Title: Waking Up

Part One

Author: Red Kasei

Fandom: Pokemon

Rating: T

Warnings: yaoi and swearing

Pairing: Shishi (Shigeru/Satoshi) or Gary/Ash

Summary:

It's been years since Ash and Gary have seen each other, and Ash isn't surprised to see that Gary hasn't changed. But Gary is surprised to see that his childhood friend has change. Very much.

Pallet Town was just the way he remembered it before he left for college. Things hardly ever changed and he was glad that they didn't. He remembered used to wishing that things would, but after being closely acquainted with folks in the city as an actual civilian he found he preferred having a home that didn't change. Change could be good, but in his experience it was mostly annoying. Changes to deadlines, meetings and the like induced stress and he hated it.

There weren't that many places where budding trainers could go in a big city. It rather made sense why most trainers who came from places like, say, Jubilife, were so inept and out of touch with their pokemon. They had no link to any relative nature of the sort. In cities, pokemon were just pets and his pokemon weren't used to that. He had sent them back home where they would no doubt be happier, but he couldn't help but miss them. He had traveled with them all throughout his early teens before he made his decision to become a real pokemon scientist like his grandfather, so it made sense that their presence would be terribly missed.

Inhaling deeply, he glanced about to see the trees dressed in their best orange and red leaves. The air, though still warm with the remnant of summer, was crisp and clear and a light scent that reminded him of hazelnuts seemed to permeate the air. The grass, now yellow from the blazing summer sun, was starting to gain a little more green and he had no doubt that by the time spring came, the hills would once again be a vivid bright green that would blind any visitor to the town.

He grinned, brushing a hand through his auburn locks. Indeed, Gary Oak was glad to be home again.

Studying abroad hadn't been one of the best experiences of his life, so Gary was looking forward to getting back to his grandfather's house and just sitting back and relaxing. A little lab experiments, being close to the pokemon; better than any high tech lab and diagrams of pokemon.

The trek up to the house wasn't long, but it gave Gary enough time to notice a few new additions to the house. Another wing was built the back and he could just see it peeking from the side. There was a weathervane twisting on the roof, barely making a squeak and a bike parked outside the front door. As far as he knew, his grandfather never rode bike, nor did he make his own trips to the town; he was far too busy for such mundane things. He figured it was probably that other guy's; Tracy was it?

Regardless, however, all he wanted to do was to get inside, greet his grandfather and then upstairs to unpack and sleep.

As expected, the front door was unlocked.

"Hello?" he called. "Gramps? It's me. I'm home."

Receiving no answer, the man frowned. He had told his grandfather when he was coming home. He even gave him the time and said he'd find his own way to the house. Professor Oak had probably forgotten.

Chagrined, he dropped his bags in the hallway, determined to find the grey-haired coot to remind him that his favorite and only grandson had returned after two years of academic studying.

However, as he entered the lab, instead of finding a hunched over old man in a dirty grey coat, he found himself staring at the back of a young man with ink black hair. Even though he wore a pair of jeans, a white vest and a pair of flip flops, Gary could see he was someone who worked with the professor, as he seemed to be in the middle of rearranging the vast number of files that littered the table. From what he could see from his position in the doorway, the person was a young boy, at least fifteen years of age. His skin was tanned a shade lighter than his own, so he presumed the boy also worked outside with the pokemon as well as inside assisting his grandfather.

And the boy, regardless of being a couple of years Gary's junior, had a very nice backside.

"Ahem," he coughed, attempting to gain the other's attention.

It worked, as the boy gave a squeak ad juggled the files that were threatening to fly from his hands and slip to the floor. Gary bit back a laugh as boy turned on him, eyes narrowed in annoyance. They lost their angered look as soon as they set their sights on him.

"Umm…hello?" he asked. "Are you looking for Professor Oak?"

"Yes. I believe I had an appointment with him today."

The boy frowned, pursing pink lips.

"I don't remember anything about the professor meeting with anyone in his schedule for today." He said, suspiciously.

"You're his assistant?"

The boy blushed.

"Well…ahm…sort of…"

Gary arched a brow.

"'Sort of'?"

"Well, Professor Oak doesn't really need an assistant, seeing as he's got an apprentice. I'm really just here to help out." He paused. "I suppose, if that's the case, then I am something like an assistant. Except I don't help out with the actual work. Just filing away important notes, taking down something either Professor Oak or Tracy can't do at the moment, making sure no pokemon has been forgotten. You know; little things scientists often forget because they're so busy with their work?"

