New fandom, who this? Haha, hey guys! If there's one Pokemon I'm obsessed with… it's Eevee and all of its evolutions (but especially Eevee, can you blame me?). Subsequently obsessed with Gary Oak too. Anyways, I've gotten sucked back into the anime after YEARS. It was such an important part of my childhood. Now here I am, twenty-five and singing to Pikachu's Jukebox.

A few things to mention: This is an Egoshipping fanfic, set just prior to the Johto arc, and May/Daisy Oak makes an appearance but she's like a mashup of her manga personas. Enough rambling, but I can guarantee y'all will be seeing more of me.

I do not own Pokemon or anything affiliated with it.

Of Ill Behaved Pokémon and Smitten Trainers

Gary Oak had every intention of leaving Pallet Town to head off to Johto after his and Ash's match with Eevee and Pikachu, but there was one problem. What might you ask? Eevee refused to go back in her pokeball, which he thought was rather strange. She was usually really obedient. The spiky-haired teen glanced down at his evolution pokemon, who was peering up at him with affection in her eyes.

"Vee?" She piped up, tilting her little head to the side. Little Eevee just wasn't quite ready to go back in her pokeball just yet. In fact, she was rather curious about the other people that surrounded them during battle. Ash, Misty and Brock all still stood there, watching the scene unfold before them.

"What is it, Eevee? Are you hungry?" Gary asked, trying to figure out what was going on with her. That was one thing you couldn't take away from him. Despite how much of an asshole he was when he was younger, he always took exceptional care of his pokemon. Arcanine was spoiled rotten. Come to think of it, this was probably where she got the behavior from. The rather large canine would come out of his pokeball any time he pleased. He might have convinced Eevee that it was worthwhile to do so, considering that he got snacks out of it most of the time. A small smile crept onto Gary's lips as he thought about this. Man, was he in for it if that was the case.

"Eevee!" She closed her eyes and hopped about midair before scurrying off to where Ash and his friends were. She glanced up at her trainer's rival, much to Pikachu's curiosity. The electric mouse peered over Ash's shoulder, letting out a cry of curiosity. But she wasn't the most curious about Ash, or his companion. She was on her way after that little interaction, padding over to Misty. All the while, his trainer was watching very carefully. What happened next, though, had him rubbing the back of his head, sweatdropping profusely. Eevee made her way over to Misty and proceeded to hop up on her shoulder, giving Togepi a little sniff.

"Toge-Toge-pri!" He chirped in his usual happy tone, bumping his head against Eevee's nose gently. Misty, on the other hand, was trying to stay as still as she could, not wanting to risk Eevee or Togepi taking a tumble. "Ah! Gary, I think Eevee has made a new friend!" The redhead beamed, and the fox-like creature let out an equally happy chirp as the baby pokemon before her did.

Pikachu watched this and became… dare we say jealous? They hadbeen the ones battling, after all. Ash noticed his companion's expression and plucked him off his shoulder to gather him in his arms. "Don't worry, buddy, Eevee must be delusional like its trainer," he told Pikachu, his gaze narrowing over at Gary with a sly smirk.

Everyone ignored that comment, or at least tried to. It certainly didn't help make the situation any less awkward. Leave it to Ash to open his big mouth. Brock focused on Eevee for a moment, noting the heart shape to her tail. And suddenly it just made since. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned to Gary, "Oh, I get it now! I think her maternal instincts are coming out. I take it she hasn't been exposed to baby Pokémon before, has she?"

Gary's arms dropped from his head and he went to scratch his chin while he considered the question. "Now that you mentioned it, no, she hasn't," he paused, peering over to the redhead across from him, "well, would ya look at that, Misty? Guess Eevee wants to see if the baby is being taken care of." The brunet wore an amused smirk on his face as he headed over to retrieve his Pokémon from her shoulder. Said fluffy number whined, as if she was a child whose parent snatched away a shiny new toy from her, but she snuggled against her trainer's chest just the same. Gary's gaze met with Misty's, probably for a bit too long, if the latter tearing her gaze away abruptly had any indication to the matter.

"C'mon, Eevee, we got quite the journey ahead of us," he murmured to his Pokémon, scratching her favorite spot between her large ears, prompting a happy coo from Eevee. The trio watched this interaction, not moving an inch from their spots. Who knew Gary Oak of all people could be so kind to another being that wasn't his ego. Ash peered over his shoulder back to his friends. Brock looked- well, like Brock. But Misty's expression made him fume with- jealousy? No, that couldn't be it. She wasn't looking at his rival like he was the best thing next to an all-you-can-eat buffet after a long days travel. Because he surely wasn't that impressive. Both her and Brock had been gushing over how good Gary and Eevee were during battle. With Brock, he understood. He just loved Pokémon and liked seeing a well-established relationship between trainer and their Pokémon but Misty? She would usually call out the flaws of another trainer and not unless he was getting absolutely creamed. In true Ash Ketchum dramatics, he fell to the grass with a substantial thud, causing everyone to look back at him.

