The Ultimate Pay Back
To Empress Empoleon for winning the Best Written Award for my contest. I really hope you like this!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
It was well known to everyone in Pallet Town that Leaf Green was a hugely mischievous girl and the prankster genius. Usually her pranks would be simple good natured fun but recently she had taken to really pushing out the boat whenever it came to her two friends Ash and Gary. It seemed that both boys had made some remarks about girls not being as good as boys at most things. Of course most twelve year old boys had that sexist ego but with Gary's already large ego, it was just too unbearable for Leaf to handle. She had to strike back at the duo. She'd started with the usual marker pen moustache then moved on to the fingers in a glass of tepid water. She'd put chilli powder in the boy's toothpaste and made their shampoo more than fragrant with a bit of help from one of Professor Oak's Pokémon.
It felt good to be bad but it still wasn't good enough for them to take back what they said. It was really time to push out the boat but that would take time and planning. Almost four years in fact.
It was a hot day as Paul Shinji trained by the side of a large lake. He sat down for a rare moment of rest when he heard someone approach him. He was sure for a few seconds it would be on of those useless trio but it wasn't.
"Oh, sorry," Leaf said, rubbing her head nervously, "I didn't realise people where here. I just came for some water."
"Help yourself," Paul told her. Leaf nodded and hurried about filling her water bottle with fresh water. She released a few Pokémon from their balls so they could get a drink too while she was there. Paul noted a large Venasaur, a cute Wigglybuff and an annoyed looking Gengar. This person was a trainer, Paul decided as he looked over the remaining Pokémon, probably from Kanto since most of her Pokémon were native to that region.
"Right then, lets go," Leaf said, recalling her Pokémon. She then turned to look at Paul, smiling at him. "Hey, I know you."
"Great," thought Paul as she walked towards him, "Another whacko like that guy Barry."
"You're one of Ash Ketchum's rivals, right?" she asked, "I'm Leaf Green. I grew up with Ash."
"Poor you," Paul replied before he could stop himself. Leaf laughed at his reply.
"I know, right?" she said. She sat down facing him. It appeared to Paul as though she was studying him but he wasn't sure why. She nodded once. "I have a preposition for you."
"Really?" Paul asked.
"I'm trying to get back at Ash and my other friend Gary," Leaf explained, "Pay back of the best kind. Do you think you can help me?"
"Get back at Ketchum?" Paul asked, smirking darkly, "Pur-lease, like I would waste my time doing that."
"Oh, you're not one for the game, then?" Leaf said, picking at some invisible dirt in her fingernails, "So you wouldn't like to see his face go three shades of purple and watch him erupt into a billion flames? You poor boy. You just don't understand the pure art of pranking people. Or are you scared of getting caught?"
"What's in it for me?" Paul asked.
"Other than the pure delight of seeing Ash pass out and getting one up on your rival?" Leaf asked with a wink, "It may also help with your fangirls a little."
"Hmm," Paul mused as he ran the idea through his head, "Fine then. I'm game."
"Yes," Leaf exclaimed, "I've been waiting years for this opportunity. I promise you, it will be the best show on Earth!"
"I'll take your word for it," Paul said suddenly bored by this girl. Getting back at Ketchum would be fun, he thought, but at what risk? Leaf pulled a notepad from her bag and began to read through it. She shoved it under Paul's nose so he could read the plan she had made up. He scowled at the first page. "You've got to be kidding."
"Oh it gets better," Leaf said, turning the page over for him. Now this made Paul smirk.
"I underestimated you, Leaf," he said, "I hope I never annoy you."
"Damn right," she laughed.
Ash and his two friends were walking down the busy high street of Hearthome City, chatting to each other like friends usually did. Brock was busy reading the map of the city so they wouldn't get lost while Dawn walked with Piplup in her arms on the other side of Ash. They fell into a brief pause of silence as all three of them saw a familiar brunette with spiky hair.
