The sun was shining down, and the humidity sank in as Gary Oak stared at the party invitation in his hand.

"So... you're invited to my party, man. It's at that awesome club down the street. Misty, Dawn, May, Iris, Brock, Tracy and I will be there. You can't be the one to miss out,"Ash rambled on.

Gary wasn't so sure, though. "Well, you don't really like me as much as the others, and I'll probably spend the time by myself, counting the ceiling tiles. Who else will I hang out with? I don't know any of those people other than Brock and Misty. Don't they hate my guts? Plus, there's nothing to do at a party like this, anyway, other than dance and drink. You DO know I don't have a girlfriend either, right? The cheer-leading squad all left long time ago, while you've been exploring Unova... They're all working for, and dating this random guy named N now."

"WHAT? N is dating all those girls?!" Ash replied in complete shock.

"Um, yeah. You know him?"

"Ugh, never mind. Just come to the party. Maybe you can hook up with Iris or May. They're single."

"So that means Misty and Dawn are dating someone?"

"I'm dating Misty, and Brock is dating Dawn."

Gary still wasn't sure about the party. He didn't really like the taste of beer in the first place, and didn't think he had a chance with Iris or May, either. They most likely will look too good for him. Gary just didn't feel as confident as he once was.

"Sorry, Ash. I can't go." He'd decided to stay home.

Ash couldn't take it. He couldn't let even ONE of his friends miss out! He stared at the ground and tried to form a quick plan.

"I'll pay you to go... hmm... how's 50 bucks sound to ya?"

Gary was successfully convinced. 50 bucks was a lot of useful money. "Alright, Ash. You got me... I'll come to the party, I guess. I just hope it won't be a total waste of time, like I think it'll be."

The party started at midnight, and when Gary arrived in his Corvette, the club was already packed. He glanced nervously around at everyone, and started to wish he was back home playing his Xbox, instead.

Ash was nowhere to be found. He couldn't spot the familiar black spiky hair and snap-back anywhere along the rows of strangers. Feeling uncomfortable, Gary turned back toward the door to escape-

"GARY! We've been looking for you!" yelled Ash, running toward Gary. Brock, Iris and Misty tagged on right behind him.

It felt like a 500 pound weight had been pressed inside of Gary's stomach. He was dreading the party's outcome even more than last night, but it was sadly too late to bail out. Ash would be crushed, and maybe even start hating him again. Or would he?

"Not as bad as you thought, huh?" Ash asked, smiling. "Come on, what's with the perplexed look?

"Oh... eh... what look? And... er... yeah... it's not that bad... the party, I mean..." Gary stuttered.

Ash slammed a hand down on Gary's back, nearly blowing the wind out of him, and chuckled.

"Well I'm glad you like it. Anyway, I have to go chill with Misty, my baby."

Ash turned around, kissed Misty on the cheek, and then replied with-

"Yeah. So why don't you hang out with Iris and Brock? Tracy, Dawn and May are getting a drink or something, but these two can keep you entertained. See ya."

With that, Ash and Misty walked away into the crowd, holding hands, leaving Gary with Brock, and a girl with big, puffy, purple hair. Iris? Yes, his predictions were right. Definitely too attractive for him.

"So, now what? I don't know how to dance, and I hate beer," Gary complained to the two people in front of him.

Brock cracked up laughing, and had to bend down to breathe.

"Wha-? Whats so funny?"

"Gary, you're really not the same guy as back then! Completely changed! Let's go. Maybe you'll like the taste of beer this time around. How long has it been since you last tried it? Plus, you can try dancing with Iris or something," Brock suggested.

Gary could feel his stomach churn. He stared at Iris, and tried to muster a smile, but it didn't come out right. She probably thought he was pathetic. Why did he ever come to this party? 30 dollars sounded like the littlest amount of money in the world about now...

All of a sudden, Iris grabbed Gary's hand, and started to drag him to the bar, Brock at their heels.

...

Gary stared at the bright yellow, tall glass of beer sitting on the table in front of him. It smelled bitter, like it would burn his nose slowly away if he kept breathing it in...

Brock just wasted his money. There was no way Gary would drink this glass of gross tasting liquid. Hey- he just really hated the taste.

