Crash Into You

Summary: From her 1st day at school Misty knew she and Gary Oak were destined to be sworn enemies. But when he appeals to her with a strange request only she can fulfill, she must decide where her loyalties lie-to her friendship with Ash, or to the calling of her own heart...Ash x Gary x Misty

Disclaimer: I own an unhealthy obsession for Gary Oak. And nothing else.

Edit 31/1/08: If you are a new reader, thank you very much for stopping by. If you have been reading this story until now, there are some important changes you should know about before continuing with this little fic, mainly that I have re-read and (in some cases) completely re-written several sections of the first 7 chapters. For more details and a list of small plot changes you should be aware of before continuing onto chapter 8 , please head over to my profile. Thank you!

Misty Waterflower did not like change.

Change could come in a variety of forms—a change of age, a change of surroundings, a change of routine. But no matter what form it came through, they all fundamentally represented the same thing. The start of something new, and unfamiliar. Having to forget the adaptations and memories of the past era and re-learn everything afresh. And most of all, the complete loss of any knowledge or expectations the future might bring—knowledge she had comforted herself on possessing and accumulating for the past several years.

So, it was with a strong sense of bitter foreboding she pedaled her bicycle down the unfamiliar road to her new school. It was only her second day here, and she was still unaccustomed to the absence of dense streets and crammed shops that had surrounded her back at Cerulean City. Looking around the near-empty road, she was reminded of when she had first stepped into her new room for the first time last night. The space had been too big. The bed had been placed too far off center. And the walls were too white. Everything was different.

The only enlightening news she had received so far was her mother, Sara, discovering the home and laboratory of the famous Professor Oak was close within the vicinity. Being a dedicated Water Pokemon trainer herself, she did not overlook the fact that this was an opportunity many people her age could only dream of. She'd also heard from her sisters the Professor had a teenage grandson around her age, and found herself wondering how surreal it would be if she was in the same class as an actual Oak. In any case, insight and guidance from the great Professor—or even, she supposed, his grandson-- would be very helpful for her future role in the co-management of Cerulean Gym. That was one aspect of the future that would never change.

Far too soon, the grand silhouette of Pallet Town High appeared in the distance.

"Here at last," Misty muttered, and elegantly cruised into the grounds to park her bike. After carefully securing the lock, she walked through the huge double doors of the building, fumbling in her bag for her timetable.

"Okay…First lesson, Maths, in Room U201…wherever the hell that is…" Misty peered around. Hallways seemed to stretch out from every direction, enclosing too-large crowds of people bustling about everywhere. How in the world was she supposed to find her way through this maze?

She checked her watch – 8:25. She had 5 minutes to get to class, and she did not want to start her year off by being late. She'd have to ask for directions. The sign of another change. She spotted a mildly friendly looking girl by the lockers, and hurriedly started walking towards her-

BASH.

Misty crashed to the floor head-first, and watched helplessly as her books and papers flew out across the hallway floor. Groaning, she pushed herself up on her elbows and bent over to pick up her timetable, but a semi-gloved hand struck out and handed it to her before she could do so.

"Sorry about that." The speaker was a boy with messy black hair and mortified chocolate-brown eyes. " Shoulda been looking where I was going…Here…" He bent down and scooped up all the mess from the floor. " These are all your papers…I hope." He grinned at Misty nervously.

"It's no problem, I wasn't concentrating either," she brushed it off with a reassuring smile. "Help me up?" She stuck out her hand, which the boy took gingerly, and obediently pulled her upright. "Thanks a lot, er…"

"Ash. Ash Ketchum. You must be new around here, I haven't seen you around..."

"Yeah, I just moved from Cerulean City. I'm Misty Waterflower." She glanced down at her watch. "Um, we'll have plenty of time to get acquainted later… right now could you show me where Room U201 is?"

"Oh, you have Scott for 1st period maths? I have her too! That's great, I'll take you there myself. It's just down this hallway--"

The bell announcing the start of class trilled shrilly. Misty sighed and began running behind Ash. So much for her resolution.

…………………………………

"Welcome back everyone, a fresh new year for you all! Hope you all had a great summer--" Mrs. Scott was cut off as Ash barged into the classroom, panting. "Ash Ketchum, is it even physically possible for you to get to class on time, or should I strap a giant alarm clock to your head?" Mrs. Scott sighed wearily, then caught sight of Misty."Oh hello there dear, you must be the new transfer student from Cerulean High. I wouldn't suggest using Ash as your tour guide here though dear, you won't get to a single class on time."

