You're here, that's all I need to know. And you will keep me safe, and you will keep me close. And rain will make the flowers grow.

Fortunately, all of the storms have passed away, making tonight's sky starry and promising, and the air was comfortably warm. Ash breathed into the alluring autumn scent, and smiled a little. He swore to himself that he would try to be happy tonight, for it was his birthday. He had to be grateful to have friends like Misty, whom was trying her hardest to make him smile. He hoped to see some of his other friends there too that he hadn't seen in a long time. He even brought some of his pokémon, to maybe have a battle like the good old days.

It took a while, but he finally got Gary out of his mind. He didn't want to waste his time at the party worrying if he would be there or not. Maybe tonight he'll realize that he should move on and just have fun with his friends. That's how it used to be, when he was travelling the regions and just hanging with his friends. He missed that. He even thought about maybe going back to a region just to relive the nostalgia.

And then if he chose to do that after all, afterward he would decide to plan his future out and find out what he wanted to do. Maybe he'll go back to his old dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. If not that, then maybe part of the Elite Four or a gym leader somewhere. Anything as long as he was happy with his choice.

Tonight he felt nostalgic as he wore his old outfit from back when he travelled the Kanto and Johto regions. It still fit him, a bit snug in places but he dealt with it. He smiled when his old hat still fit him, and just wearing the hat caused his memories to flow back to him, remembering every battle he had and how he won every badge. Within those memories were Pikachu, from the very first day they met. He hoped that Pikachu would come back soon. Or even now would be nice.

He snapped out of his daydream as he realized he was standing in front of the Cerulean Gym. He had called Misty beforehand and she told him to skip going inside and just go around back, and when he did, he smiled at the sight.

There were tons of multi-colored balloons and party tents, not to mention tons of food for him to enjoy. Music was playing from a huge stereo and there were a lot of people there. Some he didn't know, but most of them he recognized on the spot. Then he saw Misty and walked up to her first.

"Oh hey Ash! You got here just on time," she welcomed him, giving him a friendly hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Misty. And I really appreciate you throwing a party for me…you know you didn't have to."

"I know, but I haven't been to a party in a while so I thought why not? And you need to have fun in your life nowadays, too. And so does everyone else!"

Ash laughed at the optimistic girl. "That's true. So how many people did you invite?"

"Well I invited everyone that you know plus some more exceptions."

"Everyone? Like, from different regions?"

"Yup! And they all made it too!"

"Wow…say, where's Brock?"

"Where do you think he is?" She nodded to a direction, with Ash's eyes following it and then rolled his eyes in amusement. Of course Brock was trying to get a girl to like him at the moment.

"Well, okay then."

For the rest of the hour, Ash spent time mingling with all of his old friends. He got to see some gym leaders, his travelling companions, rivals, and more.

"Hey, so Ash, did you know that the Viridian Gym is open for anyone who's interested in taking the position of the gym leader?" The subject was brought up by Max.

"Huh? I thought Team Rocket owned that gym."

"Yeah but didn't you hear? The leader of Team Rocket suddenly disappeared three years ago and the rest of Team Rocket couldn't handle the organization anymore, and that includes taking care of the gym."

"So Team Rocket is…no more?"

"Seems like it."

Ash was almost surprised. Since his Kanto journey, he had seen Team Rocket every single day. Well, not exactly the whole organization he must point out. He only saw Jessie, James and Meowth all the time. He'd seen Giovanni quite a few times but eventually he was no longer a threat to Ash. And now Team Rocket was over. He almost didn't want to believe it. He wouldn't admit it, but sometimes (only sometimes) the trio had made his days more humorous and somewhat enjoyable. He remembered all the times that Team Rocket saved his life and helped him out. Sure, other days were troubling but in the end they gave in, and let him and his travelling companions be.

Suddenly he heard some voices near the buffet that sounded sickeningly familiar. He looked over to the voices and there were three figures dressed in really outlandish clothing. The man was wearing a fedora with a monocle and a clearly fake mustache with a long trench coat. The woman had her hair up in a tight bun, wearing thin glasses and she had on a long, bodacious dress. She seemed…pregnant? Ash firstly guessed, but then his eyes observed closer and saw that there was a small slit in the dress in the stomach area, and his questions were answered as soon as he saw a familiar paw sneak through the dress to grab a bun.

He chuckled, and excused himself from Max for a moment.

"Excuse me?"

The trio panicked for a moment, staying close together and trying hard to keep up with their disguise.

"Uh..oh, oh! Lookie here, it's the ever-so famous Ash Ketchum!" The man exclaimed, seemingly fixing his monocle.