"Hey, Gary!" Ash yelled so loud that the brunette jumped a mile before he looked round to see who had shouted him. He knew at once who it was. Only one person would shout his name with that awful tone.
"Ashy boy," Gary replied, smirking at his old friend, "Long time no see."
"What are you doing here?" Ash asked. Gary sighed loudly, apparently fed up over something.
"Professor Rowan wanted me to do some study on Pokémon in the urban area of Hearthome," Gary explained, "But so far I've not seen one wild Pokémon."
"Maybe they're nocturnal," Brock suggested, "I bet that a lot of Urban Pokémon will only come out when the streets have died down."
"I suppose so," Gary agreed, "But it's such a pain."
Dawn's eyes slid from Gary onto a blur of purple in the crowd. She pushed past the others to get a better look.
"There's Paul," she muttered.
"No kidding," Ash agreed, "Aww man this is perfect."
"What is?" Gary asked, confused.
"I can challenge Paul to a battle before my Gym battle," Ash explained, "Let's go! Hey, Paul!"
"At times he's just like Barry," Dawn said as Ash ran in the direction Paul had just gone. Gary merely laughed at her thought not understanding what she meant. The three of them decided to follow Ash to make sure he didn't get into trouble, after all, Paul had a short temper and Ash could be very annoying when he wanted something.
"I told you," Paul was saying to Ash when the other three caught up to them, "I'm busy."
"What? What's so important that you would refuse a battle with me?" Ask snapped. Paul's eyes wondered from Ash to Gary then briefly onto Dawn. His expression showed his total lack of interest in his current situation.
"I have to find a present for someone," Paul replied.
"Oh really?" Ash asked, "Who?"
"My girlfriend," Paul replied, making Ash blanch, "It's our anniversary."
"Paul has a girlfriend?" Brock asked, "He gets a girlfriend? That's so unfair? Why can't I get a girl for me?"
Gary rolled his eyes, grinning as Brock cried comically beside him. On his other side, Gary noticed Dawn tense up, her face dropping slightly. Oh this was too much like a soap opera, Gary decided. Brock was the player who never got the girl, Dawn was in love with Ash's rival Paul who already had a girlfriend, it seemed.
"Paul?"
Paul glanced over his shoulder as a girl walked over to him. He offered her a smirk as she looked at the people around him.
"Leaf?" Ash asked.
"Who's Leaf?" Dawn asked. She looked at Gary who had gone as wide eyed as Ash had. Suddenly both Pallet Town boys pointed at her, their mouths wide open.
"You're dating him?" they yelled. Leaf giggled, linking her arm with Paul's. Gary let out a growl as she did this, his eyes set to kill Paul instantly.
"Yup," she said simply, "Isn't he great?"
"But…but…" Ash and Gary continued to stutter. Dawn eyed Leaf up and down. She was a very cute looking girl with long brown hair wearing a white sun hat with the Pokémon League emblem on it. She wore a pink skirt with a turquoise tank top and a pair of pink converse on her feet. All in all she looked like a trainer who was very experienced, perhaps not as mean as Paul was though.
"We've been together almost six months, you know," Leaf went on, "Isn't it great?"
"With him?" Ash yelled, "Don't you know who he is?"
"Who?" Leaf asked innocently.
"He's my rival!" Ash yelled. Leaf blinked a few times before she looked up at Paul.
"Is that true?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied, "I didn't realise you knew him. You never talk about him."
"Oh, silly me," Leaf giggled.
"Really, you never talk about them," Paul repeated, enjoying the expression on Gary and Ash's faces as their mouths fell open to almost inhuman proportions.
"We used to be the best friends ever," Leaf explained.
"Well," Paul said, "One would normally talk about their 'best friends ever' wouldn't you. But not you, Sweetie."
"Sweetie?" this time Ash and Gary were joined by Dawn. Leaf's eyes slid onto Dawn for a split second.
"Who's that?" she asked Paul. Paul shrugged like he didn't know the answer causing Dawn to go red in the face. She stomped forwards.
