For the first time in what seemed a long time, Ash's consciousness came to him slowly and comfortably... maybe because he hadn't dreamt of anything. He felt warm and safe, snuggled into the cradle of blankets, arms and skin, the faint scent of smoke and hair gel.

"Hey, Ash," a low voice called into his ear. He reluctantly let out a short moan, hoping whoever it was would leave him to sleep. Despite that hope, he came a little closer to actual wakefulness, remembering he was at the con, remembering he had to share a bed, really hoping that he wasn't sharing it so intimately with Brock (again).

"Ashy-boy," the voice called again, a little more insistent.

Well, at least it wasn't Brock. But it meant that-- It meant it was him. And he was still here. Which meant that now, maybe...

"Ash!" he hissed with a shake. His eyes popped open.

"G-gary..." Ash began, a bit of amazement on his face.

"How nice to grace us with your waking presence," Gary remarked snidely. "Much as you may need your beauty sleep, we need to be at the panel in fifteen minutes, and you could really use a shower."

"Augh," Ash cried, grabbing his clothes and running to the bathroom. So much for the perfect morning. How could he be late for his very own panel? Well, he knew exactly how, but come on. He frowned at his reflection in the mirror, bleary-eyed with a toothbrush dangling from his mouth. Didn't he deserve a break? A reward for putting up with the stress of the last few weeks... heck, the stress of the last thirty-six hours? Just a nice little nap, only five minutes, really, it'd be so easy to just close his eyes and just... catch up... a little...

*Knock Knock*

What? What? He wasn't doing anything wrong! He wasn't sleeping, really! He was getting in the shower right now! Hear the water running?

Ooh, that was cold. He was certainly awake now.

Ash shivered, at least knowing there'd be no temptation to linger in the shower. His thoughts turned to the events that had caused him to not wake up in the first place. Last night had been nice. Really weird, but nice. And then he'd fought with Gary... that wasn't so cool.

*THUMP THUMP* "Better hurry up in there before somebody gets tired of waiting for losers who oversleep and goes to the panel by himself!" came nasally through the door.

Yeah... not cool. But then they'd talked some more. And then, after that... That had been... nice. He felt himself slightly dazed and blushing, even in the coldest shower ever with somebody banging on the door for him to hurry up. Such a happy time... It seemed so much like a dream...

*WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!* "If you don't get out of that bathroom in the next fifteen seconds, I'm going to rip out your intestines, wind them up, paint on a Pokemon League symbol and make you wear them as a fricking hat!"

Especially now...

"That's pretty harsh, Misty... I like it."

And people wondered why he never wanted to wake up.

+ + +

driving on the right
  by erin ellis
six: only for him

+ + +

In the end, they were only a little bit late; there was still plenty of time to meet everyone because true to con form, the panel before theirs was running late as well. AJ and his sandslash looked great; Richie seemed in good spirits, though he and Ash didn't exchange more than pleasantries, possibly (read: entirely) due to the happenings of the previous night; and Chantal, the new girl, seemed really nice. She actually reminded him of himself as a trainer starting out; eager, friendly, and a little overwhelmed. She was only thirteen, but had already placed in the Johto, Orange, and Canuck leagues. Even Gary looked somewhat impressed at that. Otherwise, preparations were set, and then it was showtime.

+ + +

"Great panel, eh guys?" Gary grinned. He was answered by several scathing looks.

Ash approached him stiffly. "Can I have a word with you? Now?" Gary shrugged and altogether looked way too placid as he followed him a couple paces away from the group. Now, Ash considered himself a flexible person; he could deal with a certain amount of uncertainty and confusion in his day-to-day life; but when he took the time to come up with a plan, and dressed up in a silly outfit and wore painful shoes to carry said plan out, it irked him -- just a little -- when things and people seemed to go against it. And so far, today was not going according to plan at all.