"Drink it, Gary. I'll drink one with you," Iris pressed.

Brock had his hand in a thumbs-up position, smiling.

"No way. Drink it with Brock... I would rather have water. Or coffee..."

Brock cracked up again. He must be thinking this was pretty funny. Ooh, Ash had to pay Gary to come. Ooh, he would rather drink water than beer. Ooh, Gary wasn't like us. He was a noob.

Gary took deep breaths, and glanced over at Iris. She was giggling a little, too.

He couldn't take the embarrassment. Nor the heat. Nor the judgment...

"All right? You think I'm a lame-ass noob, bro? Watch and learn."

Gary lifted the glass filled with beer, and started to chug it down. Hmm... it tasted pretty good... how long had it been since he tried it last?

Brock and Iris weren't laughing anymore. They stared in shock at Gary, as he finished the 6-inch tall glass of beer in just a couple seconds.

"Dude that was too fast!" called Brock. Iris had the look of horror.

Gary looked around at all the colors and shapes. Oh yeah... Beer can make you drunk...

...

Suddenly, a Charizard started humping a Walrein across the room. Gary started to laugh, but it sounded like he was wheezing instead. He turned around and saw that Iris and Brock's heads had switched places, and it looked pretty weird. He took off running the opposite direction, but fell down a couple times.

The whole club looked like a forest now. He bumped into a huge squirtle wearing... Ash's hat?

"Gary what are you doing? Did you drink too much? I thought you said you didn't like the taste!" The squirtle asked. It seemed to be said in slow motion, drifting deeper and deeper towards the end of the sentence. Gary took off running in another direction, and realized in horror that half the people in the club looked like Professor Oak, his grandpa.

"What the hell?" he asked himself, turning around, and spinning into different people.

Pop! A rainbow appeared out of Ash's ass. How did he get back over here?

Ash passed some gas, and the rainbow snapped in half. The club started to stink really bad, so he turned away again, this time toward the dance floor.

While he was running to the dance floor, he spotted a guy with a red headband making out with a girl with blue hair. Gary shuddered for a bit, then landed on the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by many break-dancing koffings. He joined them, doing his own drunken break-dance, until he fell down, and the world slowly... went... black...

...

Bright light filtered through Gary's eyes. He immediately felt an intense headache pound in his skull, along with many other body pains. The worst he'd ever felt in his life. He glanced around and found that he was lying on a soft bed, with several faces staring back at him. Ash, Brock, Misty and Iris were there, along with a girl with brown hair and a red bandanna.

"Are you alright, Gary? I didn't expect that at all," Brock asked.

"Yeah, that was quite a show," Iris said. She smiled, and a flush of red swept across her face. "You're pretty funny. I mean that in a good way... I actually had a good time being with you in that party."

Gary felt a heat wave blast across him, like a magmar's ember attack. Does Iris... like him? In that way?

"Yeah, thanks, Iris. I had a good time with you, too." He smiled back at Iris, and turned toward Ash, who gave him a thumbs-up.

Wait... who were those people behind Ash...? What? The people that were making out near the dance floor? The guy with the red headband and the girl with blue hair?

That wasn't a hallucination?

"You guys were making out near the dance floor! That was real, or...? Who are you?" questioned Gary.

"Yeah, it happened. And man, it was great. Dawn, you're a great kisser... Oh, I'm Tracy, and this is Dawn, my new girlfriend."

Dawn screamed," Tracy! Look what you did! Now Brock is know! Wait- I mean-"

"You were cheating on me with Tracy? What? Why?" Brock asked, with a hint of anger to his voice.

"Brock? You're dating Dawn? She told me she was single. I don't know why she did this to you... that's really stupid. Dawn, we're over. I can't believe you would cheat on my friend like that..."

"Yeah, we're over, too." Brock said.

Dawn looked around frantically and tried to think up an excuse, but couldn't. It was Gary's fault that they found out. She hated him now.

"Fuck you, Gary!" Dawn screamed, and dashed out of the house faster than a Sceptile.

...

After all the drama, everyone calmed down, and Ash planned to throw another party next week.

"And next time, Gary..." Ash started.

"What?" Gary questioned.

"This time, we'll all get drunk." Ash said with a grin.