There were a few loud chuckles from the back of the classroom and Ash's face flushed slightly. "Old habits die hard eh, Ashy boy?" a tall boy with spiky brown hair yelled out from the back. Several girls giggled enthusiastically.

"Actually, Mrs. Scott, Ash has been very helpful to me. If it hadn't been for bashing into me in the corridor and scattering half the contents of my bag, I probably would've been a whole lot later than I am now," Misty replied smoothly. Ash smiled back gratefully and raised his head up a little.

There were a few faint 'Ooooohhs' and titters from the class. Mrs. Scott shushed them and gave Misty a weary smile. "Very well then, Miss Waterflower, it's your death wish. Turn to page 256 please, everyone. If you'd like to take a seat next to Mr. Harrison there please, you two…"

Misty followed Ash to a free chair beside a tanned boy with short brown hair, and sat down.

"Hi there, miss. My name is Brock and I'm sure going to make your world rock! " he grinned at her goofily.

"Huh?" Misty blinked in confusion.

From her other side, Ash rolled his eyes and sighed. "Jeez, Brock would you give the poor girl a rest? She hasn't even been here for 10 minutes yet!" He turned to Misty. "You'll have to forgive Brock, Misty. He goes completely gaga over pretty girls. Or girls in general. You know, totally –" Ash pulled a face. Misty giggled.

"And the answer is…Mr Ketchum?" Mrs. Scott called from the board.

Ash stared blankly at the board. "Errr… square root of 169 x 3x is err…"

"36x," Misty hissed under her breath.

"Er….36x?" Ash asked.

"Well done, Mr Ketchum. Now, Mr Sketchit…"

"Phew, thanks for that Misty," Ash said gratefully. "Gee, you're pretty smart, that took you like what, 2 seconds?"

"Well, you know. I try," Misty joked, smiling faintly. "And Cerulean High was a pretty elite school. The pressure kinda gets to you."

"Oh, so you're a nerd," Ash grinned.

"Shut it, you. You already owe me for physically mowing me down in the corridor, and now from saving your ass from Scott."

"Yes, Ma'am," Ash laughed sheepishly.

"You know, Misty," Brock cut in. "If you're interested, Pallet High runs a student tutor program. You know, where smart kids like you help the rest of the normal population like us. You could get tons of credit for your report, and I'm sure a girl as pretty as you would have a whole hoard of willing students…"

"Seriously, Brock, there's a fine line between being friendly and downright harassing," Ash said. "But yeah, Misty. You should totally sign up!"

"Tutoring, huh?" Misty contemplated. "Well, it sure is a great idea…I've always kinda wanted to do something like that…but will I actually qualify as one here? The standards at Cerulean High might be completely different…"

"Um yeah, as in completely beyond our reach," Ash sniggered. "Trust me Misty, with what I expect are your straight A grades, you'll be hailed as a genius before long."

"Yes! Even teachers will be queuing up to learn from you!" Brock mused dramatically.

"Well, the credit is a bonus I suppose, but I just really want to help the struggling students here who can't afford a private tutor themselves…don't you think that'd be great?"

"Oh so selfless! Oh so kind! Misty Waterflower, you have the heart of an angel, and you look like one too!" Brock mused dramatically.

"Shut it Brock," Ash and Misty hissed, giggling.

"Rehearsing for a play, Harrison?" drawled a boy on the next row. He had piercing green eyes and feathery hair he kept flicking unconcernedly off his face. "I'm afraid people here have better things to do than watch a good for nothing loser recite some petty banter up on stage like that."

"Too true, Drew. At least it'll be a comedy," said a boy with cropped chestnut hair on his left, laughing.

"Boys, boys…" the boy on the far right hand side spoke up. Misty recognized him as the one who had teased Ash at the beginning of class. "Let's not get nasty. I think Harrison here would have a terrific career in theatre, especially with his little boyfriend here," he drawled, pointing at Ash. "After all, there isn't anyone else here who would be pathetic enough to act alongside him now, is there?"

The two other guys, and several girls around them, tittered loudly.

"Shut it, Gary!" Ash snarled, clenching his fists.

