Work Text:
“Ash, can I ask you for something?” Gou said to his boyfriend one morning
“Sure, what is it?”
“I want to go to the Reflection Cave”
“You certainly love that place, don’t you?”
“Yep, but I want to go to see one specific crystal” Gou commented, and the sad tone of voice gave Ash a clue of what he really wanted, still, he remained silent and Gou continued
“I need to know what happened after what we saw, I know there are not us, but I want to…”
Ash got up from his chair and hugged his boyfriend, placing a soft kiss on his forehead
“You care about them, even if they live in another universe”
“It’s that too stupid?” Gou asked with a whisper and Ash smiled
“You caring for everyone it’s one of the reasons why I fell in love, you dummy” Ash responded, kissing Gou again “You have an idea of which crystal we have to see, right?”
Gou nodded eagerly, for once, his photographic memory was useful for something…
Alternate Gou said to himself that he was fine without Ash, over and over again, for the past three months. And if the news were any indication, Ash was fine too, taking great leaps in the World Championship, with the goal to face Leon one more time.
So, if things were fine, why was he tracking down Ash throughout the Unova Region? Why he felt a rush of excitement when he found out in which Pokemon Center his ex-boyfriend was spending the night?
Easy, because things weren’t fine at all, and because no matter how many discoveries he made, and how many fame he had as a researcher, none of that could be compared with the excitement and joy Ash Ketchum brought to his life when they were together.
He was going to see him one last time (for real, he swore to himself, just once more) and then they’d separate forever.
But of course, he wasn’t ready to face Ash in the flesh, fearing that perhaps those old feelings would resurface and he started to cling out to him like he did in the past. If he was going to see Ash, he had to do it under his own terms.
He went to the Pokemon Center, remembering that Ash always liked to sleep in a room with an outside view and after a few seconds of flying around, he finally found him, resting with Pikachu by his side. He had a new shirt on, not Pikachu, not Charmander, not a volcano, not any of those shirts Gou knew he liked to use during their trips, even the cap that was at the side of the bed wasn’t the same that he used to wear.
“Maybe he finally moved on” Gou whispered to himself
“Mu…” the Pokemon carrying him responded, and Gou looked down
Musharna was staring at him intently and Gou caught the message, he came this far for one final rendezvous, he couldn’t go back now…
Gou supposed he also had to thank Ash for teaching him how to understand his Pokemon; he patted Musharna’s back and ordered:
“Use Dream Mist”
The Drowsing Pokemon covered his trainer with a pink mist and Gou lost consciousness for a second, while Musharna blew the mist through the window, then, the boy entered Ash’s dream…
When Gou opened his eyes, he found himself in a familiar place. Most specifically, inside Ash’s house, he looked around, but not for long, the trainer was sitting in the frame of the window, outside the house, looking at the night sky. Gou was going to get out when he noticed Ash wasn’t alone. A figure was sitting at his side, but looking at him (or her?) from behind; Gou didn’t have any idea of who that person could be.
It was like that person was out of focus, whoever it was, it looked eerily similar to a shadow, and for a moment Gou thought Ash could be having a nightmare.
Determined on helping his past lover, Gou knocked on the window, but neither Ash nor the other presence seemed to notice the noise, Gou tried harder, but stopped as soon as Ash started to talk:
“Hello again” Ash said looking at the shadow, even from the other side of the window, Gou could hear him
The Vermillion City boy worries disappeared when he saw Ash smiling at the shadow, and even taking its hand.
“Hi” the shadow simply replied
Ash smiled again and the scene changed quickly. The sun appeared on the horizon and in a matter of seconds, started to shine brightly in the middle of the sky.
“You missed me?”
“That’s a very difficult question” the shadow said and Gou noticed it was a boy
“I’d really like to know”
“When was the last time?”
“A few days ago, so, did you miss me or not?” Ash insisted
“It’s not the same of course, but I learned to live without you”
Night fell in a matter of seconds, and some dark clouds appeared on the horizon
“Your turn” the shadow continued “Did you miss me?”
“A little” Ash confessed “But, if you think about it, it doesn’t hurt too much if I think of what I gained”
“What is that?”
