EVERYONE: If I Could Become a Comet (Flowering Love 2024)

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Hi there. This is my entry for the Spring 2024 Shipping One-Shot Competition! It's also my first time ever sharing a fic publicly, in all my time writing. I put a lot of love into this one so I hope you all enjoy it! *bows*

No surprises here, this contains PalletShipping (Ash x Gary). The theme I've chosen is New Life.
A story about how you can't fight fate, but sometimes that's okay. 7.2k words.

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In this lonely expanse, one may be surprised to find there is a streak of color.

You will find comfort in a sea of flowers swayed delicately by the soaring breeze. The grass wraps around your ankles, dewdrops that cling to every blade breaking off with each step. It exists as a kaleidoscope of hues, a canvas that spills across meadows, granting them the blessing of life.

If you can find the will to lift your gaze, you may feel as though you'll fall right through the endless blue sky.

"What'cha reading, Gary?"

Hearing his name called, he looked up from his phone to see his friend Ash Ketchum standing in front of him, with a familiar and inquisitive smile plastered to his face. His little faithful partner Pokémon clung to him with its claws hooked to his sleeve.

The past few months had been an interesting change of scenery.

After the last time they'd parted their separate ways from home, Ash had somehow managed to track him down barely a week later — and promptly, unexpectedly, stuck to him like a burr. He wasn't sure if it was the hopeful, imploring look in his eyes, or the clumsy grass stains on the knees of his jeans, but Gary couldn't in good conscience bring himself to leave him alone.

It was different than what either of them were accustomed to, but it had taken practically no time to settle into a routine. Ash, as always, went wherever his path took him, and now helpfully assisted him with any research endeavours he decided to chase — while Gary helped train and take care of their Pokémon, and managed their shared supplies, and planned their travel routes, and cooked, and cleaned their clothes, and answered about a hundred frivolous questions per day. Perhaps someone less used to journeying by his lonesome would have complained, but he didn't feel too burdened by his company.

As it were, they had stopped beside the road for the afternoon to allow themselves and their Pokémon to enjoy some fresh air. The cool crystalline water flowing down from the mountains nearby offered relief from the heat of the late spring sun.

"Oh, there you are," Gary remarked, "here, take a look at this."

He beckoned inwards and angled the screen in his direction, an old article he'd discovered from several years past. Ash eagerly leaned in to look, inadvertently squishing poor Pikachu's staticky whiskers between their shoulders.

"Deep down in the valley near here, there's an alcove that harbors tons of rare species of Pokémon, who have been living there in their natural habitat for hundreds of years. Supposedly, it's covered in a variety of plants and wildflowers not found anywhere else in the region... and it just so happens that these very Pokémon are drawn to them." He cracked a smile, patting his beloved Blastoise with his free hand as it returned to him from the water. "Hardly anyone's ever seen it in person, but everyone who's gotten to has recounted just how incredibly beautiful it is."

An ecstatic grin slowly spread across Ash's face with each word he spoke, already beaming once he'd stepped away.

"That sounds... amazing!"

"Yeah, doesn't it?" He lowered his violet Rotom Phone as he mulled it over; the screen dimmed in his hesitation. "I want to see it for myself, but... it's a real hike to get there. No wonder it's such a secret."

"Alright!" Ash raised a triumphant fist in the air, his decision already made. "Let's do it!"

"Uh?" Gary blinked, words escaping him for a moment. The more things change, the more they stay the same, so they say. Furrowing a single bristly eyebrow, he slowly returned the device to his front pocket. "I mean... I don't know about that, Ash. It's still miles away from here. We'd be walking for days."

He puffed a mildly exasperated breath in response, blowing a stray piece of black hair away from his face.

"How's that different from any other day?" He put his hands on his hips and shot him a nonthreatening scowl, leaning up to his and his Pokémon's faces. "And, what? You're gonna get there all by yourself?"

"Well, even if I was goin' to," he sneered, crinkling his nose in exaggerated disdain, "somethin' tells me I wouldn't be anymore."

Ash's pretense of irritation cracked, and he encouragingly nudged the researcher's arm with his knuckles.

"C'mon, it'll be fun! I wanna see it too, y'know. What have you got to lose?"