Gary nodded, but didn't say anything. He didn't particularly care what the boy did. All he cared about was that he was attractive and whether or not he could weasel him into his bed sometime at all during his stay.

"I'll just go call him and check," the boy said. "He may have forgotten to tell me, so that may be why it's not in his diary. Who should I say is calling?"

"His grandson."

The reaction was immediate. The boy instantly froze, whipping his head around to stare in disbelief with huge chocolate brown eyes.

"Gary?" he yelped. "Gary Oak?"

"Yes?" he said, slightly uncomfortable with the stare he was getting. "Why? Do you know me?"

The boy's mouth flapped open and shut a couple of times before he finally settled on shaking his head in exasperation. A humorless smile was on his lips as he stalked from the room, muttering under his breath.

Thought slightly perturbed, Gary decided to follow. The way the boy looked at him was as though he once knew him, personally, and hadn't had a good past with him. He wouldn't put it past him. He had been plenty rude to many people in the past and though he had changed, for most the damage had been done and he had left a lot of hurt people in his wake. If this boy was one of those people, he didn't want him to saunter off and instead tell his grandfather that a thief or con artist had managed to sneak into the building. He didn't want to have to deal with his grandfather's version of security (which happened to involve a Nidoking, a Charizard and a Scizor).

But the boy had led him right to another person; one he could clearly see was an older Tracy. The man was currently busy with something or other, as he was scribbling down notes furiously and whispering to himself. But it looked as though it were all normal to the boy, for he did nothing but pull the paper away.

"Hey! I was busy with that!"

"Professor Oak has a guest."

Tracy raised a brow. The boy's tone was so brusque it caught his attention. Obviously he had some sort of bad past with this person.

"Oh?" he turned and glanced at Gary. "Who is he?"

"Gary."

"Gary Oak?"

"Who else?" with that, the boy returned his paper and strode to the door back to the previous lab. Tracy leapt up, suddenly in a tizzy.

"W-wait! Don't you…I mean…you could…"

"No thank you. I have work to do." And he closed the door with a firm slam.

Tracy sighed, brushing back his long hair.

"Oh, dear." He muttered. But the worried look was quickly replaced with a warm smile as he ascended on Gary with a welcome handshake. "Welcome back, Gary! I was wondering when you were coming back to work with you old man."

"Thanks, Tracy. It's really good to be back."

"You've just finished your final year?"

"Second and final."

"Wow! So you're really going to work as a full time scientist and researcher, huh?"

"Of course. That is, unless you're intending to take over?"

Tracy waved a careless hand.

"I go wherever I'm needed. I don't seek to take over and settle." He smiled. "Well, come on, let's go find Professor Oak. No doubt he's gotten caught up in some research or other again. I'm assuming it's the flames that are external on fire pokemon…"

"Great." He paused, looking back at the door behind him. "Just a quick question; who was that guy?"

"Humm?"

"That boy who's supposed to be granddad's assistant." He clarified. "Who is he? I've got the feeling I know him."

Tracy's smile became thin and a little nervous.

"Well, you should. That's Ash."

Silence reigned supreme after that.

Apparently, as his chatty grandfather told him as he waltzed around a disgruntled Ponyta, Ash had decided to help him out at the lab while he waited to decide what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Yes, he was now the Pokemon Master and plenty of strong trainers flocked to Pallet to get a shot at masterdom, but he had expressed that he wanted to do more than just sit, train and wait for wannabe masters to show up. He had been with them for over a year and Professor Oak had nothing but high praise for the boy.

"Absolutely remarkable with pokemon, Gary…you wouldn't believe it, they trust and love him so unconditionally…hold still a little longer, dear…so very helpful to me and my research…that's it…Tracy and I have come to depend on him…so kind and helpful…easy there, girl…couldn't do a thing without him…"

Needless to say, he had come to resent and admire his old rival within a span of ten minutes.

"I get it," he groused. "So he's been here in Pallet since he became the Pokemon Master?"

"Hmm?" the grey hair professor blinked owlishly for a second. "Oh! Oh, yes, yes he has."

"Hasn't he wanted to go anywhere?"

