument first, brat boy?” Meowth said, snorting
“Gou should know…” Ash said looking at his boyfriend “That I don’t consider him weak but I also don’t want him and his Pokemon getting themselves in harm’s way”
“And Ash should know…” Gou replied “That I’m going to fight by his side if I consider is necessary”
“Jeez I don’t remember when was the last time one of your friends worried about you so much. It’s making me sick” James commented
“Yeah, you two sound like a couple on their first date, getting all lovey-dovey” Jessie added mockingly
“Thanks!” Gou chimed in, thinking that last phrase was a real compliment “Actually it’s our sixth date!”
“WHAT?” The Rocket Trio shouted in unison
“Why would you say that?” Ash protested with a red hint on his face
“Why? You’ve told me countless times I shouldn’t be afraid of telling others about us!”
“But why would you tell that to our enemies?!” Ash complained, his blush a little more evident this time
“Stop. Just stop for a second.” James interrupted “When you said ´sixth date´ you meant like a play date, right?”
“No…” Gou responded quietly, ignoring Ash’s complaints
“Maybe it’s like a battle date” Meowth considered, pointing at Ash “He never stops fighting and training and all that stuff”
“No…” Gou repeated “It’s not like that either”
“So you two ARE a couple” Jessie concluded
“Yes” Gou responded with a smile, taking Ash’s hand. The raven haired boy, his face red as a tomato, looked up to the trio and said:
“Ok, go ahead! Mock me!”
“What?” Jessie asked
“Mock me! Laugh at me! Taunt me! Threat me with kidnapping Gou! See?” Ash added, looking directly at his boyfriend “This is why I didn’t want you to say anything to them. As soon as they get a chance, they will use you to get Pikachu somehow. That’s all they care about”
Once again, Ash couldn’t hide the blush in his face when he added:
“I want you to be safe and sound Gou, in every way possible”
“You can’t protect me forever…”
Ash threw his arms around his boyfriend and put his head on his shoulder:
“I want to…” He said sadly, stroking his hair “I love you, Gou”
And that was when the other boy broke. It wasn’t the first time Ash said those three magical words to him, but it was the first time he said them with such conviction, with such certainty…
Ash had an unfair advantage over him. Every single day of his life he was kind, sweet, and caring. To his Pokemon, to his friends, even to complete strangers.
But when Ash was kind to him, Gou couldn’t help it. And this time, his reaction was not a blush. He simply let go a few tears, knowing that Ash would always be there for him. He would be there for him too; he would help him in his battles, even if Ash disliked the idea. But that was a discussion for another time.
Ash smiled at Gou and wiped the tears from his face, until both boys realized they still had an unwanted audience in front of them.
“I know we usually kidnap Pokemon” Meowth commented, completely ruining the atmosphere “But the twerp’s boyfriend could give us a chance to get Pikachu”
“Our motto does say ´To denounce the evils of peace and love´” James added
“Oh cut it off you two” Jessie demanded. She approached to Ash and said:
“You two make a lovely couple”
“Huh?”
“I’m trying to be nice to you, twerp.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve had my fair share of heartbreaks in the past, I know how much it hurts, and I’d hate to cause another one, even to an enemy. We won’t touch him, I promise”
“We won’t?” Meowth and James protested
“I said cut it!” Jessie shouted, silencing them completely “Now back off, we’re leaving”
“But Pikachu is right there! We may never have another chance like this!”
“Call this a onetime truce. Don’t get used to it, twerp” Jessie said, ignoring her partner
“I… We won’t” Ash responded, correcting himself
“We’re leaving. Now”
Without a second thought, the Trio and their Pokemon turned around, got inside their balloon and flew away from the scene
“Until we meet again, brat duo!” Meowth shouted before they disappeared completely
“It could have been worse” Gou commented, cradling a sleeping Scorbunny in his arms
“How?” Ash questioned, giving Pikachu a berry
“He could’ve said brat couple, or brat boyfriends, or brat lovers, or…”
“Shut up!” Ash responded, snorting and blushing again