--Well, to be honest, the plan hadn't covered much past 'go with Gary to the dance in drag', which really gave little insight on what to do if he made up with Gary, much less made out with Gary... at least, not without some concrete action by the other party, all of which to date seemed to go against Ash's understanding of the previous night. By this point, the best-case scenario had involved Gary waxing poetic about raven hair and alabaster skin, while the worst case involved a fierce pokemon battle with neither Pikachu nor his official Pokemon League hat. Since real life didn't seem like it was going towards the former, Ash wondered why he hadn't instigated something more akin to the latter. And he really hated thinking about why he was doing (or not doing) something. So he told Gary so.

"You want me to talk about your alabaster skin? You should probably start using sunblock for that," he said, poking a finger into the tanned flesh of his chest just above the top button of his camp shirt.

"Don't touch me," Ash glared, certain parts of him wishing quite the opposite.

Gary blinked, looking slightly annoyed. "Geez... what crawled up your ass and died?"

"Wha-- you even have to ask?" His hands and mouth worked disjointedly for a bit. "You're unbelievable," Ash said, shaking his head.

"Yes, many of my achievements are inexplicable by normal means, but there is no magic at work... I'm just that good."

"No!" Ash exploded. "You're an unbelievable jerk! How could you be so horrible to me and everyone on the panel today? I didn't even do anything to profek-- prevo-- to make you mad!"

His companion began to look steamed. "What the hell'd I even do that was so wrong?"

+ + +

Gary hadn't walked in with him, having let his longer strides take him into the room before Ash. Ash tugged on his hat and sent a troubled look after him, but was cornered by Chantal before he could follow. The new girl introduced herself, greeting him with a friendly smile. "Ash Ketchum, eh? I've heard of you," she said with a slight French accent. "You were one of the youngest entrants to place in the Indigo League."

"Oh well, you know... Richie over there did better than I did," Ash had demurred, thumbing towards where the other boy was not quite not avoiding him.

"And humble as well. I like that. Tell me, what did you think when you were going to Indigo for the first time?"

"Well, I--"

"Chantal, was it? Don't listen to this loser. Ashy-boy may be all right when it comes to making nice with pokemon, but if you want to talk about winning badges, you'd better talk to me."

Ash had had to bodily prevent Pikachu from shocking Gary for that comment, and even then he seriously considered it for a moment. (It probably would've blown out the building's electricity, which always seemed to cause a big hassle and tended to attract the police).

+ + +

"You're mad at that? I even complimented you on your pokemon."

"Well, if that's a compliment, I'd hate to hear an insult!" Ash retorted.

"Okay, fine, fine, you didn't like me talking about your training skills," Gary said, throwing up his hands. "Next time, I just won't talk about you at all."

"Next time? What about this time, where practically every other word out of your mouth was some sort of insult to me or my pokemon?"

Gary waved airily, making a sound of dismissal. "Don't flatter yourself. There were plenty of insults to the others and their pokemon as well."

"That's... that's no excuse," Ash returned. "It wasn't supposed to be like this now. I thought--"

"What did you think?" the taller boy said, voice hard.

"I thought things would be-- Well, after last night, I figured it'd be okay to at least act civil to each other in public. I guess I'm not worth even that much to you."

"What the hell, Ash? You think that just because we kissed once I'm going to roll over and give you the title of Pokemon Master?" He shook his head, nostrils flaring. "I'll do you the honor of recognizing to your face that you've got a great talent. But I've worked too hard and too long to give up now, no matter how much--" He broke off abruptly, eyes flickering away and hand stealing to his pendant. "Just forget it," he bit.

Ash just stood there, stunned, as Gary turned and stalked off. What... what? Huh? When had he ever asked Gary to give up? ...Well, for real?

And then Ash scowled, starting after the teen before realizing he was already out of sight. He couldn't just leave. Ash wasn't done being angry at him yet! "That little--"

"Lovers' spat?" Misty said, voice this side of nasty. "Your boyfriend seemed in rare form today."

"Don't call him that!" Ash snapped. "He's not my boyfriend!" Perhaps that was more disappointed than angry.

"He's not? You seemed pretty close this morning, and the rest of the time you bicker like an old married couple."

"You could say the same about you two," Brock pointed out, approaching.