"Well, you realize, Gary, that there are certain conditions to being a Pokemon Master." Oak said, his tone become factual. "For starters, the Pokemon Master must pick a place that every trainer knows where to find him should they desire to challenge him. Another one is that he can deny certain challenges, but those with a good record he cannot. And, as you can imagine, these days it's hard to find a trainer with more than eight badges, let alone a record of having competed in various league challenges."

"So, Ashy-boy picked Pallet Town as his home base," he simpered. "Unbelievable."

"Well, every one of his other friends has lives of their own, now," he said. "He believes it's only fair that he lets them to theirs and he get on with his."

Gary wanted to snark that that was very grown up of Ash to think, but wisely kept the words to himself. He would only be giving the old man more reason to praise the brat and he didn't want that.

"Okay, that's great, grandpa. But you did remember that I was coming, right?"

"Of course I did! I just forgot to tell Ash."

Gary grit his teeth in annoyance. He was getting a little sick of this display of dependence over his rival, who happened to be three years his junior!

"And?"

"I've got a room all ready for you. Just go find Ash; he'll take you to it."

He sputtered in indignity, tanned cheeks turning red, but Oak just waved him off and returned to ogling the Ponyta.

He had tried to find Tracy, but with even less success. He, too, was a researcher like his grandfather and was either holed up somewhere, talking to himself, or chasing after an irate pokemon that was trying to get the hell away from him. Ash, the assistant that they 'could not do without' seemed his best bet. He was tired and hungry and he just wanted to settle in. Getting upset at his old rival who had attained the goal he had aimed for at the beginning wouldn't help anything.

He entered back into the lab and found Ash hovering over the desk, pouring over files and folders and placing small post-it notes in special little piles. He cleared his throat to get his attention, but this time Ash didn't jump.

"I heard you," he said. "I'll be with you in a minute."

"Will it really be a minute, Ashy-boy?"

He was pleased with the irritated frown.

"Keep up at pissy attitude and it'll be longer."

But he wasn't expecting a snap like that. The swearword had even caught him off guard to the point where he couldn't think of a proper retort. But by the time he managed to gather himself, Ash was done and walking over to him.

"Follow me."

Gary's eyes flickered over the shorter form, the old spark of childhood rivalry welling up inside him again.

"You wouldn't mind grabbing my bags for me, would you?"

"No," he said. "I do mind."

"Is that any way to treat a guest, Ashy-boy?"

"No, but you're not exactly a welcome guest, either."

Gary internally grimaced. He hadn't seen that one coming.

"Still, I'm a researcher in training and you're the assistant. You work under me." He felt gleeful at the rising red in Ash's cheeks, the old spark of rivalry filling him with a sort of life that he hadn't been aware he was missing. But instead of yelling, or a defeated grumble as well as reaching for his bag, Ash just turned and stormed out the room.

"Carry your own fucking bags, you lazy dickhead!" He growled. "I'm an assistant; not a slave!"

Again, the sudden surge of profanity shocked Gary to the point that he almost forgot about his teasing. But he quickly cast it aside as a new side of Ash. After all, the boy was…what…sixteen by now?

"It's basically the same thing," he teased, quickly grabbing his bags and following him out and up onto the stairs.

"No, it's not. A slave has to do what he is bid. I, as an assistant, can choose not to help you."

"But then you won't get paid."

"Not by you, I won't. Professor Oak pays me for helping him and Tracy even gives me little gifts now and then as thanks." He turned and gave a hardened glare. "Seeing as I know you won't be giving me anything but stress, I don't have to do jack for you."

"We'll see," he teased, but Ash had apparently had enough and was quickly striding up the stairs.

"This is Tracy's room," he said, introducing the first door. "He prefers it because if he needs to make a run to do something he forgot he's right by the stairs. This is Professor Oak's study…"

"You mean his room."

"I know what I mean," he snapped. "And I mean that this is his study. Professor Oak's room is over there. He got so busy one month that by the time I managed to drag him out, his room had been covered with files and notebooks and even loose pieces of paper." He gave an exhausted sigh; obviously tired just thinking about the mess he had to sort out. "It took me a long time to sort that out, and by the time I was done he has settled in the other room. So it's now his study." He said, opening another door. "This is your room."

"It's clean."

"Yeah. Professor Oak may not have warned me that you of all people were coming, but he did ask me to clean up this room and I suspected a new researcher was going to be staying with us."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing."

"It's you, Gary," he groused. "Of course it's a bad thing."