Pikachu squeezed himself from between the grass and Ash, glaring at him. Oh, well, at least Misty didn't have her attention on Gary anymore.

"Okaaaaaaay, Ashy-boy. You alright down there?" Gary asked, heading over to Ash to attempt to help him up.

Ash immediately waved him away, going to wipe the dirt from his faded jeans, "I'm fine. Guess ya better be going, huh?" It was his turn to put his arms behind his head, a grin breaking out across his face.

His rival blinked a couple of times, but stepped back regardless. "Yeah. Just gonna check in with gramps before I leave. Smell ya later," he spun around on his heels, winking coolly back at the trio- mostly making eye contact with Misty, though, before he headed back towards the Oak home.

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Gary immediately regretted his decision in going back to talk to his grandfather, who had promptly invited him to dinner that was being held at the Ketchum residence. Delia, being the hospitable woman that she was, extended the dinner offer to the Oaks, including May Oak, who had been held up in the lab doing research the entire time her brother had been visiting. (Well, she had been trying to do research until Tracey discovered her, and had been since nervously talking her ear off). The dinner wasn't so bad. The Ketchum kitchen was incredibly packed so he had shoved his elbow into his sister's stomach any time he went to take a bite to eat, (much to her annoyance). But, other than that, things weren't all that bad. Misty sat across from him so at least he had something to look at when she wasn't paying attention—and sometimes when she was. He found it amusing that she would immediately look away, huffing. But the redness creeping in on her cheeks told a completely different story.

After dinner, both Arcanine and Eevee decided to come out of their pokeballs, making their appearance well known. As always, the fox-like creature nestled herself in the warm furs on the back of the canine's neck, and he just sat there, threatening to break Delia's knickknacks with his enormous tail wagging back and forth. Gary had sat there for a while, trying to hold a smooth conversation with Misty all the while having to scramble to save the knickknacks. After a while, he made Arcanine go back into his pokeball- after being bribed with snacks, of course. And before Gary could call back Eevee, he noted that she had found a new spot to rest. Though she was in Misty's arms now, it was evident that she had her little body curled around Togepi, both of them lolling off for a nap now.

Misty was looking down at the scene in her arms, forcing the urge to coo in the back of her mind, not wanting to disturb them with her high-pitched squeals. Instead, she cocked an eyebrow as Gary took a seat next to her on the couch this time, not having to sit on the other side of the living room watching his big ol' doggo. Instead of making a sarcastic remark like she wanted to do—her greatest self-defense mechanism to hide the fact that she was just as attracted to Gary as he was to her, she asked a simple question, "are you going to evolve your eevee?"

The brunet, taken aback by the fact that she wasn't shooting him a glare, or flat-out ignoring him, paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, his gaze veering off to the sleeping Pokémon in question. "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I? Pokémon evolution is important if you're striving to be the best," he boasted, confidence rolling off his tongue naturally. "But," he added, resting his head against the back of the couch and turning a bit so he could face Misty, "only when she's ready. I've heard horror stories about evolving your Pokémon too soon."

This reminded her of the Eevee Brothers her and her friends encountered years ago. The redhead still feels a bit of guilt that she was prepared to make Mikey's eevee evolve as soon as she found out that it had indeed been left behind. She still really wants a vaporeon one day. Oh, well. A girl can dream. She snapped out of her own thoughts, realizing that Gary was looking at her, waiting for her to say something. A blush crept on her face, something she hoped he wouldn't notice being this close. "Me, Brock and Ash ran into these brothers, once. They were all about evolution. The older brothers each had an evolution of eevee, all except for one. He was the youngest, and he wanted to be an eevee trainer," Misty sighed fondly, "jolteon, vaporeon and flareon were beaten to a pummel by Team Rocket and—it was Mikey's eevee that saved all of us. So yeah, I do think there are repercussions to early evolution," she went on to explain.

They continued talking like this for quite a while. It was a miracle that Ash didn't try and butt in. He actually didn't try to bother them at all. Probably too busy ogling over May, Gary considered with a cringe. A moment or two of silence was all the fourth Sensational Sister needed. She was already comfortable (she found Gary's presence to be irritatingly comfortable) not to mention warm, due to Eevee and Togepi's combined body heat while they slept, and she had ended up passing out on him, her head propped up against his shoulder. This Pallet Trainer didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was getting kind of tired himself. A little shut eye didn't kill anybody, right?

But, apparently, this wasn't in the cards for either of them tonight. May came rushing in, flopping down on the arm chair her brother once sat at. This woke everyone up, including Eevee and Togepi. The former stretched as she was coming to, peering up at how close Gary and Misty were sitting now.

