Professor Oak was working late to finish his latest paper. He'd already had four cups of coffee, not to mention nearly every sweet in the house. He was struggling to stay awake and focus, having already noticed several spelling errors and incomplete sentences that he was not about to fix. Maybe he should take a break? Just a quick little break so he could regroup and maybe find a hidden chocolate bar in the kitchen somehow.

"Grampa?" a little sleepy voice called quietly from the doorway. Professor Oak spun around in his chair to see his grandson standing there with one little fist to his eyes and his toes pointed together childishly.

"What's the matter, Gary?" the Professor asked. "It's nearly four in the morning, young man."

Gary toddled over and crawled on his grandfather's lap, resting his head against the man's chest. "Can't sleep good," the little boy explained through a yawn.

Professor Oak chuckled and ran a hand through Gary's hair. "And why can't you sleep?" he asked. Gary tilted his head back and pointed to his mouth. "Is there something wrong with your mouth?" Gary nodded. He opened up and showed a place where his two front teeth were crossed and they seemed to hang a bit lower than normal. "Oh! Looks like someone's about to lose his first two teeth!" Professor Oak praised.

Gary shook his head violently. "I don't want to!" he whined. "They're supposed to stay right there!" he continued, pointing to where, exactly, the teeth were supposed to stay.

"Ah, but you see," the Professor started in a child voice, "if you don't take those teeth out, then your new ones won't grow in. If those don't grow in, you can't become a big boy." Gary's eyes grew wide and he looked down at his lap, twiddling with the hem of his nightshirt. "You do want to be a big boy, right? So you can go on a journey?" Gary nodded and wrapped his arms around his grandfather's neck, telling him to pull them out.

Professor Oak took Gary upstairs to the bathroom and set him on the sink. He picked up a washcloth and wet it, telling Gary that it might hurt a little bit. Gary shut his eyes and dropped his jaw open; he was going to be big boy! It wouldn't hurt and it wouldn't make him cry!

"One…two…three!" Professor Oak counted down before yanking down on the two teeth. Gary felt them slip out and it made him cringe, but it didn't really hurt. "Now, rinse your mouth."

Gary took the cup of water offered and swished it around his mouth. When he spit it out, he screamed "Blood!" and looked back at his grandfather. The Professor just nodded and ran a hand through Gary's hair. But, Gary wasn't having any of it! "It's blood!" he continued to yell.

"Shh, yes," Professor Oak whispered, trying to calm the boy down. He picked him up and took the teeth with him as he carried the boy to his bedroom. "If you take anything out of your body it will bleed, but that's what is supposed to happen."

"But it was blood…" Gary mumbled, rubbing his face. He plopped down on his bed and watched the Professor put his teeth under his pillow. "Why?" he asked, curling his covers around his arm.

"Well, there's a little fairy that visits kids who lose their teeth. She takes them and leaves a little gift in their place," Professor Oak explained. Gary nodded in understanding and allowed his grandfather to tuck him back into bed. "Now, go to sleep, Gary," the Professor whispered. He kissed the side of the little boy's head and pat his arm before leaving.

That next morning when Gary woke up, he spun around quickly and pulled his pillow back. Under it sat a little plush Squirtle! The Squirtle was quite fat, to the point he was almost a ball, but he was absolutely perfect to Gary.

The little boy picked it up and cuddled it to his chest. This fairy was the best for giving him the best pokemon! He jumped up and ran down the stairs to show his grandfather. "Grampa!" he shouted all throughout the house until he got down the stairs to the lab. "Grampa! Gramps!" he giggled, crawling on the Professor's lap.

Professor Oak let out a snore. Gary giggled and pressed his Squirtle to the Professor's face. No reaction.

Gary watched him for a minute, laughing when he let out another snore. "OK…" Gary whispered. He slipped down and ran back up the stairs, coming back with a blanket in his arms. The little boy tossed it up in the air and covered his grandfather. Once he was satisfied and had gotten another loud snore, Gary ran upstairs to call Ash and see if he could go over to play.

I love Gary and I love seeing his childhood. Sadly, that is neglected in pokemon. Heck, Gary's been neglected for how many years has it been, now?

Review and tell me what you thought!