“Well, for starters, I couldn’t focus back then, nothing seemed to work, I would lost every battle and no matter how hard I tried, the outcome would be the same every time”
“What about now?”
“Since…” Ash doubted for a second, but still continued “that thing happened, I feel more relaxed, like I’m free of a burden, like I can do anything!”
“Oh” the shadow said
“No offense, but I think leaving you was for the best. For both of us”
“It hurts me a little bit” the other boy said “But you are right”
Gou analyzed the figure and realized something wasn’t right. Sometimes, the shadow seemed like the one of a man, some other times, he was more like a little kid. Who was he? And why was Ash so focused on him?
“Are you… dancing with someone else?” Ash asked out of nowhere, and Gou noticed the trembling in his voice
“Are you?” the shadow countered
“Maybe”
“Then maybe I am too. What about the things we used to do together? Are you sharing those moments with someone else?”
“Some afternoons looking at the sky…”
“Sharing some ice cream every once in a while” the shadow added
“Strolling down the coast until the sunset, nothing special” Ash commented
Gou couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when Ash said that. Who was the other presence? Another former lover, maybe someone Ash met after they separated? Intrigued, the boy kept listening
“Nothing special at all” the shadow confirmed and started to fade away. Gou took his chance and knocked the window again
And this time, Ash turned around
“Gou?” the trainer asked, raising an eyebrow
“Hi…” the Vermillion City teen said, he noticed how his breath hitched, how his pulse accelerated, and in his hesitation, he was only able to put a hand on the window. Ash repeated the action and smiled.
And in that moment, the shadow reappeared by his side. This time, however, Gou noticed the features, the pointy black hair, the deep blue eyes, that voice that make him sound like he was always angry or annoyed.
It was him. The shadow was a copy of him.
“Wanna dance?” the shadow offered, and Ash took his hand
“Ash!” Gou shouted, at the verge of tears “That’s not me! I’m here!”
But the Pallet Town trainer was focused on the shadow.
“Can we talk for a little more? There’s something I want you to know”
“Sure, tell me”
“I met someone” Ash said and the real Gou stared at him, incredulous
“Seriously?”Shadow-Gou questioned “What’s his name?”
“He makes me happy, that’s all you need to know” Ash said, and Gou’s heart fell to the floor
The boy from Vermillion City couldn’t help but to cry after hearing those words, was their relationship really over? Was this crazy adventure of his pointless?
Gou knew Musharna’s Dream Mist acted for a determined time, so there was no way to ask his Pokemon to get him out now. He stared at the window, forcing himself to keep hearing what Ash had to say…
“I mean, I met someone else too, I met lots of people actually” the shadow said
“That’s not true!” Gou screamed, at the top of his lungs “I never met anyone! There’s no one like you, Ash!”
“Then you should take every chance you can” Ash suggested “I’m sure the right one for you will appear eventually”
“Feels great to get that out of my chest” the shadow said
“I’m feeling great too, it’s not the same without you, but I made some progress on the World Championship, me and Pikachu are connected like never before, I think I am…”
“Finally over me?” Shadow-Gou asked
“Maybe” Ash admitted “Maybe I realized that our adventure ended. After all, that’s what always happens, right? I go on to a new Region, meet new people, try to do new things, and then I repeat the process, over and over again”
The shadow nodded, and Ash continued:
“So that’s what happened. I left you all alone because I realized I didn’t deserve you and I never had the courage to confront you about that”
“You do deserve me…” the real Gou exclaimed from the other side of the window, and Ash heard him
“No I don´t” and looking at the shadow, he commented “So please Gou just let me go…”
The shadow faded away once more, but Ash continued:
“Always doing the same… Always saying ‘goodbye’ or ‘until we meet again’ or ‘see you soon’ but Gou… You were the only one who I could never say goodbye to… It would have hurt so much”
“It hurt me more when you didn’t say goodbye” the real Gou said without thinking
“I thought you left” Ash said, and Gou realized the trainer was now staring at him
“You really think that shadow was the real me?”
“Are you the real you?”
