This is my first OldRivalShipping fanfic, and I'm pretty happy with how this has turned out. I love it a lot and I dedicate it Kaito-kun and my old friends from CBC. My love for you.
"This is it."
She looked out over the green countryside with hills and trees dotting it in a million shades and tints of green. Feeling the wind wash over her, she closed her eyes, smiling as her grandfather's hand clamped down on her shoulder.
"Come on, Leaf, we must be going." He began to walk down toward the small town below them, leaving his wife and granddaughter in his wake.
Her grandmother was a kindly lady and shorter than Leaf herself had been in many years. She walked a bit slowly but not so much as to hinder her life too much.
The girl took the old woman's arm, leading her down the winding road.
"It's okay, dear," the white-haired lady said graciously. "I'll be fine. Go ahead with your grandpa."
She was about to argue, but she knew that she couldn't win. "Okay, Grandma." She picked up the pace, nearing her grandfather. "Grandpa, where are we going?"
"We're going to see Professor Oak, child." He looked at her, allowing her to catch up. "He's an old friend of mine."
"What's he like, Grandpa?" Leaf asked, her blue eyes wide. "Is he nice like you?"
Her grandfather let out a hoarse laugh. "Of course, child, he's very nice. He has a grandson around your age. You'll like him."
"Is his son nice?" she asked.
"Hush, child, we're here already. It's time for you to meet the Oaks." He knocked on the door twice.
"Who is it?" came the answer.
"Sam, it's me," he bellowed back.
"Ah, coming!" The old-sounding voice replied.
"Grandpa," began Leaf, a new question forming in her mind, "how old is Professor Oak?"
"Ah, he's..." He broke off as the door opened.
"Come in, come in," said the stout-looking older man, shooing them in. "We have a lot to talk about."
He sat them down on couches in the lobby. Leaf stared at the pink carpet beneath her feet, studying the tiny fibers. She looked up to see Professor Oak nodding at her and her grandfather.
"I'll call Gary." He turned toward the door, opening it. "Gary! Where are you? We have guests!"
"Coming, Gramps." The brown-haired boy walked in through the other door. He swept his gaze over the visitors. "Hi, I'm Gary, the -" he broke off as his gaze fell on Leaf. "Leaf?"
"What?" She was confused. He seemed familiar, from his spiked brown hair to his handsome, finely-chiseled features. But when she thought about it, she had no memories of him. Maybe it was only wishful thinking.
"You are Leaf, right?" He directed the question straight at her.
"Ye-yes, yes, I am." She stuttered quietly. What is he going to do now? she wondered nervously.
"Leaf, Leaf, remember me?" He stepped toward her, pointing to himself. "It's me, Gary, your best friend! We used to go fishing together!" When he saw her blank stare, he calmed down. "You don't remember." He looked away, crossing his arms angrily.
Professor Oak went to him. "Now, Gary, it's been a long time since then. She moved away when you were eight. Now you're both fourteen." He turned toward Leaf and her grandfather. "I'm sorry about Gary. He's had some notion fixated in his head for some time now that you would come back and you and he would be friends again."
Leaf's grandfather nodded slowly. "And that was a very fine dream to have. But now I suppose he will have to wait until they can become friends again."
"Of course," he said.
"Hey, Gramps," said Gary suddenly, fueled by enthusiasm once again, "can I take Leaf out to show her the town? I got most of my research done yesterday and I think my paper should be ready by tomorrow."
"Sure," his grandfather agreed. "Leaf, would you like to go with Gary?"
"I - I guess," she stammered back in reply.
"Come on!" Gary took her hand and led her outside. "So this is my grandpa's place, yada, yada, yada, we're done here. I know you don't remember, but we used to spend a lot of time here." Before she knew it, he was pulling her along through the iron gate to the dirt road.
Reaching the path, she pulled her hand out of his hard grip, rubbing it. He flinched, but lowered arm and kept walking. Taking one last glance at the laboratory, she decided to follow him, not knowing what else to do.
Soon, they stopped at a small house that looked vaguely familiar. Gary rapped at the door and shortly afterwards a red-haired woman answered the door.
"Gary!" She greeted him with a smile. "I was just about to call you over. I have something for you and your grandfather." Her eyes flicked over to the girl standing next to him. She looked at her for what seemed to be a long time until her face showed recognition. "Leaf?" she exclaimed, shocked.
Leaf was surprised. People still remember me? she wondered. "Y-yes, that's me."
"Come in, come in," she ushered them into the house.
Sitting down on the couch, Leaf once again searched her memories. It turned up almost empty, but she couldn't shake the feeling she had heard the lady's voice before. But who is she? she asked herself silently. Then a wave of nostalgia washed over her. The smell of warm, freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. Now she remembered.
She glimpsed herself, a small girl with long brown hair, sitting at the kitchen table with a tall stack of cookies on her plate. She was looking at the little boy next to her. He had spiky black hair and was bragging about something. What was it? She struggled to remember. And this time, it came to her. "Hey, Leaf," he had said in his childish voice, "I can eat more cookies than you!" She smiled at the fond memory. But her forehead scrunched in confusion when she couldn't remember the boy's name, despite her best efforts. If only I could see him again, I could remember, she thought confidently.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Gary sitting down next her, back from the bathroom. "Leaf, do you remember this house? We spent a lot of time here, too." He looked unsure, as if maybe this was the wrong thing to ask.
She looked at him in confusion, then nodded slowly.
"Really?" His face lit up, and he couldn't contain his excitement. "What do you remember?"
"I remember..." she paused a moment, gathering her thoughts into words, "...a boy. He was kind of short and had messy black hair. We were sitting in the kitchen, at the table. We were eating cookies, chocolate chip cookies. He said he could eat more cookies than me."
Gary seemed a little disappointed, his eyes losing eagerness a bit, but nevertheless, he pressed on. "That was Ash! Remember? The three of us used to fight all the time."
She looked at him, understanding beginning to dawn. "And you and Ash always used to go off without me and you'd never let me come because you said it was 'boy stuff' and girls couldn't come along. I remember!" She stuck her tongue out at him. "You were so mean!"
"Hey, I was nice to you." He turned his head. "I went fishing with you when Ash talked to Gramps."
"Well..." Her mind reached back for the memories, searching, searching.
Suddenly, a jolt of pain split her head. "Augh!" she cried out, holding her head in her hands.
Then all went black.
Ack, published it raw. Oops. Thank you for reading this. There's more still to come (hopefully by next week). I love Pokemon, and the old Pokemon is. though rather raw, a classic. The like of its characters shall never be seen again (they will be deemed too strong, too radical). The old Pokemon was the most expressive of its reincarnations (except for perhaps Drew and May's relationship). And I will miss the olden days.