His expression fell, shifting to one more pensive as he put together the pieces of a plan in his mind. With a low growl, Blastoise mimicked the other Trainer's gesture, bumping its blue nose to the side of his head. Eventually, he caved in under the pressure... not that it took much effort.

"Fine," Gary conceded. He adjusted the straps of his bag over his shoulders with a reluctant tug. "But–"

"Okay, then, let's get going!" Before he'd finished, Ash had already turned on his heel and begun marching off in a randomly-chosen direction.

"Only because– wh– hey, where do you think you're goin'?!"

He had every right in the world to complain, but he didn't mind one bit.

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"So, you're in a one-on-one battle," Gary began,

"you've got three remaining Pokémon, with two left in reserve. Your opponent only has one remaining; a Gengar. Out on the field is the opponent's Gengar, and your Nidoking. Both have already taken some significant damage." He punctuated his words with a precise movement of his hands as he spoke, looking over to ensure Ash was following. "The Pokémon you have in reserve are Dodrio and Alakazam. Gengar has been paralyzed earlier in the match, but it looks like it's preparing an attack this turn. How do you take it out without losin' any of your Pokémon?"

"Ooh..." Ash was immediately absorbed in thought, his hand thrown to his chin. "Um..."

Gary, reclining confidently in his seat, allowed him a few moments to pick the hypothetical apart in his head.

The two of them sat side by side in the lounge of a Pokémon Center. Surrounding them were other Trainers making a stop on their journeys for the evening — little crowds of people talking amongst themselves, reading, sleeping, making phone calls — a nostalgic sight that Gary personally hadn't witnessed in quite some time. Once he'd gotten sick of counting the tiles in the floor and the seconds on the clock, he opted to test his old rival to keep him sharp.

He tapped the sole of his shoe on the linoleum floor, narrowing his eyes slyly.

"Timer's ticking," he lilted under his breath.

"I... I switch out Nidoking and send in Dodrio! Nobody would try to fight Poison with Poison, so they must be about to throw out a Ghost-type move. That won't do anything against a Normal-type, and I can safely counter with a Flying attack!"

"Wrong. Gengar uses Pursuit and knocks you out before you get to switch. Try again."

"What?!" Ash sputtered in disbelief, aiming a finger towards his infuriatingly smug face. "Hey, you can't do that! Cheater! You're cheating!"

Having succeeded in getting a reaction out of him, a wide and self-satisfied grin spread across Gary's face.

"I'm not cheating," he said, gently pushing his accusations away by the wrist, "you just didn't consider all the options. Now try again."

Before they were even old enough to be permitted to own a Pokémon of their own, they'd invented this pastime after having watched countless hours of League Conference broadcasts on television. Practice for the future, they said it was. At the time, he was almost baffled as to why Ash kept on demanding rematches again and again — he was no match for his opponent's book smarts, after all — though it made a younger Gary laugh to see him so frustrated by his losses. Years down the line, it wasn't anymore just a game of pretend; instead having gradually become something else, a veritable challenge to outwit the other.

That didn't always mean he had to play fair, did he?

Ash collapsed back in his seat and crossed his arms against his chest. He glowered petulantly into the middle distance.

"Yeah, okay. I'm not falling for that again."

"Oh, c'mon, don't be like that," he coaxed him further. He leaned forward to make certain he could still see him, whether he liked it or not. "You're just givin' up on this one right away? It's not as hard as you think."

His brown eyes briefly flicking over to his face, he went over the question again, seemingly intrigued by the hint.

"Both have taken damage... paralyzed, so..." His face lit up with an epiphany, immediately righting himself again. "Oh! It's paralyzed, so Nidoking would be faster anyway! All I have to do is land a hit!"

"Hey! Bingo! You got it!" He patted him on the back a bit too firmly. "Well, well, look at you. You're not so bad at this, after all, are ya?"

Ash seemed mostly unfazed by his playful condescension, standing from his seat with a huff.

"I would have won that one the first time, if you hadn't played dirty."

"Uh-huh. Would'a, should'a, could'a. I've heard that before." He crossed his legs over each other and smiled up at him. "Just don't let it go to your head."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

He dragged his backpack over one arm, and made his way to the front desk to retrieve their Pokémon. Gary leaned one elbow on the armrest of his seat, and his face on the back of his knuckles. He watched fondly as his companion left, keeping an eye on him as he spoke out of earshot to the nurse on duty.