“Duh, of course I am silly!” Gou exclaimed and suddenly he remember that one of the things he loved the most about Ash was that child-like attitude, the one that Koharu always said was simply stupidity
“You can’t be real”
“Why not?”
“Because I always dream about you, Gou” Ash confessed “I’ve been having this exact same dream for years now and when I woke up, you’re not there”
“I promise to you I’m real”
“Then there’s so much I want to tell you…” Ash commented
“I heard it all by now” Gou interrupted “But there’s something I really want to know”
“What’s that?”
“Did you really meet someone else?”
The Pallet Town trainer fell silent, so Gou pressed for an answer
“If that’s what happened, then I don’t know what I’m doing here, if you have someone else in your life, then I don’t want to break your happiness, I don’t want to make you remember a sad past if your present is bright and happy…”
“I never fell in love again” Ash quickly said, cutting Gou off
“Oh…”
“How could I? No one understands me like you; no one is able to keep my pace, to support me in every step of the road, to cheer me up even if I lost a hundred battles in a row”
“You lost a hundred battles in a row?” Gou questioned, genuinely curious
“It’s just an expression” Ash countered “I’m not so bad”
“Of course you’re not”
“But it’s not the same without you”
“So, the things you said to that shadow”
“Every night, I keep telling to myself that I don’t need you, that I’m fine with you, that if I want to see you again, then I could simply dream about you and that would be enough”
“Is it enough tho?”
“Never, which made me realize I don’t want a dream” Ash confessed
“What do you want then?” Gou asked
“I want the real thing”
“Then wake up” Gou said, knocking the window again
And Ash Ketchum opened his eyes
He looked at the time:
04:51 AM
DECEMBER 21ST, 2025
Ash glanced around the room and let out a long breath. His mind was playing tricks on him again. Gou wasn’t there; the only companion he had was Pikachu, snoring loudly at his feet.
Suddenly, a sound caught his attention. A sound he heard before, but… Where?
He closed his eyes, trying to remember when he heard that sound, why it sounded so familiar…
The light knocking appeared again and a voice caught Ash unguarded
“Just look outside, you idiot!”
Ash did that and gasped, floating on a Musharna outside of his room, there he was, the boy of his dreams, the love of his life, smiling at him. He rushed out of his bed and opened the window. Musharna floated away, but just a few centimeters. Ash extended his arm and discovered Gou was out of his reach.
“So, what are you going to do?” The other teenager teased “Will you jump?”
“For you? Of course!” Ash quickly replied, standing on the edge of the window
Gou acted faster and jumped first, knocking Ash back inside his bedroom and falling on top of him.
“You came back…” Ash whispered, looking at those loving blue eyes
“I had to” Gou admitted “I can’t live without your unpredictability, your craziness, your kindness”
Gou kissed Ash on the lips, quickly letting him go. The trainer frowned, desperate to get more after so much time of separation…
“I can’t live without your kisses” Gou finally confessed
A movement at his right caught the attention of the Vermillion City boy.
“Oh, hey Pikachu” Gou saluted, smiling at the awakened yellow creature “Guess… I’m back”
“Pika!” the Pokemon shouted happily, jumping to Gou’s shoulder. Ash took his (now again) boyfriend’s chin and forced him to look at his eyes
“You’re back… for how long?”
“I’m not really sure” Gou said, kissing Ash again
“But I’m aiming for… forever”
“And they lived happily ever after” the Ash from outside the mirror commented, looking at Gou, wrapped up between his arms
His boyfriend looked up and kissed his cheek, causing a blush
“Thank you for coming with me?”
“I know you said you wanted to be sure they ended up together, but… There was another reason why you wanted to come, right?”
Gou simply nodded
“What was it?”
“It’s not enough for me to love you right here, right now” Gou replied “I need to be sure I love you in every possible universe, in every possible timeline”
“Seems like that’s exactly what’s happening” Ash confirmed
The couple took a look around them, at the multitude of mirrors and crystals reflecting their image.
It didn’t matter if they were young, or old, or boys, or girls, or humans, or Pokemon…
Through thick and thin, friendship and romance, sadness and joy...
Ash and Gou always ended up together.