"You know, Ashy-boy, someday you're going to have to learn to control that temper of yours. You'll never become a Pokemon master biting everyone's heads off like that," Gary said coolly, nonchalantly leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah? Well neither will you! It may surprise you, but people these days don't actually like complete jerks!"

"Is that so, Ash? You really think you're going to be able to beat me? That's strange, coz those were your exact words when you lost to me for about the 45th time in the school Pokemon battle tournament last term…" Gary turned and bore his sapphire gaze directly into Ash's eyes. "Ever beat me once?"

Ash ground his teeth, his face steadily turning a shade of beetroot red. "Pi—Pikachu still had an injury from the last match—"

"Waterflower, is it?" he turned casually in her direction. "I realize you're new around here, so I'll give you a little heads up. Save yourself before the pettiness rubs off on you too. After all, it would be a shame to see a girl like you go down with the likes of these two. You could have it so much better."

"I think you should look up the meaning of 'better' in the dictionary-- maybe you could ask Mr. O'Reilly for one in English next period. But thanks for the concern, mister," Misty retorted back without blinking.

There was a collective hush as the girls gasped, and the boys stared. Gary blinked silently at Misty, momentarily stunned at her reaction. No one responded to him like that, let alone a girl! Most of the time they were fluttering their lashes at him or flicking their hair ridiculously in his face just to grab his attention!

"Well trust the loser lovers to hire a girl to defend them," Gary muttered, but he turned back to face the front and left them alone for the remainder of the lesson.

"….Wow," Brock said, his mouth still open in shock. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Misty asked unconcernedly, fiddling around for a pen in her pencil-case.

"Um, hello, that," Brock said, pointing to where Gary's friends were staring back and fro between the indifferent Misty and scowling Gary.

"Well someone had to put him in his place," Misty shrugged. "It's not like he rules the school or anything."

Brock simply continued to gape.

RIIINNNGGGG!

That signaled the end of class. There was a general clatter as everyone packed up their bags and began to leave. Gary and his two cronies were among the last to leave. Gary glared coldly at Ash as he passed through the door, before momentarily locking eyes with Misty. It was strange; he didn't seem to be angry exactly, but merely…intrigued. Was that the word? But before Misty could make any more sense of the look the trio was headed out of the door.

"We should get going to our next class too, Brock," Ash said.

"Yeah, let's get moving," Brock agreed- and the three of them set out of the classroom.

………………………………………

"So what was up with the jerk trio back there, anyway?" Misty said, nudging Ash as they made their way down to the gym.

"Well, the chestnut haired one, that was Ritchie. His dad's the manager of some famous clubs around Saffron and Celadon, so he's mega loaded. The green Featherhead, that was Drew. Thinks he's God's gift to women or something. Total Casanova."

"Unfortunately, the girls think so too," Brock said, dejectedly.

"And so Sonic the Hedgehog-?"

Brock giggled at the joke, but Ash's face hardened. "-Gary. If you looked up 'utter jerk' on Wikipedia, his face would be the profile picture."

"He's the man- got it all. Chocked full of cash, captain of the swimming and basketball team- and rugged good looks that make all the girls squeal," Brock added in, miserably.

"I don't see what's so appealing about him. From where I was standing he seemed just like another over-confident, over-rated prick," Misty said, frowning.

"Gee, you really are new to this town aren't you? He's like, a total chick magnet. He picks them up and chucks them like laundry, but they all still come back for more. If only I knew his secret…" Brock said wistfully.

"There is no secret, Brock! The girls here are just too desperate to realize he's nothing more than a complete player."Ash suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Aw, crap! I left my sports bag back in Scott's class. You two go ahead, I'll catch up with you in the gym, okay?" He gave them a small wave and ran back down the corridor.

Misty watched his retreating figure and turned to Brock. "Gary seems to…really bug Ash, doesn't he? I mean, I know he's a jerk, but surely he's just like that to everyone?"

Brock had already begun walking again. "Ash and Gary…they've been rivals since they were kids. Pursuing the same dream since they were very young--"

"What dream?" Misty asked, curious.

"To become a Pokemon master, of course," Brock said. "Now, Ash won't ever admit it, but Gary's a brilliant Trainer—one of the best in Pallet, I'd say."

That grabbed Misty's attention. "Woah wait, he trains Pokemon?"

"Well, duh," Brock said, raising an eyebrow. "It's not exactly surprising, given his relatives is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Er, were you living in a cardboard box in Cerulean? His grandfather, Professor Oak?"