Unfortunately for him, left to his own devices in a dreary waiting room, boredom quickly crept in on his nerves again. He was the patient sort, no doubt, but even he had his limits... and things seemed so dull without someone to pester for their attention.

His gaze absentmindedly skimmed across the length of the building, observing the flyers tacked to the walls, the whispering strangers and twilit windows. Eventually, it stopped on an assortment of monthly magazines, arranged neatly on a rack to his immediate left. Pokémon Fortune Telling, Hidden Power, Pokémon League Fan; the typical fare one could find anywhere.

The lattermost of those seemed awful familiar, he thought. He had forgotten it altogether until that moment, and the bold, colorful logo had been altered to a more minimalistic look in the past decade, but the name still lingered somewhere in the back of his mind. Gary recalled his parents, being such strict academics, didn't allow him to read such shallow and frivolous material at home — so Ash would bring along the newest issue to school, which the two of them would then excitedly pore over together under the shade of the trees, each of them arguing that they'd be the better Trainer when the time finally came. He vaguely seemed to remember swearing that they'd enter all those tournaments together, one day.

He'd have liked to apologize for that, if he could.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Gary slowly reached out a hand and pulled back an issue from the top of the stack. He flicked the cover open, and skimmed a few pages, hardly even allowing his eyes the time to focus over each one. He'd sworn off sanctioned competition a long time ago, anyway; so if there was nothing in there that caught his eye, then it wasn't worth his precious time.


As the words clicked with a moment's delay, a shock ricocheted through his chest. He hurriedly flipped back to it, as if afraid it would disappear, and was met with a press photo from several months earlier: the smiling face of his best friend. He was holding in his arms a golden trophy three sizes too big.


There was nothing he could think to do but stare. His thumb traced invisible lines over the glossy paper.

He folded shut the magazine, and immediately returned it to the rack, somewhere he hoped he'd never have to see it.

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Shimmering, hazy embers illuminated a dark night. Forest litter and underbrush laid in disorder beneath his shoes. Seven-pointed leaves fallen from the season before now curled and burned away in a cauldron of his own making; it was nothing special nor sacred, but it was good enough.

The humble researcher from Pallet sat and beheld the flame vacantly, a branch in hand to poke the coals.

The world was much larger than he often recognized. At such a scale, it could be difficult at times to notice the state of perpetual change. The world shifted every day, all the time, in a million imperceptible ways.

Gary's days seemed to repeat in cycles. He pushed himself to his limits again and again; carefully, intentionally, with each step planned for fear of anything less than perfection. It didn't bother him, most days — selfish as it may have been, he sought praise, and he tended to find it. Nevertheless, ever since his path had changed all those years ago, the little applause he received had never felt the same, had it?

Life only ever seemed to play out around him. Time continued to slip by, the things he took for granted changing without his involvement, beyond his control. Once he looked outside of his own reflection, even the things he viewed as accomplishments to be proud of were such small, insignificant things. Even at his best, with no missteps nor failures, was he bound to never leave a dent where he walked? When the cycle finally ceased, what would he have to show for it?

It was at this point when these thoughts surfaced that he'd typically pick himself up, brush the dust off, and vow silently to try even harder.

Something nagging in his chest told him that it was far too late for that to make a difference.

On the alert, he startled slightly when he heard a quiet footstep from behind him, a twig abruptly snapping beneath someone's heel. He peered behind his back to locate the source of the sound, and was bemused to see his friend, who stood motionless between him and the tent they'd pitched.

"Ash, buddy, I thought you went to sleep," Gary spoke softly.

Ash merely frowned, rubbing the corner of an eye with his knuckle. His hair was disheveled, with a tired rasp in his voice.

"What are you doing up?"

"Mm. Nothin' much," he said, turning back again. "I could say the same to you."

"I'm up because you're up," he retorted gently. "You should get some rest. It's really late."

"I know." Gary paused. "Can't sleep."

From behind him, the cautious steps got steadily closer, until he felt a familiar presence looming over his back.

"Can I sit out here with you, then?" said Ash.

If he had to ask, then he must have looked terribly lonely, hunched over that small bit of warmth he'd made for himself. What came out in reply was barely a murmur.

"Yeah."