"Aww," he crooned, dropping his bags on the bed and walking up to the other trainer. "Don't tell me I've got little ol' Ashy in a tizz by just being here?"

He reached up and brushed against his side. Before he knew it, his arm with hit back and he was pushed away. He stumbled back, more than surprised at the violent lash.

"What the hell?"

"Don't…don't touch me," he growled. Gary said nothing, more than a little confused on what had just happened. Ash, however, took in a deep breath, slowly let it out and calmed down. "There's a toilet at the end of the hall and the bathroom is just before that. My room is on the other end of the hall."

Gary's eyes widened.

"You live here?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "Mom has a boyfriend and I moved out because I wasn't comfortable staying with them."

Gary blinked, obviously not expecting such a turn of events. Things had changed, and he wasn't sure he liked them, too much.

"Well, if you need anything…I mean really need anything and not just some pathetic whim you have…you can find me in my room. Just knock first. Squall doesn't like it when people just burst into my room."

"Squall?"

"My Pichu."

"Oh."

"Well," he sighed. "See you at dinner."

With that, he closed the door on a very befuddled researcher.

That evening, Gary had decided he was going to forget what conspired. He had obviously missed a lot over the years he and Ash had been apart, but he saw no reason as to stop his usual tirade of teasing and belittling. Of course, he had been forced to tone it down once he realized Ash served dinner and he'd get some serious food poisoning if he kept up the nastiness.

A month passed and he completely forgot about the incident. Indeed, he remembered how panicked the raven-haired boy had gotten when his hand brush up against his side, and it was terribly difficult to overlook his sudden hardened attitude, but he mostly put it aside and categorized it as unimportant. Instead, he decided to work on getting under Ash's skin again.

He remembered when they were kids and how he used to say something and Ash would flush with anger and start yelling in anger. He missed that, and theorized that working as an assistant and being the Pokemon Master had pretty much strained all the fun out of the teen. Granted, the boy could cook like a wizard chef and he pokemon absolutely adored him, but it wasn't the Ash he remembered. So, he made it his duty to annoy, tease, undermine, belittle, demean and piss off the younger boy until he finally cracked and started behaving like the Ash Ketchum he knew.

So far, it had been working. He had gotten Ash red with rage numerous times and spitting out strings of profanity (along with a threat to poison him), but no declarations of being a master or demands of battle to prove he was better. Nothing he could remember. Professor Oak was oblivious to it all, seeing as Ash remained polite towards him and Tracy, but Tracy seemed to get very nervous whenever Ash blew his top. Gary felt a little guilty, but he wasn't worried. If anything, he gauged his level of reaction from Ash by watching the worry lines on Tracy's face. Cruel, he knew, but it was like science.

The only way to create a successful experiment is by adding a few drops of highly explosive solution.

Gary woke that Thursday morning to the usual smell of breakfast being cooked in the kitchens downstairs. Ash never did routine cooking so he never knew what he was getting unless he actually took a good whiff of the aroma. At first, he had teased him about his cooking. But once he found that there wasn't a single thing wrong with his meals, he began teasing him on how much like a housewife he was. Squall, his Pichu, oddly enough tending to react to him for that, so Gary kept his housewife comments to a fair minimum so as not to get shocked so often. For a baby-like pokemon, Squall could pack a punch!

He washed and dressed as always, casually strolling downstairs into the kitchen. Tracy was already seated at the table despite the fact that Squall was still setting it. Ash was by the stove, making omelettes. The rich aroma of grilled egg, bacon, tomato and mushrooms filled his nostrils and his stomach screamed in hunger. Indeed, Ash could definitely cook.

"Morning, Gary," Tracy greeted him. Squall gave his usual greeting, but Ash never said a word. Gary felt a smidgen of guilt; Ash used to greet him in the mornings, but the more he teased him the less polite he was becoming. Something told him he ought to stop, being nineteen and supposedly more mature, but he found that he couldn't. Not until he found that little boy who yelled at him and took on any challenge that was given.

"Morning, Tracy." He grinned as he seated himself at his set space. "Morning Ash."

"Morning."

"And how did you sleep?"

"Fine." There was a pause before he sighed in exasperation. "How did you sleep, Gary?"

"Aw, the way you ask that one would think you didn't care about me."

"I don't."

It hurt to hear that coming from his childhood friend's mouth, but he supposed he should have expected it.