"My name is DAWN!" she yelled at Paul. Leaf giggled again as Dawn sized up to Paul in a threatening way.
"Well, we should getting along," Leaf said, "I've got my present for you, huggy bear."
"Huggy bear!"
"Fine," Paul said, "Let's go."
"See you boys, it's been great seeing you," Leaf called as she and Paul disappeared into the crowd. As soon as they were out of sight Leaf burst into laughter.
"Huggy bear?" Paul asked, sounding annoyed, "Really?"
"Sorry," Leaf replied, "It's something I used to call Gary."
"Oh," Paul said, "You are evil aren't you?"
"We're equally matched then, aren't we?" Leaf said proudly, "Did you see their faces?"
"I must admit," Paul said, smirking, "When you made your entrance I thought I was going to laugh."
"You're dating him?" Leaf mimicked the two boys, "Brilliant. I think I've out done myself this time, Paul. I am the Queen of Pranks!"
Paul smirked secretly to himself as Leaf continued to rabbit on about Gary and Ash. He'd noticed how mad Gary had seemed back when Leaf linked arms with him. Well, he had to get rid of her sooner or later so why not bump her off with someone else? He needed help from someone.
Geez, this had gotten complicated.
Dawn stomped round the Pokémart, shoving things into the basket roughly. Stupid Paul, she kept thinking, with his stupid girlfriend. She was so pretty, much prettier than Dawn was and she was obviously a trainer too. Oh she hated Leaf with a vengeance. She pushed a bag of flour into her basket roughly, almost tearing the bag.
"That seemed a little rough."
Dawn looked up to see the route of all problems stood in front of her. Paul had his hands in his pockets, watching her with some sort of concern in his eyes. It looked like she'd have to face this problem head on.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, "Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?"
"I need to ask you a favour," Paul replied.
"No I'm not going to help you shop for a present for her," Dawn snapped stubbornly.
"That's not what I want," Paul said, "Leaf and I are only pretending to date so she can get back at Gary and Ash for something they did years ago. Believe me, it's stupid and I have no idea why I got dragged into it."
"So you're single?" Dawn spluttered, going pink in her cheeks, "I mean, you're not dating her?"
"The thing is," Paul said, "I'm fed up of someone overshadowing me. I need to get rid of her."
"How?" Dawn asked.
"Could it be possible for you to flirt with Gary a little?" Paul enquired, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Huh?"
"I think it may work," Paul went on, "But only when you see us."
"Alright," Dawn said, "But why Gary?"
"Would you prefer to flirt with Ash?" Paul said with a smirk. Dawn scowled at him then shook her head. "Then flirt with Gary."
"Fine," Dawn snapped, "But I don't like this plan. Why do I feel like I've been dragged into something here?"
"Sorry," Paul said, "I'll make it up to you."
"Fine," Dawn said, "From now on you will remember that my name is Dawn. D-A-W-N."
"You're so weird," Paul moaned, turning on his heel and heading to the door of the Pokémart, "Later, Troublesome."
"It's Dawn!" she yelled back at him causing every pair of eyes in the store to look at her.
"Ooo you're being mysterious," Leaf giggled as Paul led her round Hearthome the next day. She was hanging off his arm again just in case they bumped into Ash and Gary. She wanted to make sure they thought she and Paul were in a perfect relationship.
"Oh Gary, you're so funny," they heard Dawn's voice say loudly from near by. Leaf looked round to see Dawn hanging off of Gary in a similar way Leaf was hanging off of Paul.
"What's wrong with you, Dawn?" Gary snapped at her, "You're acting weird."
"Nothing's wrong," Dawn told him, "I just thought… Since Ash is preparing for his battle with Fantina we could hang out. You know, I really want to know more about Pokémon in the Sinnoh region."
"What do you want to know?" Gary asked. Dawn thought about this for a few seconds before she clicked her fingers.
"How do you think Shellios became so different?" Dawn said, "I mean on one side of Sinnoh they're pink while on the other they're blue. I've always found it strange."