Figuring that was approval enough, Ash unhesitatingly took a large step over the fallen tree he'd seated himself on, and made himself comfortable to his right hand side. A sense of stirring reminiscence flowed into the forest clearing, his presence alone melting any aches away.

Nerves in his fingers beginning to prickle, he swallowed harshly to hide the shake in his scratchy voice.

"Hey, Ash?"

"Hm?"

"Mind if I ask you somethin'?"

He inched back a bit, pressing his knees together. "S-sure."

"If you could start all over, and relive your whole life from scratch," he said, still gazing intently into the burning cinders, "what would you do differently?"

In the corner of his perceivable vision, he noticed him pause and resituate himself as if thinking. His question lingered in the cool, summery air.

"Mm... well," Ash began, with an air of uncertainty, "I dunno. Lots of things, probably. I think we all wanna go back and fix... at least some of the mistakes we've made."

The solemnity slowly dwindled from his expression, giving way to an innocent smile. "But... what's the point in thinking about that?" He turned to meet Gary's mystified stare. "If we did anything different, then we wouldn't be here right now, right? So even if I could, why would I wanna change anything?"

Gary raised his eyebrows, rather stunned by the profundity of an answer he'd clearly pulled from thin air. He knew he wasn't as naive as he sometimes seemed, yet those moments where his maturity shined through always managed to hit him off-guard.

He exhaled a small chuckle through his nose, and shook his head with a smile to match.

"I knew I shouldn't have asked you."

He idly looked up above the oaken treetops, up at the inky black night — and at the very same second, witnessed a tiny streak of light slash across the sky. In an instant, before realization, it had already vanished.

"Ah!" Ash pointed upwards, having seen it too. He urgently grabbed his friend's shoulder with his other hand. "Did you– there was a–"

"A shooting star," Gary breathlessly finished his sentence without a second thought.

All was still. Both of them seemed to linger on the empty spot it'd been, as if waiting for it to come back and show itself again.

Before long, he managed to pull himself back down from the heavens. "A meteor, I should say," catching himself with a scoff, "y'see, technically, they're not really stars–"

"What'd you wish for?"

He blinked again, the question having stopped him in his tracks.

"Huh?"

"You made a wish, right?" Ash returned his gaze expectantly. His fingers remained pressed around the sleeve of his leather coat, like pinpricks of affection on his skin. "What did you wish for?"

He stared right through him, feeling almost dizzy, mesmerized by the sight of liquid amber lit by fire.

When given the opportunity, usually he'd wish with all his heart for a chance to start over — but all of a sudden, he didn't really want to.

Not wanting to leave him hanging either, he cracked a small, amused smirk, angling his head away slightly. There was a new twinkle in his eye that wasn't there just a minute ago.

"You... really still believe in that kind of stuff, Ashy?"

"Uh..." Ash leaned back with a sheepish chuckle. "W-well, no, but–"

"Besides," he continued, a teasing bite to his tone, "if I told you, then it wouldn't come true, now would it?"

Ash grimaced with embarrassment, vigorously shaking him by the arm to deter his attention away from his reddening cheeks. "Oh, c-cut it out! Forget I even said it, you jerk!"

Gary snorted, burst into raucous laughter and shoved him away with his elbow. The fire glowed blushing ruby, crackles and sparks of gold floating ephemerally above them.

...like I could ever tell you what I want.

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"Not much further. We should be coming up on it soon."

The valley was long and rugged, stones and gravel stippling untouched weedy grasses, forming a lush rift that tore through the Kantonian mountainside. There remained the slightest trace of a path at the bottom, suggesting it had been walked before, some far-off time ago.

Ash bounded frenetically all around him, as bright as the afternoon sun that Gary currently shielded from his eyes.

"This is gonna be so great!" he exclaimed a little too loudly.

"Whoa, there. You're gonna scare everything away, actin' like that."

Finally slowing down to match his speed, Ash peeked cheerfully up at his face. "Aren't you excited too?"

He definitely felt some kind of fluttering feeling at this proximity, though he wasn't sure if he could call it excitement. He squinted back at him and cracked a wry smile.

"I guess ya could say that," he quipped, "maybe you're contagious." He looked ahead and confidently pointed a finger, thankfully directing Ash's scrutiny elsewhere. "There. See that big dip in the hills up ahead? Right through there is where it's supposed to be."