"He's the teenage Oak?" Misty's excitement deflated almost instantly.

"Um, yeah…what's with the misery?"

"Nothing, nothing…" she wasn't about to let Brock notice how disappointed she actually was. Out of all the people in this school, why did the one person she had actually been excited about meeting have to be the one person who she seemed destined to hate"Anyway, um. So Gary and Ash…?"

"Yeah. As I said, long time rivals. Only pretty soon it wasn't just about Pokemon—it soon became pretty clear Gary was always one step ahead of Ash. Achieving better grades, having more friends, being more famous…"

"Then he really has no reason to be such a jerk to Ash!" Misty snapped indignantly. "Not when he's clearly on the winning streak!"

"Uh huh. But it seems Gary always felt threatened by Ash in some way…I guess from the two of them always being associated with each other. You know, same age, same goal and all that. Even so, the two of them were actually best friends before. They turned their rivalry into a sort of friendly competition, always pushing each other to do better, being each other's motivation…but then it seems Gary got fed up of always being tied down to his rival, and became determined to cut ties with Ash somehow. I don't know details, but ever since the Christmas holidays 2 years ago, there's been this unspoken war between them. Only of course, Gary is still usually one step ahead…" Brock trailed off, shrugging. He'd heard and recalled this story many times before.

"Wow, you guys are slow!" Ash yelled, running up towards them. "Even I caught up with you!"

"Yeah, we got sidetracked…Brock was just telling me more about this school…" Misty smiled absent-mindedly, hoping he couldn't read her true thoughts. What on earth could Gary have done to reduce himself from a best friend to a sworn enemy in Ash's eyes? Even Brock didn't know the details…

"Hey, slowploke!" Ash called, opening the door at the end of the corridor. "Wymond's not very nice to latecomers, you know! She'll give you 5 extra laps around the gym if you're not careful!"

"Okay, okay, coming!" Misty hurriedly jogged to catch up with him and Brock, a little wary of what PE class would bring.

…………………………………

Surprisingly, the rest of the day had breezed by with little other fuss. She'd learned that the majority of people here were regrettably no different from her previous school—conceited and shallow—but it had still been a much better first day than she had expected. Brock's intensity could scare off most of the girls he had his eyes on, and Ash was certainly one of the biggest klutzes she could hope to meet in Kanto, but none of it mattered to Misty. She had made better friends in one day here than she'd managed to make over the course of several months within her last school, and the 4 other schools before that. Another change in traditions…although this one was definitely a turn for the better. By the end of the last lesson Misty had forgotten all about the incidents of this morning, and had nicely rounded up the day by taking Ash's advice and signing up to be a student tutor.

"It's official!" Misty beamed, running up to Ash in the main entrance. "I have my own drawer, and ID card, and everything! They even gave me a keycard giving me official access to all the past test papers and stuff, so there's plenty of resources. I feel like a proper teacher already!"

"That's great, Misty! But won't you miss all the free time you'll be spending teaching some dopey kid advanced algebra?" Ash said as they began walking towards the courtyard.

"Listen to you, Mr Sensitive," Misty teased. "People don't get tutoring because they're stupid,they just might need some help for certain areas they're struggling with. And Misty's here to help!" She did a little twirl on the spot.

"Girl, you need to get some new hobbies," Ash said as he munched on a packet of chips. "Who gets happythinking of schoolwork?"

…………………………………

A few steps behind them, Gary Oak was listening attentively to the conversation taking place.

A tutor, huh…He followed Misty's retreating figure with his eyes, keeping his body a safe distance away but never letting her escape his gaze. It's like she appeared just in time… my last chance…

Ash made an undistinguishable comment that was rewarded by Misty playfully slapping him on the head. The two of them laughed loudly.

But how the hell am I going to convince her? She's bound to hate me after what happened this morning…especially now with that loser in the picture…Wait a minute. He stopped, and not just because he had finally reached his red Porsche in the parking lot. He rewound his thoughts in his head. She'll hate me…because of that Ashy-loser…

And suddenly Gary knew how he was going to get Misty Waterflower on his side. Smirking to himself, he opened the car door, and with a click of his key switched the engine on. It ignited automatically, and his car roared off down the road back home.

Thank you very much for reading! I'd be very grateful to hear any feedback-- good or bad. Tcha!