"Could, but won't," she said, an edge of ice in her voice. "I'm just saying, if you two aren't going out, something pretty sketch is going on."

"Sketch? Hey, I never did anything with Tracey. That's all lies," Ash cried, throwing up his hands.

The redhead stared, then grimaced, repressing a shudder. "If you weren't so stupid, I'd think you planted these images in my head intentionally. I have to go be sick now, so please smack yourself upside the head in my absence." Looking rather greenish, she excused herself, Brock laughing at her quick retreat.

"I didn't do anything with Tracey... I told you then, those sketches were planted by Team Rocket," Ash sulked.

"I know, I know," Brock said placatingly. "Tracey showed me the real ones. She meant that it doesn't seem like you two had things as sorted out as we figured you did this morning... Relationship with Gary still a little in flux?"

"No, I don't do that on the first date," he said somewhat archly.

The darker teen flickered annoyance. "Ash, I meant that you hadn't figured out what you're doing with Gary yet, and that's why you've been so uptight today."

"Oh-- right. I knew that. ...Right." Ash ran a hand through his hair, glad for the lack of ponytails. "I don't understand him. I'm not even mad anymore-- not really. Just--"

"Confused?"

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess," Brock explained, sounding way too innocent for Ash's own good. "Don't worry. Just give him some time-- he needs to cool off, and you can figure things out."

Ash hmmed mopily. "I guess there'll be plenty of time... maybe I'll see him at Christmas..."

"And maybe you'll see him sooner," Brock winked (no, really) enigmatically. "Oh come on, like your Mom is going to let him go without saying goodbye to everyone."

"If you say so," he said doubtfully. Mom could be pretty forceful if she wanted to, but Ash wasn't seeing why she'd make any effort to talk to Gary.

"Besides, last night Misty and Richie slashed his tires. Even if he tries to leave now, he won't get far."

Ash blinked. "Richie?"

"Yeah. He's really good with a knife." Brock sounded way too much like this was a normal occurrence. "I told you he wasn't just a goody-goody."

He didn't know what to think about that at all.

+ + +

Ash did know what to think about his mother, however. Mom was the best. Gaining the title as the first thing to actually look up in the day, she held a barbeque at the park nearby as a post-con celebration. It was a great surprise-- and great food too. Really, nothing made one feel better like freshly grilled meat. It smelled good, tasted good, and made a great peace offering to people you'd spent the past couple days making a fool of yourself to. And while Ash felt usage of the word 'fool' with Gary at least was a little strong (well, he'd used it to reference Gary in a few sentiments, but...), he still figured they could make peace.

...At least they could but for the lack of an important party involved. Mom and Professor Oak swore Gary was at the park somewhere, but Ash was having no luck in finding him. After the third time of asking if they were absolutely, positively sure Gary was around (he'd gotten a decidedly strange look this time and had to convince Mom he didn't want to fight him before running off), he sat heavily at a picnic table where Pikachu and Togepi had decided to guard the food.

"Hey, Pikachu. I haven't seen you much. I guess you've been off having fun?"

The little animal turned from its ketchup, giving it a last longing look before addressing him. "Pi pi kachu," it burbled.

"Yeah," Ash said, not even making a guess at what that meant. "I'm afraid I didn't do so well. I think I did some stupid stuff to people I care about."

"Pikapi pikachu," it chirped, an almost knowing expression over its furry face.

"Toge toge," Togepi agreed, tossing potato chips into the air with glee.

"There it is... oh!" Richie looked distinctly uncomfortable, taking off his cap and worrying its brim. "Uh... hey, Ash. I was just checking on Togepi for Misty."

"Hi." A nudge from Pikachu, and he pushed forward a platter of chicken and hamburgers. "Er, hungry?"

"I've already made a plate, thanks."

Another nudge. "So... uh..."

"Yeah. About last night..."

"Yeah... er..."

"...Right. You know."

They looked away, then turned to each other, cracking identical smiles.

+ + +

That's why Ash liked Richie... he knew how to talk like a man. He'd asked about his prowess with a knife, to which Richie had smiled, laughed, and immediately fled.