Ash held back for a moment, bouncing on his heels with anticipation — but not for long, since he quickly gave into impulse and took off in a sprint. Gary was nearly bowled over as he rushed past him.

"I'm getting there first!" he shouted, already growing distant.

"Hey!" Gary stifled a laugh. "Chill out, will ya?! It's not like it's goin' anywhere!"

He took in a deep breath of fresh air and sighed, still taking his time to approach. In the corner of his mind, every now and then he wondered why they didn't ever think to do this sooner. Maybe he was luckier than he believed.

But that wasn't important right now. Focusing his thoughts on the present, he held onto his backpack by the strap and made the snap decision to pick up the pace. He could put up a good show of playful indifference for long enough — but he wasn't gonna let him see it before he did, darn it!

He rounded the corner and ducked through a natural rocky tunnel, his heart swelling with anticipation upon seeing sunlight spilling from the other side. After having carefully climbed out into the alcove, he took a few sauntering steps forward and cracked his knuckles, ready to be amazed.

"Okay, then. First things first, let's... uh..."

The remainder of his sentence dissolved in his mouth, abruptly ending it there and falling speechless. His gaze became stricken as his eyes adjusted to the light.

In front of them in every sprawling direction was a burnt, blackened field. Demolished and broken trees without leaves; swathes of greenery and once-beautiful flora had smoldered into heaps of ruin. Where there once would've been color, it was replaced by a desolate and repulsive grey.

Gary blinked, several times, as if maybe he hoped it were a trick. Nothing changed. He stepped cautiously into the destruction, his heels dragging through dust and remnants of what was.

Ash turned to him, revealing a disquieted look in his eyes. He mumbled as he passed him, sounding afraid to speak first. "Is this..."

"It's all dead." He got down onto one knee, scraping up a crumbling handful of scorched grass and flowers. As he rolled it between his fingers and thumb, the soot left behind a dark, pitchy stain on his palm. "It must've been wiped out in a wildfire."

Ash stumbled forward and Pikachu hopped off his shoulder, the Electric monster sniffing at the debris that cracked grimly underfoot. The air still tasted nauseatingly of smoke, filled with a silence so stark and heavy it could've crushed them both under its weight.

"What about the Pokémon?" he asked.

The question alone caused a knot to form in Gary's throat. The silver pendant hung around his neck threatened to choke him.

"We can hope they escaped, and found somewhere else safe to live. Or..."

He blinked, his sullen gaze falling to the scattered detritus of the earth.

"Maybe it's best if we... just don't think about it."

He slowly lowered himself to sit on his knees in the wreckage, for once paying no mind to dirtying his clothes. Drawing a shallow and shuddering breath, he hung his head and fluttered closed his lashes, as if in silent prayer.

Ash approached him quietly, bending down to his level on the ground. He put a hand on his back, and smiled when misty blue eyes pried themselves open to meet warm-hearted brown. He spoke in a hushed voice, reassuring in its gentle patience.

"Let's just move on, okay?"

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Pale clouds spread in fading wisps above their heads, the last sliver of setting sun enduring as a crimson glimmer on the horizon.

The older boy trudged several paces ahead, his hands curled into aching fists at his sides, with soot under the nails that dug into his palms. His friend allowed him his space, paying more mind to kicking a single pebble down the road than to speaking. They retraced their steps back up the hill they'd just come down from in the morning, undoing any sense of progress they'd made.

A low, defeated sigh escaped through Gary's teeth.

"Hey, think about it this way," Ash finally said to cut the silence. "In another couple of years, it'll all grow back, right? Maybe then the Pokémon will come back, too. We can always try again someday."

He spared him a sidelong glance — his intentions were good, but they rang hollow in Gary's ears. Who was he to say what might happen? And who knew where they might be by then?

"Optimistic as usual," he remarked in a cutting voice, as he returned his sulky glare to the road.

Ash tilted his head to one side, raising an eyebrow at his sudden contempt. "So?" he said, his tone pushing back at him a little. "Is that a bad thing?"

No, it wasn't. Yet, he bit his own tongue to refrain from saying something he knew he'd regret.

Likely realizing he wasn't going to be dignified with a response, Ash put his hands away into his pockets and continued.

