Work Text:
I Just Want You
“There’s a trip I want to do… but it means I’ll be gone a long time.”
“How long is a long time?”
“Six months.”
“That sounds more like a journey than just a trip.”
“It is.”
“What region?”
“Calusa. It’s a ways south of Unova. I’ve been there before.”
“You just quit university and now you want to go on a journey alone on the other side of the world… Should I be worried?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay... I trust you. Just be safe, alright?”
“I will. I promise.”
… … …
Gary’s mind was blissfully blank and, for once, it had nothing to do with Ash doing something to him with his hands or mouth. It had been a good day. Tiring , but good. He had covered a lot of miles today – this week – and had finally made it to the location he had most been looking forward to in this stretch of the journey.
The end of the region. The mainland portion, at least.
There were several islands and keys he could travel through to get to the actual southernmost point of the region, but that would extend his journey by a few weeks, depending on how he traveled. There wasn’t time for that. He had already stretched out the journey as long as he could, and his flight back home – back to Kanto and, more importantly, back to Ash – was in five days. He would enjoy a few days here before making his way to the nearest city before finally heading home.
Calusa hadn’t exactly been the easiest to navigate with all of its wild spaces, but there was something about this region that he found enchanting. The towering cypress trees with their fresh scent – like a soft, floral sort of pine. The flowers that sprouted everywhere, even in the water and far up in the trees. The water, even though it was never-ending and it felt like he hadn’t been properly dry since he stepped off the plane. The fresh air and the scent of humidity and earth and petrichor, of sunshine-warmed cypress and moss. It was always fresh and alive, never stagnant or stale. Gary loved it.
As ancient and primeval the place felt, it was ever changing and Gary never quite knew what to expect next. The trail could be winding through ancient oak trees dripping with moss one moment and crossing through a swamp just around the next bend, only to bleed seamlessly into a wet prairie. The sky could be sunny and clear but open up in a sudden rain shower out of nowhere, there could be a terrible thunderstorm one minute and perfectly calm sunshine not even five minutes later – he’d even had it rain on one side of the trail but not the other! The region was alive with a sort of spontaneity that reminded him of Ash, in a way.
Maybe that was why he was so enamored with this place.
And all of that wasn’t even considering the pokemon!
They were as varied as the region itself, found in multitudes everywhere he looked. Some were beautiful, others rather adorable, and some scary. He’d watched them and enjoyed them, photographed them and wondered about them, but didn’t study them, catch them, or battle them. Instead of a laptop and field book and pokeballs, he had a journal and a camera. Instead of a full team of rotating pokemon ready for battle, he had a small team of important companions picked specifically for this journey and the environments he would encounter along the way: Blastoise, Umbreon, Pidgeot - his first caught pokemon.
No research. No training. No expectations.
Only a trail to follow with plenty of places to explore along the way.
This was what he had needed.
Back out in the wilderness, walking for miles and miles, simply taking in his surroundings.
This was exactly what he had needed after the last year.
University had been an abject failure - unable to focus, stuck in one place, somehow incapable of making it to lecture, somehow failing classes where he knew the material as well as the instructor. Nothing had gone right. He’d even failed a lab because he couldn’t stop throwing up during dissections, so he’d stopped going.
He’d been miserable the entire time.
Dropping out had been one of the hardest decisions he had ever made and he had never felt lower than he did when making that decision. The pressure to live up to the family name seemed to press in from every angle, save perhaps for his grandfather and Delia, and Ash and their friends.
Feeling lost and dejected, he’d hardly strayed from his bedroom back at his grandfather’s place in Pallet for weeks. It had taken the combined efforts of Ash and Tracey to drag him out of the house and down a long trail through Pallet’s wilderness until they reached one of the lakes they sometimes trained at. The surprise – and forced – four day camping trip hadn’t solved anything but it had at least reminded him of the things he loved most. The outdoors, pokemon, adventure, and… Ash.
It was why he had decided to drop out in the first place.
The trip was a reminder that he couldn't just sit and dwell on failure.
But the problem was, he had no idea what the next step was. He could continue the freelance sort of field work he had been doing but that would only get him so far for so long without a degree. He wouldn’t ever be able to move up in the research world… but then again, he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
Gary wasn’t sure what he wanted anymore. Academia definitely wasn’t for him and he wasn’t ready to face the research community with field work just yet. As much as he loved working with his pokemon and as much as he loved training with Misty and Tracey and battling Ash, he had little desire to return to the life of a competitive trainer.
