Gary knocked on the door of the Ketchum residence. He had been invited to a birthday party for Misty, and Gary could never turn down a chance to pester Ash. The door was opened by Delia, who was beaming. "It's so nice to see you Gary! Come on in." Delia said. Gary smiled and sat Misty's present on the table. He bought her seven dive balls, for obvious reasons. As he entered into the living room, he realized there were tons of people that he didn't know. "Gah, I hate meeting new people" he thought, as he reluctantly made his way into the crowd.
Ash put his arm around Misty's waist and planted a kiss on her lips. "It was so sweet of you to throw me this party." said the carrot-top as she pulled her boyfriend closer. The couple had finally been able to get some privacy on the back porch. "You deserve it, Mist" he whispered, as he went in for another kiss. "Even though it's been kinda crazy, I'm glad all of our friends were able to make it. In fact, I think I just saw Gary pull up." Misty said. Ash groaned and rolled his eyes, "I guess I have to go talk to him. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to everyone else if I kept the birthday girl out here all night." he gave Misty one more passionate kiss, and grabbed her hand to walk her back inside. Misty giggled as Ash tugged at her arm.
Gary was relieved as he spotted his raven-haired friend coming towards him. Gary gave Ash a 'bro-hug' which seemed very awkward to Ash. "Hey man, is Misty ok?" asked Gary. "Yea, she's perfect. Why do you ask?" replied a confused Ash. "Because she must've lost her mind, to fall in love with someone like you." teased Gary, with a laugh that was slightly too loud. "Very funny, so funny I forgot to laugh. But, hey thank you for coming though, it means a lot." Ash said. Gary only nodded in return. Ash took that as a silent "you're welcome". Then a familiar face pranced over to join in the conversation, "Is this the infamous Gary Oak that I've heard so much about?" Dawn squealed as she playfully punched Ash on the shoulder.
Misty tapped May on the shoulder. May spun around and hugged Misty. "Hey girl! Happy Birthday!" May shrieked. Misty thanked her and the two made small talk for about ten minutes. Then Misty decided to bring up something more interesting. "So I heard Drew finally made his move." said Misty with a smirk . May blushed a deep red and nodded. "You know how he has a thing with roses? Well, he invited me to his house for dinner about a month ago, and when I got there, I was blown away. He opened the door, and there were roses and candles everywhere, literally everywhere. It was so beautiful." As May told the story she began to get a dreamy look in her eyes. "Wow, so romantic. Ash isn't exactly romantic, but he's perfect for me." Misty stated. May agreed.
"Gary, this is Dawn. She's a bit of a...fireball, to say the least." Ash nervously explained, hoping that Dawn wouldn't be offended and punch him in the face. Dawn only shot a mean glance in his direction, then turned to Gary to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you, I get the impression that everything Ash can do you can do better." Gary laughed and scratched the back of his head "Well, Ashy-boy has a way of making everything a competition." Ash frowned as he realized that he was being excluded from the conversation. He left them alone, and tried to find the cake.
Delia made her way into the living room. For a moment she felt a little nostalgic; her son and all these other kids were growing up. Pushing aside these sad thoughts, she put her fingers to her lips and let out an ear splitting whistle that quickly silenced the crowd. "Alright everyone, cake is ready! After cake, Misty will open her presents." Then suddenly from the back of the room someone shouted, "YES CAKE!" As soon as Misty realized it was Ash she just blushed and shook her head. "Well, he's not completely grown up yet" thought a suddenly happier Delia.
Misty thought the cake that Brock cooked was adorable; it was vanilla cake with a tentacool drawn in the icing. Dawn snatched her piece, and spun around to go eat it. Before she knew it, BAM. She he collided with that Oak kid she met earlier. They both had cake all over their clothes. Gary just laughed and Dawn kept saying, "I'm so sorry, goodness I'm such an idiot" Gary borrowed some extra clothes from Ash and Dawn borrowed some extra clothes from Misty.
Misty was delighted at all the presents she received: seven dive balls from Gary, a case full of poffins from Dawn, a new outfit from May, a baby Mudkip from Brock, and a new pokedex from Delia. Misty tried to hide her disappointment as she discovered that there wasn't a present from Ash. "What did I expect? Ash has never been the gift-giving type." she thought, sadly. Then she heard a familiar voice from behind her, gently whisper, "Close your eyes, Mist" Obeying the commands of her beau, she smiled and closed her eyes. She felt something cold around her neck, and after about 30 seconds Ash said, "Ok, open." Misty opened her eyes and saw the beautiful necklace around her neck. It was a Milotic surrounded by shimmering sapphires. Her emerald eyes filled with tears, and she jumped into Ash's arms. "I'm such a lucky girl." Misty admitted into his ear.
The stars were twinkling above the group of friends standing in the front yard. It was almost 10:00 and the others had to start heading home. Everyone was hugging and saying their goodbyes, when out of the corner of his eye, Gary noticed Dawn was on the phone. Then she was kicking a tree; she picked up a rock and threw it into the darkness. "GAHH!" She yelled. Puzzled by her violent behavior he walked a little closer and called out, "Dawn? Is everything ok?" She didn't realize anyone was watching. She tried not to take her anger out on Gary as she almost yelled, "My cruise back to Sinnoh got CANCELLED, because of a stupid bomb threat by FREAKING TEAM ROCKET." Gary didn't know what to say, he had an idea but he didn't want to make her feel like she had to stay in Pallet. "Well my grandad always has some extra rooms at his laboratory. If you need to stay the night, he would be glad to lend you a room." Dawn's face broke into a relieved smile, "That would actually be really great, thank you so much."
After everyone had left, Gary announced that he would walk Dawn to the lab. "There's no reason for a lady to walk anywhere alone, at night." stated a big-headed Gary. Ash rolled his eyes again, "Drop the knightly act Gary, you're making me sick." While Ash pretended to puke, Gary opened the door for Dawn and led the way.
The two walked most of the way in silence, Gary's auburn hair was vibrant under the moonlight. Occasionally Dawn would comment on how cute Pallet is. Gary mostly just nodded. Once they arrived, he explained the situation to Professor Oak. He was very understanding and prepared a room for Dawn immediately. "It's so nice to meet you, Professor Oak. Thank you guys again. This really means a lot." She smiled a giant smile, whenever she smiled her sky blue eyes smiled too. As she headed to her room, Professor Oak raised a suspicious eyebrow at Gary. "What?" replied Gary. "Oh, nothing." said his grandad with a smile.
Dear Diary,
I had a great time at the party, I feel like I haven't seen Ash and Misty in ages. My boat back home got cancelled. But I met a nice boy today that got me a room at Professor Oaks lab. That was super sweet. Ash always said that Gary was a real jerk, but I just don't see it. Hopefully I can get another ship home soon, but honestly Pallet isn't all that bad, Dawn.
Dear Diary,
That party was more fun that I thought it would be. I'm glad Ashy-boy finally found someone to take care of him. I met a girl at the party that is stuck in Pallet for a while. Maybe I can get to know her a little better, Gary.