"I mean... aren't you at least glad we tried?"

Gary scoffed bitterly, not bothering to look a second time. "Yeah, we tried," he spat, "and to see what? A pit of charcoal? We shouldn't have even bothered wastin' our time."

"No... well, yeah, I guess, but..."

Ash scratched a hand through his tousled hair, stalling for a moment to choose his speech carefully. "If we never tried, then we never would've known either way. And sometimes just the getting there is more important than the destination, y'know? What matters is that the road to get there made you happy." He bowed his head, uttering the ending a bit quieter. "Even if... in the end, it turns out to be a waste of time."

As the gravity of that sentiment was allowed to sink in, Gary gradually lowered his defenses, his stern expression softening. His lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out.

Ash, on the other hand, deafened by the silence, attempted awkwardly to brush off the topic.

"Sorry. That, uh, doesn't really make any sense now that I say it out loud."

"No," Gary said, nearly cutting him off, "no, it's not that, it's just..."

A moment's hesitation.

"...it's just hard for me to see it that way," he concluded.

The pair went silent for a few more paces, continuing back up the path they'd seen before. It wasn't a matter of undoing their failed steps, but creating new ones in their stead.

"I understand, Gary."

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His fingers hovered over the keys of his sage-green notebook computer, frozen in dimly-lit space. The page was as blank as his mind. Gary stiffly set down his wrists on the desk; his gaze flitted absently to the clock beside him. 3:14 AM.

He breathed a heavy sigh, leaning back and squeezing his tired eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. He'd intended to sleep hours ago, but that obviously never happened. What he'd seen had kept him awake with a thousand restless thoughts — should he have kept looking? Should he have gone back? If he had just gotten there earlier, could he have done anything to stop it?

Another voice that lingered unbidden in his head stopped the spiral before it dug itself any deeper. What's the point in thinking about that?

He dragged his hand down his face, fingers sliding ungraciously off his chin. With an idle glance to his right, his friend was still there; sound asleep in the Center lodging's bed, sprawled out on his side and facing the wall. Pikachu was curled up atop the pillow by his head, purring contentedly, a jagged tail poking out from a ball of saffron fur.

Slowed by exhaustion, Gary reluctantly pushed back the chair and stood up with a stretch; barely refraining from a wince as an ache twinged in his back. He forced himself to take a silent step closer, followed by another. Careful not to disturb his rest, he discreetly sat himself back down on the edge of the mattress.

Unkempt tufts of black hair, dark as coal, covered Ash's freckled cheek and cascaded down the back of his neck. The pace of his breathing had evened out into a steady rhythm, suggesting a deep and dreamless slumber. His hand possessed by instinct, Gary gently dragged his knuckles against his shoulder, and there was no reaction; not even a twitch.

The passage of time had changed them, but not too far under the surface they were the same people they'd always been. He was still the great Gary Oak, the pride of Pallet, the professor's grandson who never managed to be much more. And Ash was surely still Ash, that kid who lived down the road, the very same one he'd known even in his earliest memories. Wasn't he?

He still often struggled to see him for the famed, revered hero he had grown into, because how could he? All he could see was the hastily tied sneakers, the bitten fingernails, the tiny marks on his hands where Pikachu had sunk its teeth a little too hard. When he looked at him, he saw a rivalry that had run its course, having burned out into a small sparkle that they held onto in their clasped palms. When he looked at him, he could barely tear himself away. The same as it'd always been.

So, then, what had changed? Why, when he cracked a sarcastic joke that made him burst into a fit of laughter — or when his arm not-so-accidentally brushed up against his as they walked in tandem — or when Ash took that first bite of his cooking, and smiled wide, and said to him "hey, you're really good at this!" — beneath that burst of rose-colored sunshine that blossomed in his chest, why did there exist an undercurrent of grief? At what point did it start to feel so hopeless to wish for more than that?

Well, he thought, he wasn't really anything in comparison to him. He couldn't call himself a Champion, or even anybody particularly important, not anymore. He never got to become the star he promised he'd be; and a star like him, so bright and glittering, could do so much more than waste his precious time on a boy who wasn't. All the more confusing, he seemed perfectly content to do just that.