Ash quietly dished up the omelettes and placed the condiments in the centre. Gary noticed he was oddly quiet this morning; somber, almost. He had a few choice snarks to get the other's attention, but he decided to keep them to himself for the moment.

"Isn't Professor Oak coming down?" Ash asked Tracy, pointedly ignoring Gary.

"No. I don't think he even left the Eevee pen last night," the older man sighed. "He's adamant in watching one evolve into either Espeon or Umbreon just to find out what real effect the time of day has on their evolution."

Ash nodded.

"I've always wondered."

"It could be that if Eevee is at a certain level to evolve, by default it would evolve into an Espeon. Personally, I think the night has a certain effect that adds darkness that replaces the psychic ability." Gary added, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

"Hmm…maybe." Ash admitted, actually looking at him for the first time that morning. "Though I wouldn't know. I just look after the pokemon. I don't care much for the mechanics of how they evolve."

"And that's where you and I differ, Ashy-boy. You're happy just knowing the bare minimum while I work hard to find out these little details."

Tracy suddenly looked much more nervous than he had ever seen him before and Ash's eyes had a near murderous look to them.

"No, the only difference between you and I, is that you're a…" at this, he pointedly covered Squall's ears. "…a fucking jackass!"

"Oh come on, Ashy-boy. You're telling me that you wouldn't care for the reason why your Pikachu can only evolve when given a thunder stone?"

Ash visibly stiffed and froze. Tracy did, too, and was starting to look incredibly anxious.

"Hey…ahm…Ash," he nervously laughed. "I forgot to put out the bird pokemon's food this morning. Why don't you…you know…"

Gary frowned. Something was up. Something about his Pikachu.

"Hey…by the way, where is that little electric rodent?" he sneered. "Don't tell me he's frolicking in the fields with the other pokemon instead of sitting inside with you."

"Gary," Tracy begged. "Stop."

"Seriously, where is he? Or was it a she? I can't remember." He tittered, purposely ignoring the other researcher plea. "But he was attached to you at the hip. You didn't outgrow him, did you? Because think of how sad and lonely he probably is at this very mo…"

A plate smashed into the wall. Bits of tomato and egg spattered against the clean white wall and fell to the floor, their squishy noises masked by the tinkling of ceramic.

Gary's eyes were wide as he stared in horror. Ash had just thrown the plate into the wall. Ash Ketchum, the sweetest little loser he knew, had just thrown a plate. Into the wall.

"A-Ash…I…"

"Shut up!" he screamed, sweeping his cutlery off the table. "Just shut up! ShutupshutupshutupshutUP!" And he did just that. He couldn't do much else. He was pretty much frozen to spot, even as Ash glared at him with furious eyes behind a wash of thick tears. He didn't even move as the boy ran from the room with an upset Squall chasing after him.

He had never seen Ash like that before.

Never.

"Oh, for the love of all that is…what the hell were you thinking, Gary Oak?"

He jumped. Tracy was now glaring at him, his cheeks red and his hair in a disarray as though he had just roughly ran a hand through it.

"I…I…"

"Why the hell did you do that? Is there something about him that you personally don't like?"

"I…" he swallowed hard, his stomach churning unpleasantly. "I…I just…wanted to tease him…"

"There's a huge difference between teasing and demeaning," he growled. "And you've been doing the latter since you got here."

He suddenly scowled, not liking the sudden gall of the older researcher.

"So what? It's not like I mean it, or anything. That's how we always worked. That's the way our rivalry worked."

"You? A researcher rivals with an assistant that just so happens to be the Pokemon Master?" he snorted in derision and Gary felt his cheeks heating with shame and loathing.

"So what? He didn't have a problem with anything before. Why the hell did he flip out as soon as I mention that fuzzy yellow rat?"

"Don't…Gary, just don't." he growled and he was shocked to see his fists clenched tightly and restrained on his thighs. "Please, don't say such things about Pikachu."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but something in his gut told him not to. Now was not the time for scathing remarks. A quick flashback of the hurt in his old friend's eyes with thick rivers of tears flowing down his cheeks solidified his decision. He even started to feel guilty and a little out of place.

"Tracy?" he asked, a little more nicely. "Where is Pikachu?"

Tracy growled in frustration before running his hands anxiously through his hair a couple more times. Gary could see that something really big was actually up and was starting to doubt ever picking on the raven-haired boy.