"Evah," she announced sleepily, slipping down to her trainer's lap. His hands immediately caught her and began absent-mindedly stroking her fur. Gary had never been asleep, anyhow. He just had his eyes closed before little sis decided to make her presence known. Peering over at Misty, who had taken a moment to comprehend what was going on, immediately jerked away from the brunet, as if his shoulder had burned her.

"You left a little drool," he teased in a whisper, nudging the redhead a bit before turning to his sister. "Bad night, huh? Tell me, how does it feel to have the irresistible Oak charm?" Gary asked, all the while keeping an eye on a panicked Misty, who was furiously wiping away the drool from her mouth. The younger Oak sibling figured that his sister's dramatic flop was due to the fact that she had not only Ash but now Tracey fawning over her. No wonder why the former offered to stay and help out their grandfather. You just can't resist the Oak gene; a well known fact, for sure. Just look at Misty, for instance. Trying oh so hard to resist, but failing just as hard.

"Ha ha, very funny bro," she responded in a mocking tone. Had his eevee not been cuddling up to him right now, May would be up and smacking the crap out of her brother for sure. She propped an elbow up on the arm of the chair, blowing away a dark tendril that got in the way of her glaring at her brother- losing all the effect of being menacing. "Ash wanted to play board games and Tracey wanted to pick my brain—and then promptly draw it all out," she pouted just a little bit, "but grandpa won't leave. I've been pleading for hours."

"I'm surprised you didn't mention Brock. He's always after the pretty girls," Misty finally piped up, having gathered all of her wits back.

"Brock? He's a sweetie, never once hit on me," May commented, throwing her hair over her opposite shoulder now. Misty, in response, felt her jaw hit the floor. Well that- that wasn't possible. Even if Professor Ivy shot him down hard enough, he still wouldn't fail to hit on another woman.

So, the three of them chatted for a little while. Ash came in about midway, wondering where May had gone to. Apparently, she had said that she was taking a bathroom break. And that was about thirty minutes ago. And when Ash was basically ignored, he just sprawled out on the floor, Pikachu sitting on his chest. Misty and Gary had gradually gotten closer to each other again, not taking too much notice to it. But when the latter finally did notice it, he casually draped his arm over the back of the couch, his fingertips not too far from the redhead's shoulders. Either she was too tired to care, or she really didn't mind it.

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It was about eight that evening when the Oaks were preparing to say their goodbyes. The trainers had an early start in the morning and Delia had insisted on them getting as much rest as they could, politely sending the visitors away. Much to May's surprise, Tracey wasn't staying with the Ketchums. She was staying with them. Plastering a smile on her face, she prepared herself for the inevitable. Okay, it wasn't that bad. Not really. She was just… well, a drama queen, which her brother called her countless times growing up. Tracey wasn't that bad. He was cute. A bit quirky, but cute.

Gary was about to say something to Misty when her pokegear started chiming from her backpack. She held up a finger towards the spiky-haired teen and scurried over to her bag, raising an eyebrow at the fact that it was Lily calling her. Finding it odd, she wasted no time in answering.

"Hello?"

"Misty, like where are you?"

Typical Lily. Misty rolled her eyes. "In Pallet. Me, Ash and Brock are heading off to Johto in the morning. Why?"

"We need you here, Misty! Like, the trainers are coming out of the woodworks. We could really like, use a hand."

Gary watched Misty, this time that much closer. If her sisters needed her here….

She worried her lower lip between her teeth, not really knowing what to say at first. She really was enjoying some time away from the gym, doing her own thing. But, she paid close attention to Lily. Her purple eyes were dull, not the vibrant color she remembered the last time she saw them. "Alright," she agreed with a sigh, "I'll head back to town tomorrow morning. Get some rest, okay?" Misty gave her sister a small smile before ending the call.

Gary was impressed, to say the least. Sacrificing time for herself, just to help her sisters out. But, honestly, he couldn't say that he wouldn't do the same for his sister or grandfather- no matter how much he complained initially. The next thing he knew, words were coming out of his mouth that not even he saw coming.

"Need a ride?"

She looked back at him, perplexed. "Aren't you going to Johto in the morning?"

"I can put it off, just a little bit longer," he told her with a wink. "I'll pick you up, say around seven?" Then before Misty could even object, he was taking his sister by the arm, leading her out of the room. Their grandfather was probably nodding off on the front porch, waiting for them so they could walk back.

Misty just watched Gary leave, completely locked in a trance. He went from spoiled little brat to a Charming Casanova in just a matter of years. As soon as she tore herself out of her own head, she blinked, noticing that Brock had been trying to talk to her this whole time.

Well, things were going to be interesting from here on out.

Gonna wrap this up here! If you would like me to continue this, please do let me know. I generally post a series of one-shots, as I'm terrible with multi-chaptered fics. I hope you all enjoyed. I tried to keep it as silly and light-hearted as the anime.

Until next time, smell ya later!