"Why it is, oh how I've dreamed of meeting you! I've watched you in some pokémon leagues and you're quite the trainer!" The woman spoke up, rubbing her stomach and acting as if she was pregnant.

Ash couldn't fight the smile on his face. "Well, thanks a lot! But pardon me, do I know you guys from somewhere?"

The two exchanged worried looks but still kept calm. "Of course not! Well maybe you have seen us in the audience once or twice but certainly we have never spoken a word to each other!"

"I guess so…were you guys invited here?"

The two were nervously chuckling, slipping out of their impersonation.

"Oh come on! Clearly dat kid knows it's us! We can't fool him anymore!"

"Shut up, Meowth!" Jessie unknowingly caved in but after seeing Ash's confirmed look she shook her head and went back to her disguise. "Uh…I can explain! Uh…the baby already learned to talk while still being pregnant! Haha…"

Ash rolled his eyes and shook his head, fighting back a laugh. "Whatever. You guys are welcome to stay and eat all you want. My treat." Ash walked away, leaving Team Rocket flabbergasted.

"There was no way that was Team Rocket…was it?" Max asked, raising his eyebrow in disbelieving.

Ash just laughed.

"Anyway…I was wondering, you still have some battle left in you?" Max smiled proudly, showing off a pokéball.

"Oh, that's right! I promised you a battle, huh?"

"Yup! So you up for it?"

"Sure, I could use a battle! I might be a little rusty, but I still got it in me!"

"Haha, yeah right," he teased. "Why don't we go out in the field?"

XX

They decided on a three on three pokémon battle. Like old times, Brock was the referee, and Misty watched from the sidelines. The first round consisted of Ash's Infernape and Max's Kirlia. Infernape got in one flamethrower, fairly harming Kirlia, but the psychic pokémon was able to knock out the flaming monkey with one powerful psychic attack.

But then in the second round, Kirlia was instantly defeated with the help of Heracross's Megahorn, a super-effective attack against the poor psychic pokémon. Max sent out Sceptile, which still wasn't much help against Heracross. Sceptile could only get in a couple leaf blades and a quick attack before Heracross charged up another Megahorn in, defeating the grass pokémon.

Ash was feeling victorious, until Max's ultra ball let out a Salamence.

"Wow, Max…"

"Haha yep! May gave me a Bagon for my tenth birthday, so you can only guess what that means!"

"You mean that this Salamence was your very first pokémon?!"

"Yep, it's my one true partner! Let's show Ash your power, Salamence! Flamethrower!"

Heracross was no match for the powerful fire move, and it fainted instantly.

'Ugh, I don't have any pokémon that can stand up to a Salamence!' Ash thought, letting out a short, exasperated sigh. 'Of all battles not to bring my Snorlax or Glalie…I guess…this would have to do.'

But before he could throw the pokéball, he heard something the distance.

"Pika pika!"

Ash's heart almost stopped. That was…

Before the name could pop up in his head, he felt something run up to his shoulder and then jump off of it. A thunderbolt formed in front of his eyes and attacked Salamence. Pikachu gave it no mercy as it also formed an iron tail and hit its head, causing it to faint.

"Oh wow! Your Pikachu is a lot stronger than I thought, Ash…" Max told him with a surprised tone in his voice.

"P..Pikachu?" Ash muttered with his voice cracking.

The yellow mouse happily chirped and leaped into Ash's arms, snuggling him. Ash dropped to his knees and couldn't help but cry. His heart leapt for joy, and a sob forced itself out of his throat. As he squeezed Pikachu back, he could feel and smell the familiar electricity run off of his fur, causing his skin to jolt. He missed that feeling. It always woke him up more and Pikachu's positive aura always made him power through the day with a smile on his face. Nostalgia hit him hard as the tears came down with more intensity. He felt Pikachu's cheeks wipe away the tears as much as possible, his mewls comforting his feelings.

Misty and Brock smiled at the sight, utterly relieved that their plan had worked after all. "I wonder where Pikachu was all this time. And why did he come back all of a sudden?" Misty questioned, Brock not knowing the answers, obviously. But then he looked over to the short distance, and he saw a familiar figure.

"Why don't we ask him?"

Misty looked at him and then followed his eyes. She gasped, "It's…Gary."

Ash's eyes popped open at the name. He stood up and followed his friends' eyes and saw him. His breath was completely taken away. Gary's green eyes shone in the moonlight, staring at him. He almost had no emotion on his face, but his eyes showed off millions. But he didn't seem mad any longer, thankfully for Ash.