"Well that's rather simple Dawn," Gary explained in a highly knowledgeable way. Dawn seemed instantly interested, leaning into Gary to hear what he had to say. "You see when Sinnoh first formed-"
"Oh hey, Gary," Leaf said suddenly.
"Oh, hi Leaf," Gary said, glaring straight at Paul. Paul pretended not to notice, instead he looked down at Leaf who was glaring at Dawn in the same way Gary was glaring at Paul. Dawn blinked a few times when she realised Leaf was glaring at her.
"Is something wrong, Leaf?" Dawn asked, "Have I got anything on my face? Gary? Gary?"
She tugged on Gary's arm so that he was looking her straight in the eyes.
"Look, look," she said, pulling him closer to her. Paul was mildly impressed by her natural flirting but he found that there was something wrong with his plan. Leaf was starting to squeeze his arm painfully tight in her arms the closer Dawn got to Gary. He tried to pull away from her but she refused to let go. Suddenly their struggling made Gary glance over to see what they were doing. Leaf let go of Paul's arm and hugged him instead.
"Aren't they cute?" she asked her fake boyfriend in a high pitched tone. "Aren't they Huggy Bear?"
"Umm… sure," Paul replied. Leaf snuggled her nose into Paul's chest and to his credit, he didn't flinch at all. He let out a sigh, glancing over at Dawn to say they'd failed for today. Fortunately for him, Dawn was far too stupid for that sort of thing.
"I have an idea," she said loudly, "We should go for a walk round Amity Square. I mean, my Pokémon would really like a walk and Amity Square is the best place. It's supposed to be really romantic too."
"Eh?" Gary said suddenly, blinking a few times at Dawn in surprise.
"For them, of course," Dawn said pointing to Paul and Leaf. Leaf froze on the spot. Was this girl trying to mess with her or something? "I mean I'm sure Mr Huggy Bear here would love to spend some quality time with his girlfriend on their anniversary. Isn't it so cute, Gary?"
She's good, Paul thought, a small smile gracing his lips as he watched Dawn act so perfectly. She turned to him and gave him a wink.
"I know how guys like him are," Dawn said, "They're full of surprises."
"Sure, let's go," Leaf said.
Well this was different, Gary mused as he walked with Dawn on his arm towards the romantic spot in the whole city with his childhood friend firmly attached to her boyfriend. There was a cruel irony in it all. The whole reason he used to pick on her when they were younger was because he actually liked her. He liked her a whole lot but she seemed happy with Paul.
"Hey," Dawn said to him suddenly, "You alright? You seem upset."
"I'm fine Dawn," he replied but didn't look at her. Dawn smiled at him.
"I'm sorry for how I acted earlier," Dawn muttered, "It's just that I can't stand seeing Paul with Leaf."
Gary glanced down at her wondering why she was saying this to him.
"I really do like him but I never got to tell him," she went on, "It sucks that he's now got someone who makes him happy."
Gary was half way through wondering if Dawn was psychic when he realised that they were exactly in the same boat.
"But I'm not going to give up," Dawn told him brightly, "He deserves to know how I feel, you know?"
"Right," Gary muttered. Dawn smiled at her friend. "You're right, you know Dawn. Perfectly right. I used to be mean to her when we were children. I think it's time I apologised for what I did back then."
"That sounds like a very good idea, Gary," Dawn agreed.
The four of them walked round the square in their separate pairs. Leaf kept glancing over at Gary and Dawn whenever she heard Dawn giggling.
"Something wrong?" Paul asked, slightly amused. Leaf shot him a glare.
"He's not supposed to have a fangirl," she muttered, "How annoying. My revenge isn't how I imagined it."
"Hmm," Paul said, "Although the look on Ketchum's face was brilliant."
"Shut up," Leaf snapped at him. Paul stretched his arms, somewhat out of character but after having a girl hang off of his arm all day, he needed to stretch the muscles a little.
"I'm thirsty," he said, "Want a soda or anything?"