Misty had been almost as easy to make up with-- they understood each other just as well, even if they couldn't realize it most of the time.

+ + +

"Huh? Why can't you talk to me right here?" Misty asked, looking away from where she was divvying up chicken pieces with Richie.

Well, maybe they didn't understand each other that well after all.

"Because, it's sort of..." His eyes flickered to Richie. Good friend or not, Ash didn't want any more people to hear this than necessary.

"Oh God," Misty sighed, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Richie, get some chips."

"There are some right here," he said, pointing at the plate where indeed, a good portion of salt and vinegar chips sat.

"Get some more," she said, dangerously narrowing her eyes. "And check on Togepi. ...Please," she added, a jarringly angelic smile gracing her features. Ash almost choked; Richie flushed and ducked away.

"That... was frightening," Ash commented.

"What?" Misty asked, back to a wary look.

"You know, maybe you should be a little nicer to him... he's like a sensitive guy, with feelings and stuff."

"Please," she said haughtily. "I am so incredibly nicer to him than you could ever imagine."

Ash paused, feeling a little green. "I'm not sure I want to..."

"Not like that, you pervert!" she said, smacking him on the arm. "Well... maybe a little."

Ash really didn't think she'd needed to cackle that much. "And you talk to me about things you don't want to imagine..."

"You can't see a dorky kid like him with a beautiful and talented woman like me?" she said wryly.

"Well, I could, but I like Richie better than that," Ash returned.

"You also seem to like tempting death," she said, setting her plate on the picnic table and cracking her knuckles.

Ash backed up, hands raised. "No, no, that's not fair. I gave you a gift, you can't hit me yet. It was really good, too. I bet you didn't even open it."

"I did," she yelled, digging through her bag and eventually producing a crumpled box. "See? I'll open it right now!" Misty defiantly ripped the box open and instantly her foul mood dissolved. "Oh... it's beautiful," she breathed. It was a blown glass sculpture of a dratini cresting a wave. It was incredibly life-like, and reminded him of the sculptures done by that crystal onix guy they'd met in Johto.

"Yeah... Richie picked it out; said something about how it suited you. But it was my idea to get you something! I guess what I mean is, I'm sorry about earlier."

"Oh Ash, don't worry about it." She squeezed his hand, giving him a smile. Then she turned back to the knickknack, turning it in her hands to catch the light better.

About this time, Richie returned with hands full of chips and soda. "Hey," he called, not quite hiding the confusion in his voice. "How's it going?"

"Better, now that you're here," Misty said, voice dripping with... uh... something that Ash couldn't quite figure out and decided he didn't want to. Richie, predictably, did his best beet impression and stuttered a bit. "It's just so much fun making him do that," Misty smirked, giving Ash's hand a squeeze before rescuing foodstuffs from Richie's.

+ + +

Two down... and no sign of Gary. Mom had gotten to where she would just periodically shake her head in his direction, and Misty told him that his pacing was making her nervous so he'd better sit still and be quiet before she got mad at him again. Pikachu seemed to be in the same mood; they'd run out of ketchup and it seemed to be taking it personally. Brock would listen to Ash's worries, but would add on a desire for May, where could she possibly be?

Then she walked up.

"Hey there, squirt!" May waved. "Hi guys."

"Hi, May. Er... where's your brother?" Well... Ash had never been much at small talk.

She gave a dry smile, looking much like her younger sibling for a moment. "He's sulking over there," May said, pointing in the direction she'd come from. "I'll warn you, I don't think he's in the mood for a pokemon battle."

"Oh, that's okay, me neither," Ash replied automatically. May looked at him as if she expected him to say something else. "Oh-- er, thanks. Thanks a lot."

"No prob, squirt. Knock 'im dead!" she cheered, punching him lightly on the shoulder, then she walked off with Brock towards the grill.

"Uh... huh?" Ash said eventually, a strange gnawing feeling growing in his stomach as he realized that talking to Gary would work out better if he knew what to say.