Ash almost didn't realize Gary got closer to him until he picked up his cinnamon scent. The scent that he missed dearly.

Gary bent down a little to scratch Pikachu behind its ears. "Pikachu, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Ash alone."

"Pika!" It followed his orders and went over to greet Brock and Misty. Gary then pulled Ash away from the party, towards the cluster of trees.

Ash swore his heart could burst out of his chest at any moment, and he still could barely breathe. He couldn't stop looking at the taller boy in front of him. He looked right back at him, neither of them knowing what to say.

But then Gary spoke up. "I found Pikachu, you know. The past two weeks I…I mean, yeah I wanted to get away from Pallet originally…but then I found a group of Pikachu in an opening of a forest. A lot of them seemed injured, but their wounds were taken care of. I think your Pikachu sensed danger beforehand and wanted to help out. Unlike Meowth and maybe other exceptions, Pokémon can't talk so…I don't know the whole story."

Ash understood though, and it was typical of Pikachu to help out like that. Still, he wished that Pikachu warned him in advance. But maybe it would've been too late.

"U-Um…well thank you."

Silence filled the air again, even if the music was booming in the background. The tension in the air was thick, and you can cut it with a knife. But then a cool breeze caused Gary's serious masquerade to break into pieces, tears slowly dripping out of his sentimental eyes.

"Gary?"

"Just…let me talk…" He rubbed his face away of any tears and sadness and took a deep breath. "Yes, I've loved you since the Silver Conference. After that battle we've had and I lost to you, I've thought about how much stronger you've gotten as both a trainer and a person. And at that point I just developed feelings for you. And even though I thought you deserved my other half of that pokéball we broke, you still gave it back to me because it belonged to me after all. I mean, I did want to tell you how I felt but I was afraid. Afraid of rejection. You were just so precious to me that I didn't want to lose you. You were my only friend, the only one that was there for me. And at that point I knew that nobody could make me happy as much as you."

Gary paused for a moment and observed Ash. He was never a good listener, but he seemed somber about what Gary had said so far. The raven-haired boy didn't even bother to stop his tears falling from his big brown eyes. The brunette wanted to kiss the falling drops away but not just yet.

"And when I saw that you needed comfort, I was desperate at that point and I wanted you so much. The only reason I said I regretted doing it is because I knew it would hurt you in the end. And I never wanted you to fall in love with me through just that. I wanted you to earn my love. So for you to just break up with Misty and be with me just like that didn't feel right. But apparently, you two were scheduled to break up anyway."

"Because she didn't deserve me," Ash interrupted, but Gary didn't seem to mind. "She didn't deserve anything from me because I don't think I even loved her from the start. It was just so I could have someone that could comfort me when I needed it, but then you came in my life and did just that. And I don't know why but I just felt more comfortable with you than with Misty. I mean I guess fate just decided that me and Misty are meant to be friends and nothing more."

"But you can't always rely on fate, Ash."

"Yes I know. But fate will come whenever it needs to come. It comes naturally. I don't think I rely on fate at all, but I accept it when it comes, good or bad. And I just happened to fall in love with you, Gary. Not to mention, but you were my very first friend. My first best friend. And you were there for me too. You were always my inspiration. Once I realized that you made me feel better through your actions I just couldn't help but fall in love. I never wanted you to stop and I wanted you to make me happy again. But I guess I relied on that a bit too much. I never wanted to use you either. I didn't know you felt like that. It was never my intention for you to feel used and I'm sorry. I never wanted to cause you pain and I didn't want you to regret anything. I don't regret anything except for cutting myself and hurting both you and Misty. I just want everyone to be happy from now on.

"And so if you don't wanna be back together with me then, fine…but I still want to be friends. I'll probably never move on, but never seeing or talking to you again could really hurt me in the end. So please…can we just start over? That alone will make me happy."

Gary gazed at him after he finished his monologue. He looked at every feature – his soft yet spiky hair that he loved to run his hands in, his beautiful chocolate eyes that he loved to drown in, his lean, skinny body that he loved to spoil, and his pouty, pink lips that he adored to kiss.

He walked closer to him and brought his hand up to his cheek, stroking the tears away. Ash leaned into his, closing his eyes.

"Please, Gary…I'm so tired of being depressed. I just want everything back to normal."

And so did the brunette. He couldn't control himself anymore.

Ash's eyes opened wide with shock as he felt lips on his. But before he could finally enjoy it, the other pulled away.

"Just do me a favor Ash."

"Y-Yeah? Anything."