“Perhaps a journey would help you clear your mind and find your way,” his grandfather had suggested.
The mere thought of planning a whole journey felt overwhelming at the time, but as soon as the suggestion had been made, the itch to travel was back.
After a few days of aimlessly scrolling through old photos from previous adventures and passively watching videos online of people out in the field in different regions – trainers, researchers, even just hikers and backpackers – he decided his grandfather was right. He needed time and space and to just be alone outside to figure out the next step. That had always been what he did in the past.
Ash had trusted him to know what was best for him and though it hadn’t been easy, Gary knew without a doubt that this had been the right call. He’d needed someplace far away, wild and remote, but not too remote. He’d been to Calusa twice before: once on a short trip for a conference and again when he had tagged along with Professor Ivy for a project she was helping out with. Both times he had left wanting more and hardly able to wait for the next chance to come.
When he opened himself up to his grandfather’s suggested journey, the decision had been simple. There had been an inexplicable draw to the region and he had given in.
The trail started at the northern border of the region, at a scenic beach with clear waters and sugar-fine white sand. It had been a beautiful day with inviting waves and rather than starting his journey as planned, he left his bag in the sand with a napping Umbreon, rented a surfboard and spent the day surfing. The first six miles of the journey were completed beneath a fading sun and a rising crescent moon, the first camp of the journey set up beneath the stars with Umbreon’s luminescence lighting the way for him.
That day had set the mood. As the trail snaked its way through cypress swamps and into hardwood hammocks, he took his time appreciating the bromeliads and airplants and the colorful flying types in the trees. When his campsite ended up being in a beautiful park with crystal clear springs and kayak rentals, he stayed and explored the forest-lined streams until he nearly ran out of food. After that, he stopped at every spring he could for a day of kayaking and another of relaxing. There was always another spring, river, lake, or beach to be explored and he paused at every one he came to, sometimes only for a break and a snack, sometimes just for the night, other times for days at a time.
For once, he could do exactly as he pleased, on no one’s schedule but his own.
No deadlines. No itinerary. No pressure.
No regrets.
When he found out he was a three day’s hike from the launch site for the rockets that sent astronauts into space, and that there would be a launch in just a few days, he flew Pidgeot to the shore and found a campground in a nearby preserve to stay until the launch. He spent the days surfing, fishing, and exploring the nearby museums about space and space exploration before seeing the rocket launch from his campsite on the water. When he paused at a park overlooking a river where a group of university students were sifting for fossils, he decided to camp there that night and spend the next day wading in the water in search of fossils too. He’d found a dozen teeth from ancient shapedo relatives and even a tooth from one of the region’s two feraligatr relatives.
It likely quadrupled the time it would take another seasoned traveler to complete parts of the trail, but Gary stubbornly refused to pass up something interesting without good reason and resisted the urge to count miles and compare progress. This wasn’t about meeting someone else’s expectations of how long it should take him – it was about finding himself again.
Giving in had been the theme of this journey: to wants, to impulses, to emotions, to junk food cravings. Maybe if he felt everything and gave in to every adventurous desire, he would figure something out.
And it worked. Sort of.
He’d at the very least worked out that he needed two things to be happy: freedom and adventure. No one embodied the latter quite like his partner, and Ash had always given him the freedom to do what he wanted, what he needed.
Ash was what he truly wanted. Forever.
He didn’t need anything else when he had Ash. There was no one to impress when he was with Ash, because Ash knew him – Ash saw him for who he was, not just for his last name. He didn’t need a degree or a fancy job or papers published under his name.
He just needed to be himself, and that was all he truly wanted or needed. Ash’s love was all just a wonderful bonus, and oh how he had missed Ash the whole way through.
Ash was the reason Gary’s mind was so blissfully blank right now.
“I have a surprise for you when you get to the end.”
“Uh-oh. Should I be worried?”
“No, I promise. Just trust me.”
Those words had gotten them lost in the wilderness plenty of times in the past, but Ash had trusted him enough to go on this journey alone when he really hadn’t been in great shape. So Gary would trust him with this.
Ash had instructed him to check in at the southernmost campground on a particular day, and so he did. Gary had known the campground was right on the Calusa Bay, one of the largest seagrass beds in the world and positively teeming with wildlife, and he had expected to be setting up his tent and camping just as he had nearly every night for the last six months. What he hadn’t expected was for the woman at the check-in booth to hand him a key and direct him towards a path that led to some fancy campground he had read about but hadn’t planned to stay in.