Not letting himself stop too long to think about it, he reached to grasp the heavy comforter that laid folded at the end of the bed. He pulled it over Ash's softly sleeping body, covering him up to the shoulders. A slight shuffle from beneath the covers, he unconsciously nosed closer to his Pokémon, his face hidden in its striped fur. It lured a lopsided smile to Gary's face, one so vulnerable and adoring that he could only be thankful he wasn't awake to see it.

Attempting to fight the past was a fool's errand, he knew. As long as Ash was happy, then he supposed it didn't really matter what he did or didn't do. If he was here, and he was at peace with the way it was, then everything must have turned out okay.

He drew back his hand, and plainly placed it in his own lap with the other. With his fingers wrung, he glanced at the floor beneath his shoes — then the wall ahead of him — then the ceiling above, pure white and featureless.

He imagined if the roof were missing, he'd be able to see somewhere far away, up at the great glittering sea that embraced the full moon.

He imagined it'd be nice to let himself fall through that deep blue sky, until he burned out.

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Puddles scattered into droplets underneath the force of boots and sneakers. Sheets of pouring rain whipped across their faces, nearly blinding them both, but they weren't slowed from their pace whilst tearing across the open field. Gary's hand was pulled tightly around Ash's wrist, dragging him along as they hurriedly fled from the abrupt storm they'd been caught in.

"In there!" he shouted to be heard over the thunder, gesturing to the opening of a natural hollow ahead of them. "C'mon!"

They dashed under the overhang and barely squeezed themselves into the tiny stone cavern, finally being sheltered from nature's onslaught.

Gary exhaled, his shoulders heaving with exhaustion. His back slid down the wall and he slowly sat himself down on the ground — as it turned out, doing nothing but study and write papers all day and night could do a number on one's stamina. Ash, on the other hand, appeared barely fazed after sprinting a quarter mile. He grimaced and recoiled as Pikachu shook out its soggy fur next to his face.

"So much for that," he grumbled. "How long you think it'll last?"

Gary sighed, raising his head to observe what he could see from the mouth of the cave.

"Well," he began, having finally caught his breath again, "between the sudden drop in atmospheric pressure, and the lack of any high winds, I'd guess it's just a single storm cell passing by." He sniffled, settling in on the floor for the time being. "No more than half an hour or so."

"Oh." Ash paused, not attempting to hide his puzzled expression as he processed that. He rather ungracefully plopped himself down beside him, letting Pikachu crawl down into his unzipped jacket. "You can really tell all that just from... that?"

"Mm-hmm." Gary smiled. "I took some time to study meteorology a few years ago."

"Wait, I remember!" Ash poked his arm. "You told me all about it before we met Moltres!"

A proud grin pulled at the corner of his mouth, rather pleased to know he held onto that memory.

"That's right! See, it comes in handy more than ya might think."

He propped an arm up on one knee. "I always wanted to understand it, remember?"

"Hmm?"

"When we were kids. 'Member how I'd tell you all the things I ever read about? I spent a whole weekend once reading about phenomena like this. I must have talked your ear off about it."

"Oh, yeah," Ash laughed, "now that you mention it, I think I remember that."

He observed the direction of the wind, the way the downpour rolled by.

"These tiny little shifts in temperature, the tides, even the way the wind blows," he said, "the slightest shift can change everything in the blink of an eye." He sighed, gazing out over the storm, a sea-blue reflection to the darkened clouds. "It's fascinating, isn't it?"

Ash considered that for a second too long, perhaps not quite able to grasp what Gary was seeing that he wasn't.

"Uh... yeah," he said slowly, as if distracted, "I guess so."

At that tone, Gary suddenly froze, then lowered his head in shame. "Geez, I... I'm sorry. I know ya don't really care about this kinda stuff."

"Oh, n-no, no! That's not it at all!" Ash frowned. "You know how I am, Gary. Just because maybe I don't get it doesn't mean I don't care."

Seeing that Gary was unconvinced, he tilted his head and looked at him fondly, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees.

"I, uh... I just... like hearing you talk, to be honest."

And that was just it, wasn't it?

Even the things that didn't make sense, even pointless gestures and empty words were worth caring about, to him.

Like a tree clinging to its perished leaves, Gary had dragged his past behind him, unable to grow under their encumbrance. He'd been so focused on fighting the changing of the seasons, on tearing himself apart to rid himself of mistakes, that he had neglected to ever stop and let nature run its course. He had failed to look up from where he stood, and realize that the answer had been in front of him, every step of the way.