"It means you should quit being such a wimp and go talk to him!" Misty replied. "You guys are such the stupidest people on the entire planet!"

Knowing the value of well-given advice (as well as Misty's propensity for violence), Ash gathered his spirits and jumbled thoughts and some Frescas and completely lost all of them as he tripped down the slight embankment, tumbled, and skidded to a stop beside a familiar auburn-haired figure. Gary was lying back against the grass, legs crossed, one arm bent over his eyes to block the sun.

"What?" Gary grunted, not moving.

"Uh... I brought you a soda," Ash offered, sitting up and brushing some of the grass out of his hair. There was silence and the dark-haired boy leaned forward, leaning his arms on his drawn-up knees. "Er... what's up?"

"Some delinquent idiots slashed my tires. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Gary finally lifted the arm over his face, turning to give him an evil eye.

"N-no," he said, feeling awful. "I don't even know what your car looks like." At least that was the truth.

He narrowed his eyes and snorted, balancing on his elbows. "May helped me get my car to the shop, but dragged me here in the meantime, so until my car is finished, I'm trapped here with you losers. I don't even know why you want to-- Why I'd want to talk to you anyway. Why don't you just go?" Gary turned away, his hands twitched and he reached for a cigarette. Ash stopped his hand before he could light up.

"You don't have to do this. We don't have to do this." And Ash realized he did know what he wanted to say. "You know, we don't have to be enemies to be rivals."

Gary gave him a look like he'd grown a second head. "What?"

"No, really," Ash argued. "Me and Richie... we're rivals, I guess. We both want to be Pokemon Masters and win the Indigo League. But we're still friends. We help each other, and so once one of us wins, we both have succeeded."

"What about when he wins and you don't? What happens when you're left behind as the loser?" he said darkly. "What about when all your effort is for nothing and you're alone?"

Ash bit his lip. "He isn't like that. I know because it's happened. And neither am I. You don't have to knock someone else down to get yourself up. If there's anything I've learned over the past few years following you, it's that. It's easy to help people, and even if you aren't thinking of yourself second, thinking of yourself at the same time as other people can really pay off."

Gary was silent for the longest of moments. They looked at each other, and Ash was suddenly aware that he still had hold of Gary's lighter. And Gary's lighter was still in Gary's hand. Quickly, they grabbed their hands back, looking guiltily at the other.

Ash spoke quickly to cover his embarrassment. "I don't have a problem with being your rival. But I don't want-- You know I don't want to be your enemy. But... I guess it's up to you."

Gary gave a searching look, then turned away, looking straight ahead. He went for a cigarette, and this time Ash didn't stop him. It was silent but for the sounds of breathing and smoking, farther away garbled conversations and children and pokemon playing. Almost sighing, Ash moved to get up, but was stayed by a hand on his leg. "Ash." He stubbed out his cigarette, tugging on Ash's pant leg to sit. Ash did, and Gary continued, looking straight ahead.

"Look. I'm Gary Oak. I'm an asshole. I enjoy being an asshole. I am good at what I do, and I know it, and I think others should know it as well. I enjoy pissing people off, because it makes them think. I like it when people make me think as well. Ash..." Here his cocky tone seemed to soften. "You've made me think. Not just about how you could look so cute as a girl when you're such a big loser," (here, he stuck out his tongue) "but... about everything. For a long time. How do I train my pokemon, and why. Why do I battle. What am I trying to prove, and to who." He looked Ash in the eye, locking his midnight gaze. "It's you. Hell, why didn't I start my pokemon journey until I was eleven? It was because you wouldn't be able to go, and then who was I supposed to measure myself against? Who was supposed to challenge me? Who was supposed to surpass me?

"I wasn't lying to you this morning. But I wasn't lying last night either." He brushed his hand through his hair, more to do something with his hands than to affect the position of the auburn spikes. "So, that's how it is, take it or leave it."

Ash scratched his head. "So... you want someone to beat you in a pokemon battle?"

