Pokémon Legacy: Come Back to Me

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dawn watched her boyfriend leave, heartbroken. Serena was right the whole time, she didn't really know Ash. Another, stranger emotion rose up, one she couldn't quite identify, because it was insane.

She felt...happy?

She just found out her boyfriend, the person she loves the most in the world, did not return her affections, but loved another girl who she didn't particularly like, and most likely hated. Serena took her title away from her, and now it seems like she's taken her boyfriend too. Still, Dawn glanced at Gary, and the emotions she had been surpressing demanded to be felt.

Gary looked absolutely torn apart, his best friend has gone crazy, muttering about killing people. And Gary can't do anything to help. Dawn wanted to go over there and comfort him, maybe kiss him or something. She couldn't deny anymore that she had feelings for Gary. Fuck it all. Dawn thought. She stuffed the handkerchief and the folded up picture in her bag and walked over to him.

"Gary, are you okay?" She asked gently.

"No. I'm not." Gary sighed. "I can't do anything to help Ash, and our argument seems stupid now."

"It'll all work out in the end."

"Maybe. Maybe we'll get Serena back, maybe we'll defeat Team Rocket and Team Flare once and for all, maybe I'll even get your heart, but nothing will be the same. We'll all be a little more fucked up after all this is over." Gary sighed. He glanced around the battlefield, looking at all his friends. Korrina was crying softly with Bonnie, and Clemont was trying to comfort them both while crying himself.

"Clemont?" Bonnie whispered through her tears, frightened of the way Ash was acting. She had admired him for so long, and even liked him for a long time, but now he scared her to death.

"Yeah Bonnie?" Clemont asked, voice thick.

"Is Ash gonna be alright?"

"I don't know Bonnie. Serena was probably the only thing keeping him sane. Now that she's gone, we have to be very careful around him."

"Careful my ass." Gary muttered. "Ash has totally snapped. In all the years that I've known him, he's never acted this crazy. Ash is gone, and he's not coming back."

"Hey what's your problem man?" Clemont yelled, stepping away from the girls and clenching his fists.

"My problem is that my best friend has gone completely insane because those assholes from Team Rocket and Team Flare took the love of his life away from him!" Gary snapped. "And I can't do anything to help him, because I have no fucking idea where she is!" Dawn swallowed hard. The love of Ash's life?

"We're all pissed off Gary, Ash is our friend too!" Clemont shouted.

"How long have you known him, huh?" Gary snapped. "6 years? I've known Ash since I was in diapers! You don't get to say that you're his friend!"

"We have every right Gary!" Bonnie joined in on the yelling now. "Ash is like a second brother to me, and Serena is like my sister! It doesn't fucking matter whether we've known him 6 years or 60! We traveled together every day for an entire summer! We battled Team Flare the first time they decided to try and take over! Hell, we were the ones that were there when Yveltal petrified Serena, and Ash screamed curses to the world! Where the hell were you?!" Gary glared at the young trainer, irritated.

"You weren't there when Ash went off the deep end 6 years ago. You were here, in Kalos. I was there when he wasn't eating, wasn't sleeping, wasn't talking, and not even visiting his Pokémon! I took care of him after I got back from my research travels! I made sure he ate so his mother didn't have to worry so much! When I wasn't out doing research for my grandpa, I practically lived at the Ketchum place throughout his whole depression! I intentionally slowed my completion of the pokedex, my dream, to go back to Kanto every 3 weeks to make sure he was okay!" Gary laughed bitterly. "Hell, I was with him for the next 5 while he was still getting over whatever happened here to fuck him up even worse than his father's mystery did."