"No, I'm fine," Leaf grumbled.
"I'll be back in two seconds," Paul told her then he strode off towards a drinks machine which was situated close to the toilets. He stood by the machine for a few minutes, trying to decide what he wanted but he couldn't put his finger at what he fancied.
"Hey," Dawn's voice made him turned round to look at her, "You need a drink too?"
"Yeah," Paul said, "But I could really do with a break."
Dawn glanced over at Leaf and Gary who seemed to be in conversation with each other. She giggled to herself before a dark thought came over her mind.
"Let's ditch them," she told Paul. Paul raised his eyebrow at her.
"That's not very nice," Paul replied, his lip curling into a smirk. Dawn looked up at him innocently. "You're meaner than I thought."
"It's not mean if it's in the name of love," she said, "I am an angel sent to guide people in their messed up love lives."
"Really?" Paul humoured her, "How odd. I prefer to destroy relationships if they don't suit me."
"Well that's you, isn't it?" Dawn snapped playfully. They began walking out of the square, bickering about relationships, leaving the two brunettes to talk amongst themselves.
"I wonder where Paul's got to," Leaf said, "He went for drink."
"Dawn went to find him," Gary told her, "You know I never pegged you one for getting a boyfriend, Leaf."
"Hmm? Who me?" Leaf laughed, "Well I couldn't resist Paul. Isn't he great?"
"I suppose," Gary said. He bit his lip hard, taking a deep breath through his nose. "Hey, you know when we were younger, Ash and I used to be horrible to you?"
"Yeah," Leaf said, "The whole thing about girls been losers really annoyed me."
"Sorry," Gary said, rubbing his head sheepishly, "It's just that… I said those things because I guess I really liked you."
"You what?" Leaf gasped, her cheeks flushing red.
"Yeah," Gary said, equally as red, "And I'm really sorry for bullying you. I'm really sorry for everything I said to you back then."
"No," Leaf snapped. She put her hands on her head and began to stamp her feet. "No, no, no, no!"
"What's wrong?" Gary asked, surprised by her hissy fit.
"It's not supposed to be like this," Leaf screamed, "You're not supposed to apologise and confess!"
"What do you mean?" Gary asked.
"I pretended to date Paul to get back at Ash and you," Leaf told him angrily, "I thought you two would go insane when you saw me dating the worst sort of guy on the planet and beg me to leave him to which I would only agree if you'd do a list of things for me!"
"You did what!" Gary roared, "That's insane!"
"It was revenge!" Leaf yelled back at him, "For you being so mean! And now you're being so sweet and apologising about everything… I feel so guilty and I guess I like you too. I couldn't stand Dawn flirting with you!"
"I can't believe I fell for it," Gary moaned, "I can't believe Dawn managed to… Wait a minute."
Both of them looked round, their eyes narrowing. Dawn and Paul were no where to be seen. They'd left them alone in the square. The only people who were left in the square were staring at the couple with wide eyes, not expecting people to yell at each like they had done. Gary turned to Leaf, scowling.
"We've been out done by an evil prune head and a cute little girl," Gary told her.
"I had no idea we were being played," Leaf said blankly, "Really, I never saw that coming."
"Neither did I," Gary agreed, "So… What do we do now?"
"Hmm," Leaf though aloud. She smiled at Gary. "You want to do something together for a change?"
"What do you have in mind?" Gary asked.
"Revenge?" Leaf suggested.
"So… like a couple thing?" Gary joked, winking at her. Leaf giggled, linking her arm with Gary's.
"You're so cute," she said. She leant over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The short contact made Gary flush red completely. When she pulled away she laughed at him. "You're such a girl."
"Oh shut up," he replied, "So Queen of Pranks, what do you have in mind?"
"Oh, it's good," she told him, her eyes glinting with mischief.
Yes Leaf was back to her usual games but most people in Pallet Town really hated this. Not only was she back but she had a partner: her boyfriend, Gary Oak.
Congrats again to Empress Empoleon!
Please review!
RSx