Gary grinned, "Just start smiling more. Even through the pain and sadness…it'll help. And not to mention, but I really miss it."

And he did, along with a laugh through his happy sobs. And they kissed again. Ash's arms wrapped cozily around Gary's neck as the brunette wrapped his around the smaller boy's waist, pulling him as close as he could. All the times that they've kissed, this was the most passionate and had the most closure. Ash had time to revel in on how Gary was such an amazing kisser. He had such soft, luscious lips that tasted of cinnamon and sugar all the time – he tasted so good.

Gary slyly glided in his tongue, massaging the other's tongue, eliciting a small moan from Ash. The black-haired boy then sighed with ease and he could feel himself slipping away from the real world. In his mind, it was only him and Gary. Sharing their love for each other.

It was heaven.

But then he got his head out of the clouds once Gary pushed him against a tree. His skin jolted in excitement when the taller boy placed his knee between his legs. Ash ran his hands down his torso and then eventually started fiddling with Gary's jean button.

Gary chuckled and pulled away. He looked at him and had to force back an even bigger laugh. Ash was completely flushed and really excited, with a big goofy smile on his face. Gary's heart leapt for joy.

"Not yet, Ashy-boy. Let's enjoy your birthday party first, okay?" He kissed him on the forehead before grabbing his hand and linking it with his own.

They walked back to the party, still lively as ever. The two walked to Misty, Brock and Pikachu, whom were all dancing and enjoying themselves. When they looked at the couple, they smiled, knowing that everything was going to be okay.

"Excuse me? Are you by any chance, Ash Ketchum?" A voice came from behind them, causing them to turn around and see a fairly stout man wearing a suit and tie.

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"I happen to be the mayor of Viridian City! I just saw your battle earlier with that other trainer and I must say, you have a lot of potential, young man! Not to mention, I've been to a couple pokémon leagues where you starred in, too!"

"O-Oh, thanks mister…" He nervously chuckled. Gary let go of Ash's hand and smiled. He could see where this was going.

"Which brings me to this subject. There's an opening for the Viridian Gym, and we've been travelling quite a while around the Kanto region for an acceptable, experienced trainer. And I think you have what it takes to be a gym leader. Are you up for it?"

Ash gaped at the man, clearly surprised. "Really?! You really think I have what it takes to be a gym leader?"

"No doubt about it!"

Ash let out a breathy chuckle, and looked at Gary, who gave him a wink and a thumbs-up.

"Well…of course I'm up for it!"

The mayor beamingly smiled, "Well that is great news! All you need now is to get approved by two other gym leaders and sign some paperwork!"

"Yes! I say yes!" Misty abruptly told the man. "I'm the Cerulean gym leader, Misty. And I definitely say aye for Ash being a gym leader!"

Ash couldn't help but laugh at Misty's enthusiasm.

"I used to be a gym leader at the Pewter Gym, so I don't know if former gym leaders count," Brock joined in the conversation, just as eager as Misty.

"As long as you were a gym leader, it counts! Well, it seems you already have your two approvals, just give me your address on this piece of paper and I'll send all the paperwork to your house by the end of tomorrow!"

Ash wrote down his address and gave it back to him. "Great! As soon as we get the paperwork done, we'll talk about when to start and all! Thank you very much, Ash!"

"No, mayor, thank you!"

The mayor left the friends be, and then Ash jumped on Gary, hugging him with all his might and wrapping his legs around his waist. "I'm gonna be a gym leader!"

"So I heard," he kissed his neck. "Congratulations."

Afterward, Misty and Brock praised him as well, hugging him, and they also announced to the whole party the good news, and Ash couldn't have been happier. Upon seeing Ash this happy, it was a breath of fresh air for Misty, Gary, and Brock. Misty couldn't help but cry for her best friend, and she knew that it would get better from now on.

And after the party was over, Ash and Gary spent the entire night making love, their sweat glistening from the moonlight, their breaths heavy and unstable. Their moans were unstoppable and their kisses were full of love.

They were no longer friends with benefits. They were now committed. As lovers.

The end! First off I just wanted to say thanks to all of my fans who stuck with me through this story from beginning to end! I really appreciate it and I couldn't have done it without all of your support! This story has come quite a long way but I'm just glad I finished it before a year passed on by. xD

Well, there's nothing left but for you guys to review your thoughts! Also, a heads up, I will be making another new Palletshipping chapter story, so look out for it, it'll be published shortly! The title is 'Helplessly in Love'so I hope you guys check it out when I publish it!

Thanks again, everyone! :D