"Gary, what I say now is in total confidence." He said. "You don't tell anyone else about this and you definitely don't bring it up in any manner of casualty, understood?"

Gary could do nothing but swallow hard and nod. His stomach was starting to feel like it was turning into a big ball of cement.

"Well, you see," he sighed. "Pikachu is…dead."

Blue eyes widened in disbelief.

"Dead? But…"

"Just listen, okay.

"Ash and Pikachu were coming back from a colony of other Pikachu. Apparently, the town Ash had been staying in for a while had its own little colony of Pikachu on the outskirts and his Pikachu had found a mate.

"I don't know what happened then, but it happened while he was coming back. Team Rocket decided to make another attempt at capturing Pikachu. As usual, there was the normal banter and the fight for Pikachu. But that's where it all went wrong."

Gary swallowed. He had met Team Rocket before; Jessie, James and a Meowth. They weren't so tough and as little as he'd seen them they seemed awfully fond of Ash and seemed to more steal Pikachu because it was something of a routine. They didn't look like their hearts were 100% in it.

"There's another duo in the Team Rocket syndicate; Cassidy and Butch, and they decided they were going to catch Pikachu for their own glory.

"I don't know what really happened. All I know is that there was a huge scrap and I think either Cassidy or Butch pulled out explosives; I know it wasn't Jessie, James or Meowth. Ash was the main target. You know; take out the trainer and the pokemon won't have a reason to stay out of their clutches? But Pikachu got in the way and sacrificed himself."

Gary stiffened and his stomach felt like it had sunk into the bottom of his loafers while he heart jumped into his throat.

"H-h-he…he sacrificed himself?"

Tracy nodded somberly.

"Ash saw the whole thing. He got seriously injured, alright, but Pikachu bore at least 60% of the brunt of the explosion. I don't know what happened with the two Team Rockets, but Ash's mom suddenly got a phone call that he was in hospital with severe injuries." Tracy sighed, appearing more tired and worn. "They stayed by him the whole time he was in hospital. He underwent surgery numerous times and almost died a few. The only thing that kept him going was Pikachu's child; Squall. He was still an egg. I don't know why Pikachu didn't stay at the colony with his egg, or why they were taking it back to Pallet with them, but it was there and it was the only reason Ash wanted to go on living."

His throat felt tight. The world suddenly seemed awfully surreal. Ash…die? The thought was preposterous! That brat had been on so many adventures, faced many life threatening situations…and he almost died thanks to a homicidal faction of Team Rocket?

"How…how long ago…?" he couldn't finish.

"Just a year."

'Oh, fuck.'

"A year?" he yelped. "But…but…shouldn't he be in therapy, or something? It's his Pikachu, for Christ's sake! He meant the world to him!"

"Ash threatened to run away and never contact anyone who knew him if they forced him to," Tracy said, taking a sip of his tea. "I know it hit him hard and hurt him a lot, but he believes this is the best way for him to deal with it. He's not ignoring it," he quickly amended. "Just…focusing on his other passions while he works it through."

Gary swallowed thickly.

"I can imagine they almost took away his title, huh?"

"Ash wanted them to. But there was a majority vote that he stay as Master until either a worthy master comes along, or if he starts becoming seriously affected." He paused. "It's been okay, so far. Any challenger that comes along he fights and acts like the Ash we all once knew."

"But has he really been thinking about it? I mean; the incident." Gary insisted. "I mean, it can't be healthy to go on as thought everything's okay."

"He says he gets this therapy from the pokemon," he assured him. "And Professor Oak says he can confirm it. Since he started working as an assistant, interacting with the pokemon has released him slightly out of his depression. We were all worried that he would edge towards suicide," Gary's breath hitched here. "But Squall is important and he does his utmost to make sure he's happy and healthy."

"Homage to Pikachu."

"Something like that."

Gary's head now felt both light and thick with guilt. All this time, Ash had been battling serious depression and deep issues and he had been being…oh, who was he kidding? He had been an absolute jackass!

"Hey, Tracy?" he asked after a few moments. "How come Ash was so quiet this morning? Normally, he's chatting away…" even if it wasn't to him.

Tracy gave him a wry smile, nibbling the edge of the omelette. It was obvious the little display in the kitchen made him lose his appetite and Gary didn't blame him a bit.

"Because today is exactly a year since Pikachu's death."

'Double fuck.'