A boardwalk crossed over a mass of shore plants that snaked over the ground in a dense mat. As it approached the shore, the boardwalk snaked out into different pathways leading to large tents built upon platforms overlooking the water.
He found his tent number and headed down the winding boardwalk to it. The door was mesh but he could see where the canvas could be unrolled for privacy. Gary unlocked the little lock holding the zipper closed and unzipped it, pausing once he stepped inside. It was a pleasant surprise: the tent was made of a sturdy, heavy canvas with some sections unzipped and rolled up to reveal mesh openings that provided a view of the water. There was a bed – a cushy queen size at that – and a basket with towels for the showers. Gary left the mesh door open and dropped his bag next to the bed before turning his attention to the thing that he was most excited to see: the little porch that overlooked the water. He unzipped the mesh panel leading out to it, stepped back outside and immediately plopped down on the edge of the platform.
This was perfect.
It was warm and humid but there was a gentle breeze and the bay was only a stone throw away. A tiny path had been walked from the boardwalk to the shore and Gary would be able to reach that with just a few steps off of this little porch. The water was inviting but it would have to wait. He was ready for a short rest and was very much looking forward to taking a shower. He could walk along the shore and wade in the water later.
He released his pokemon and laid back on the floor of the platform, his feet hanging off the edge as he breathed in the salty air. There were bird pokemon chirping nearby and the breeze rustled the leaves in the few trees nearby. Gentle waves lapped at the shore and Gary closed his eyes, letting the peaceful setting take over his senses.
He awoke a short time later to a wet nose in his face. Absently petting Umbreon, he sat up and peered around. There was a group of the regional pelipper and wingull atop the bay’s smooth surface now but the sun hadn’t moved from its position in the sky. It hadn’t been long. Good – he still had plenty of time to explore, and he wanted to get out of hiking clothes and take a shower before he did that.
It turned out the showers had hot water, heated by solar panels on the roof of the bathrooms. It was a rare luxury with this sort of journey – it wasn’t like he had been staying in pokemon centers and hotels after all – and he savored every second of it, finally feeling clean for the first time in nearly a week. After changing into his spare clothes – a pair of board shorts and a t-shirt – he headed back to the tent, spread his hiking clothes and gear out on the little porch to air out, and immediately flopped down on the bed, nearly ready for another little nap.
The satisfaction of having reached the end of a journey was sinking in. He’d finally reached the southern terminus of the trail he had been following along the length of the region, He’d traversed the whole thing by foot, only using Pidgeot to fly over a few short sections that paralleled roadways, and had ventured off the trail over and over again, likely kayaking a distance near equivalent to the length of the trail itself. It was an impressive feat, even for a seasoned traveler – far more impressive than the badges he’d earned so many years ago.
Gary nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone rang – he had gotten so used to the lack of signal that he had all but forgotten that it could ring. He picked it up from the bedside table and grinned at the name on the screen, accepting the call without hesitation.
“Hi, Ashy-boy!” he greeted, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. Phone calls had been an exceptionally rare treat during this journey. He’d called every time he’d been in a town, but he’d stuck to the wilds and the parks as much as possible. Six months of weekly phone calls hadn’t been easy, but he’d sent postcards constantly and he thought about him nonstop.
“Hey, babe!” Ash couldn’t hide the excitement in his voice either. “Did you make it to the campground?”
“I’m in my tent right now. This place is awesome, Ash, thank you so much.”
Ash gave a relieved laugh. “Don’t thank me just yet,” he replied. “Which tent are you in?”
“Fifteen. Why?”
“Oh, no reason,” Ash replied airily. Gary didn’t believe him in the slightest bit but Pikachu’s voice cut in before he could say anything.
“Pipichu!” That cry was awfully clear to have come through the phone, and Ash’s laugh sounded…
Wait a minute… He hadn’t.
He couldn’t have.
Gary sat up on the bed to peer through the mesh door of the tent, which he had left open out of sheer laziness after returning from his shower. A flash of yellow was bounding through the field of shore plants, heading straight for his tent and further behind was Ash, attempting to wade through the thick plants without falling on his face.
Utterly speechless, Gary dropped the phone on the bed and ducked out of the tent. He rushed to the edge of the boardwalk and kneeled down to catch Pikachu right as the little guy leapt up.
“Pipichu!” Pikachu cried again, nuzzling his face into Gary’s chest, his little paws digging into his shirt.
Gary hugged him close, ignoring the tiny static shocks that were zapping him every few seconds. “I missed you too, buddy,” he murmured, throat suddenly tight as he looked up at Ash.
“Ash - how..?”