Nothing was a waste of time, if it held meaning in the moment. Where it all ended up was of no importance. Everything they did was insignificant, it didn't matter — and that was the beauty of it all.

"That's a surprise," was what he said in a rough whisper, making a poor attempt to hide his burning cheeks behind his bangs. "Thought you'd be sick of the sound of my voice by now."

Ash stifled a giggle, apparently endeared by that. "That's... n-not really what I meant."

He fidgeted where he sat, deliberating on his words as though he were working up to something greater. "I mean, I like spending time with you... is all."

With a sense of finality, he leaned closely into his side.

"I hope we can keep doing this for a long time."

His heart nearly threatened to stop, skipping a full beat. The casually affectionate touch felt like an electric shock to his senses — or was that just the furball's static on his clothes?

Gary sighed inaudibly; his expression twitched into something trusting and weary.

"I can't keep running around chasin' rainbows with you forever, y'know."

"I know," Ash mumbled, mirroring his trace of a smile. "I wish you could, though."

Holding his breath, he longingly pushed himself a bit nearer; he could tell he was warm in comparison to the sharp winds of the storm. Finally, he allowed his head to drop onto his beloved Ash's collar, shedding his past to let the naive self in.

"I wish I could, too."

An arm found its way around his back, and gentle fingers soothingly stroked the space between his shoulders. Trailing, tracing the same invisible lines.

It wasn't the right moment. He was unsure if that moment would ever come, or if he'd merely convinced himself with fantasy, hoping for something distant and imaginary that he could never attain.

But if he closed his eyes and let himself believe, then this was the closest he could get to his wish coming true.

---

---

"Hey, hurry up! Let's go, already!"

"Okay, okay! Slow down, for cryin' out loud!" Gary huffed as he stomped up to him, whisking a bead of sweat from his brow. "You're like a little Spoink, you know that? You ever stop bouncin' around, you'll just keel over, won't ya?"

Ash laughed, unbothered by his teasing. "At least I'm not a Slowpoke like you!" When he finally caught up to him, he looked expectantly up from under the brim of his hat, eager to get moving again. "You ready?"

"Mm-hmm." He patted him firmly on the arm. "Let's go, buddy."

Gary took the lead, and the other happily followed. The next city wasn't too far away, so they'd agreed to make that their next destination. If they got there before sunset, they'd have time to visit the stores, and that Fossil museum he'd heard so much about–

Jolting him back to his senses with a flinch, he felt a grazing touch on the back of his knuckles. Turning to investigate the point of contact, he was taken aback to see that it was his best friend's fingers searching for his own. Ash faced away, not allowing him a glimpse at his expression, but the unnatural tension in his posture suggested that what he was doing scared him just as much.

If one took the time to look closer, there was life in unexpected places. Grass filled the fractures in the pavement, stalks of flowers rose anew from beneath desecrated earth. Splashes of gold, and red, and violet — the world was a palette in and of itself, full of those splitting colors and shattered rainbows that left behind pieces of themselves in every breathing thing.

None of it would last forever. He'd learned the nature of life's impermanence when he was just a child, when it first slipped out of his reach. Even photos of beautiful things would fade, memories would blur. In spite of that, it made their fleeting existence no less valuable. Akin to the phases of the moon, without absence, then presence would be meaningless.

Maybe they were just two falling stars, leaving their blinding trails in the darkness before they disappeared. His trail didn't shine as bright nor as colorfully — but that was okay. In a thousand years, when their light finally reaches the earth for that one fraction of a second, maybe then the journey they've had together will all suddenly and perfectly make sense.

And even if it never did, then that would be okay, too.

He smiled, and clinging to a brief flicker of courage, decided to interlace his fingers into the empty spaces between them.

If that same humble researcher were given the chance to start over and begin anew, he'd do everything the same, in the hopes he'd end up right back here. He could only pray they'd get the chance to grow up together again, as two souls not knowing just how big the world was outside of their hometown, and being content to not know.

I wanna waste my time with you forever, said the swirling feelings in his mind. I love you.

He acknowledged the thought, and let it go, continuing to move on through the endless blue sky.