Gary facefaulted. "No," he cried, "I want someone to challenge me, in life, in everything, who's not going to expect me to be sticky-sweet all the time, or to put aside my dreams for them. As much as it pains me to admit it, I want you... I'll take you, if you'll take me. You do your part, and I'll do mine." He crossed his arms, and Ash did the same.

The dark-haired boy gave a hard look, considering. But really, he already knew the answer. "Well... maybe if you stop calling me 'loser'. It's real annoying."

He arched an eyebrow. "You haven't beaten me yet. I don't know that you've earned the title of non-loser."

"Oh yeah?" Ash tossed a pokeball at the teen's chest. "Get in."

"What the hell?"

"Think about what you just said, dork. You want me. So, I've captured you. I win."

Gary opened his mouth, then shut it, giving a wry grin. "Guess we're both losers now."

"Or both winners."

"Maybe." Gary popped open the pokeball and placed it on his head. "Happy now?"

"I caught Gary!" Ash grinned, going into his victory pose.

"Gary, gar," the teen deadpanned. They exchanged a look, and then dissolved into laughter.

Eventually the laughter subsided, and someone had to think of something to say. They kept a pleasant silence for a while, exchanging little glances to see who would speak and just to look at each other.

"So then, what now?"

Ash shrugged. He had never been much on planning ahead. "I guess... um... take a break. Then, maybe start training again. There's always more leagues to compete in!"

"I meant for us, not your pokemon," Gary said.

"So did I," he returned, a bit offended.

Now Gary's expression changed, the look in his eyes changing to a different type of catty. "Well, what sort of 'training' did you have in mind?"

"Oh, maybe something with fighting types," he said practically, "it's been a real long time since I've had one, and--" He stopped, interrupted by Gary's face in close proximity to his own.

"What about training with my type?" Gary said, eyes hooded and somehow sounding more sincere than when Brock gave lines in the same vein. His auburn spikes hung low, almost brushing against Ash's face, framing Gary's own. "There are some perks to having this 'friendly rivalry' you speak of, aren't there?" He caressed Ash's face with his hand and Ash turned into the contact before he even consciously thought about it.

"You want-- here? With all these people?"

"I want now. With you and me." And he kissed him, and the majority of Ash's protests melted away.

+ + +

Mom and Professor Oak hadn't given too disbelieving a look when Ash'd told them he'd go back with Gary (Gary said it was because the adults were happy to get some private time), though he got plenty of smirks from Brock and Misty's direction. After the formality of an offer to take the others to Pallet (refused, of course), the adults wandered off, making Gary promise not to get into too much trouble, and Ash promise to change his he-knew-whats. Brock tried (to Gary's dismay) to get a ride with May; failing that (to Gary and Misty's combined satisfaction) he invited the others to spend the night in Pewter, advertising a bunch of room since many of his siblings had gone out on Pokemon journeys. After a way too questionable pause where Ash felt he was being sized up, Misty and Richie smiled and agreed. Promising to call later and invite Tracey and asking them both to come as soon as they could, they all said their goodbyes and left as well.

In the end, there isn't much to say about the ending of a con. It's a bit anti- climactic if the convention is one you've been looking forward to for a long time; you just pack up and leave before you get stuck cleaning things up. Gary said something along the lines of he'd be damned if he'd help the suits before he was one of them, so they walked to the tire place and got started back to Pallet. Save the brand new shiny tires, Gary's car was surprisingly non-flashy; just a late-model white station wagon. It was even missing a hubcap.

"We must crawl before we learn to walk," Gary quipped.

"Professor Oak wouldn't buy you a nice car, would he," Ash said, realization dawning.

"Shut up, l-- dork."

But it was just friendly grumbling, and they still held hands as they drove down the highway, and still kissed at the really long red light. And later, as they snuggled together on the couch, Gary did murmur into his ear:

"I guess Oaks and Ketchums -do- go well together."

Ash just smiled.

+ + +

And they lived happily ever after... or close enough thereto.

the end.

+ + +
+ + +

Oh, is that sappy or is that sappy? I think all the requirements have been fulfilled... Happy Graduation, Lucy! (and think, it's only been five months...)

eme 20.oct.02