But Ash only grinned as he reached the boardwalk and reached out to cup Gary’s face in his hands, capturing his lips in a kiss so full of longing and relief that Gary could help but be utterly overwhelmed by love and adoration for the man in front of him.
Ash pulled away, his grin softened into a loving smile and he gently thumbed away the tears that Gary hadn’t even noticed he was crying. “You're not the only one with connections, you know,” he teased. His expression softened further as he looked at Gary with such tenderness that Gary couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “It’s so nice to see you smile again,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “Now c’mon, we’re getting ready to make dinner!”
Brain failing to keep up, Gary shook his head. “Dinner?” he echoed.
“Yeah!” Ash stepped to the side and gestured to the nearby picnic area, where there was a group of pokemon waiting around the fire pit – Ash’s pokemon, but with a special addition.
“Arcanine,” Gary breathed. His childhood favorite and one of his most cherished pokemon. He’d missed him almost as much as he’d missed Ash.
“Let’s go,” Ash pressed, grinning. He tugged at one of Gary’s hands and reached out to steady him as he hopped down from the boardwalk to the ground.
Gary followed Ash to the picnic area and, after a very exuberant greeting from Arcanine, called his pokemon over to join them. Seeing Ash again was like being bathed in sunshine after months of darkness, and as he helped Ash cook – burgers over the fire, with a baked apple dessert – he knew that the months of soul searching were leading him down the right path when he came to the conclusion that Ash was the most important part of his future.
Stomachs full and eager to explore, they walked along the shoreline as the sun set. The sand squished beneath their feet, fine and slick but soothing on tired feet and sore legs. Washed ashore sea grass mounded at the upper reaches of high tide several feet away from where they walked at the water's edge. It was surprisingly soft underfoot.
Exposed rocks were covered in green algae and the odd shell dotted the sand. Gentle waves lapped at the shore and a simple serenity flowed over him. Out in the bay, the mirror-like waters were broken occasionally by a fin or the tail fluke of a tursiops hunting among the sea beds.
It was the sort of peace few places could bring.
“You're gonna miss this place, huh?” Ash’s voice, surprisingly gentle and soft, shook Gary from his thoughts.
Gary nodded. “It’s an incredible region,” he admitted. Ash already knew that – he’d read his gushing about it in his letters and had heard it during their weekly calls – but Gary couldn’t help it. The scenery was beautiful and the pokemon incredible. Ash would love it too. “You’d probably love their gym challenge. The pokemon here are awesome.”
“Maybe one day.” Ash was quiet for a moment, hesitating. “Did it help you the way you hoped it would?” he finally asked, voice once again uncharacteristically soft.
Gary couldn’t help but lean in to steal a kiss at that kind voice. How he’d gotten by with a single call a week for six months, he’d never know. “It did… I know what I want now.”
“And?”
“You,” Gary answered confidently.
Ash’s grin was back, this time with a suggestive edge. “Well, after six months –”
“That’s not what I mean,” Gary interrupted, though his lips twitched into a smile regardless. “I want to spend my life with you.”
“Gary –”
“I just want our own place in Pallet and to keep traveling,” Gary kept talking, gasping Ash’s hands in his. “I don’t care if I never do another field project or if I work in my grandfather’s lab or fucking stay home and bake poffins – I just want you. I want this.”
Ash waited a moment, his smile kind and soft, eyes gentle and loving. “Are you done?” he asked. Gary nodded and Ash’s smile widened just a bit. “You’ve got me, babe. You’ve got all of it.”
“Yeah?” Gary had thought that would be the case – the first part at least – but he needed to be sure.
Ash’s smile turned soft again and he leaned in to press a soft kiss to Gary’s lips. “I would marry you first thing in the morning if that’s what you wanted. I just wanted my Gary back…” He closed his eyes, voice coming a bit choked when he spoke again. “I was afraid we would never see you again, but then I heard your voice in that first call and you were happy, Gary.” His eyes were watery when they opened and it was Gary’s turn to wipe away the tears. “You didn’t care about numbers or what other people thought, you were just doing what you wanted and… I’m really proud of you, babe.”
Not trusting his voice in the slightest, Gary responded by returning Ash’s kiss and giving his hands a gentle squeeze. “Thank you,” he murmured when he was certain he could get the words out.
Ash gave a shaky laugh and reached out to pull Gary into a hug. “It’s true.”
They stood there for a long while, each savoring being back in the other’s arms. It felt right. It felt like everything would be alright, regardless of what happened next. As long as they had each other, what else did they need?