My odd ships (still ongoing)

To protect you- Jeershipping

Gary and Miette were out for a pleasant walk on the outskirts of Pallet town.

After all the time they had gotten to know each other, he had finally convinced her to come to Kanto for a visit. He was super excited, and promised himself that this would be the time to tell her how he felt about her. However, he was also nervous, not that he let it show.

"So, what's the occasion?" Miette asked. "You sounded very excited when I finally agreed to come."

"Of course, I'm excited. I finally got the beautiful Kalos baker to come visit my home region." Gary grinned. "How could I not be excited about that?"

Miette blushed lightly and giggled as she shook her head.

"You really are something else, Gary." Miette remarked.

"Ah, come on. You know you love me." Gary smiled.

Of course he was joking, but he would be happier than a Togikiss if she said yes. Unfortunately, he knew better than to believe that. Maybe now wasn't the time to confess.

Miette was silent for a moment, but before she could speak, Gary caught sight of something above.

"Look out!" Gary exclaimed.

He pushed Miette out of the way, pinning her against a tree as a wave of fire blasted down from the sky. Gary winced as the fire singed his the back of his shirt, burning his skin.

"Gary!" Miette worried.

"Don't worry. Just stay behind me." Gary grunted out.

He glanced back up and spotted the culprit again. A rogue charizard flew above them, firing flame thrower attack after attack in all directions. The Pokémon was obviously in distress, and as much as Gary didn't want to hurt it, he had knock it out before someone got seriously hurt.

He turned around, but made sure Miette remained safely behind him.

"Blastoise! Hydro canon on the Charizard!" Gary released his Pokémon.

The large shellfish Pokémon appeared in a flash of light and shot the ordered attack. The move merely grazed the thrashing fire type, but it did get its attention.

Miette stood frozen as Gary battled it out. This was so sudden and she wasn't used to being in this situation. Least of all with her crush protecting her like this.

Although Gary blocked the waves of heat from hitting her, nothing kept him from getting burned himself.

Parts of his shirt had been eaten away by the flames, and left chard skin in its place. But that wasn't important now. He would have to worry about it later.

"Blastoise, hydo pump!" Gary commanded.

Miette was snapped back from her daze as Blastoise jumped into action. This time the move hit its mark, but it only seemed to enrage the Charizard even more.

It charged forward, but was headed for Gary instead. He stood his ground, clutching another Pokéball. He was ready to defend at any cost. Miette knew that, and she couldn't let that happen.

"Meowstic, use thunderwave!"

In a flash, a male Meowstic appeared in front of Gary and released the move that finally brought down the Charizard. It lay sprawled and paralyzed on the ground in front of them.

Gary let out a breath of relief, but winced. He had been so caught up in the battle and protecting Miette that he had forgotten his pain of the burns.

"Gary, are you ok?" Miette asked worried as she stepped out in front of him.

"I...I think so." Gary breathed.

"Good." Miette sighed as she hugged him. "I was so worried."

He bite his tongue as the pain spread with her touch, but he wasn't going to pass up being this close to her. But before he could hug her back, she stepped away.

"I'm sorry." Miette muttered while avoiding his gaze. "We need to get back to the lab. You need to be treated for those burns and the Pokémon could use some help. Meowstic, use psychic to bring the Charizard along. You should call your Blastoise back to its pokeball too."

"Yeah. Right." Gary nodded slowly. "Blastoise, return."

With his Pokémon returned, they headed back to the lad. Meowstic obeyed his trainer and followed the two out as they slowly made their way back.

Miette was completely silent as they walked, and Gary had no idea what to say. It all happened so fast. What even was there to say?

Soon, they returned to the lab, but upon entering the two were bombarded with questions. Miette did all the explaining to the lad staff about what happened while they were out.

Gary stood just behind her, marveling at how calm she could be, even though he could tell how shaken she truly was.

"Well, thank you. We will handle things with the Charizard. Would you mind tending to Gary?" One of the staff asked her.

"Sure." Miette nodded.

"Good. He can show you where all the heals and first aid kit is."

Miette nodded and with that, the two went into another room. Gary pointed out where the first aid kit was and Miette got it. As she searched through it for what she needed, Gary watched her intently. She moved stiffly and her whole body seemed tense.

She soon turned around with some bandages and heals in her hands.

"You should take that shirt off. It will be easier to see how bad the burns are." Miette stated.

"Yeah. Right." Gary muttered.

He took off the remaining scraps of his burnt up shirt, wincing slightly at the tenderness of his skin. They sat on the nearby couch with his back to her. Miette's hands were steady and gentle as she began her work of banging him up. However, it didn't take long before she started to shake.

"Miette, are you ok?" Gary asked softly.

"No..." Miette whimpered. "Why...why did you have to..."

She couldn't even finish her thought as tears began to burn her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, and tried to stay calm. However, this took a bigger toll on her than she would like to admit.

"Just...why?" Miette managed to get out.

"Honestly..." Gary began. "It's because I can't stand to see you hurt. I care about you a lot, Miette. More than you know."

At this point, Gary was actually grateful that his back was to her. It made it easier for him to get out what he really wanted to say. Even as much as it hurt to hear her so sad, he knew it was the time to come clean.

"I love you, Miette." Gray confessed. "I just had to protect you."

He heard a soft gasp before she started to cry. Before he knew it, Miette had lightly wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his bandages back.

"You idiot..." Miette whimpered. "...don't ever do that again. I can't stand to see you hurt either. I love you too."

Gary smiled and finally turned around to face her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't promise that." Gary said, caressing her cheek.

"Then...then at least be more careful. Can you at least promise me that?" Miette asked.

"I can do that." Gray replied.

"Good. I think I can live with that." Miette sighed contently.

She wiped her eyes and looked back at Gary with a warm smile. He returned it, and before they knew it, they were both leaning in until their lips met.

It started as a slow and gentle kiss, but soon grew passionate. Whatever pain Gary felt was ignored in favor of kissing the lovely girl in his arms. He knew it would hurt more later, but it was worth it. Miette was worth it.

THE END!!!