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misty loves ash like she’s always loved the ocean, fierce and passionate and loyal. but she learned a long time ago that even the most skilled water pokémon master can’t keep the ocean all for herself. she watches him go with the tide.
gary loves ash like his other half, the half it took him years to admit that he needs. ash will never know that gary wishes they were more than rivals or even friends, and gary will never tell him. it would ruin everything, if he knew.
ritchie loves ash like his mirror image, a version of him with bright confidence blazing in deep brown eyes, where ritchie’s own are shy and blue, and prone to staring at the ground instead of looking people in the eyes. “a promise is a promise,” ash says, and ritchie feels his breath catch softly in his throat. he knows, deep down, that he would promise ash anything he could give him.
jessie, james, and meowth love ash like their little brother, even though none of them would ever say it to his face. out of the three of them, none of them can pinpoint exactly when they started to care about this twerpy kid. the thunderbolts don’t really hurt them anymore.
ash loves them all like ash ketchum, the pokémon master, the bright, determined boy who has always loved loudly and from the bottom of his heart.