Disclaimer: Hey you. Y'know about Pokémon? Well, it's not mine.
5 Months Later…
"Yes, can I help yo—Hi, Gary!" Tracey greeted when he recognized the person standing on the porch of the Oak laboratory. "Hey there, Umbreon," he greeted to the dark Pokémon at Gary's side.
"Umbreon!" it greeted in return.
"Hiya, Tracey," Gary greeted with a friendly smile as he walked into the house. He set his backpack on the floor and surveyed his surroundings.
"Professor Oak, Gary's home!" the young watcher announced, closing the front door.
"Gary?" a voice sounded from down the hall. Professor Oak appeared a few moments later. "Gary, my boy, you're home!" the Professor exclaimed, bringing the teenager in for a hug.
"Hey, grandpa," Gary greeted. "How are you?"
"Oh, same old, same old. How are you?"
"Just fine."
"That's good. You're home early, aren't you?" the older Oak remarked. "We weren't expecting you to be back until tomorrow!"
"Well, I wanted to spend more time here with you before going up to Cerulean…"
"Oh, well that was very nice of you, Gary, but I don't think going to Cerulean will be necessary."
"Huh? Why not?" asked Gary, evidently confused.
"Gary!"
"Togepriiiii!"
Gary suddenly felt something latch onto his neck, and something smaller land on his head. He tried to regain his balance, but failed, causing them all to topple to the floor. Professor Oak and Tracey laughed at the scene.
"M—Misty? What are you doing here?" Gary asked the redhead who was now sitting on top of him.
"Toge, togepriiiii!" Togepi sang.
"Jeez. It's nice to see you too," she said sarcastically, putting her hands on her hips.
"I-I didn't mean—"
"I know, I know." She smiled. "I'm just teasing, relax."
"Why don't we go into the living room?" the Professor suggested. "I'll go get some refreshments."
"I'll help you," Tracey offered, following the older man into the kitchen.
"Uh… Misty?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you kindly get off of me now?" asked Gary.
"Oh! Sorry!" she apologized, blushing furiously. She quickly got up and extended a hand towards him, which he gratefully accepted.
"Toge, toge, togepriiiii!" Togepi cried, gently tugging on the hem of Gary's pants.
Misty giggled. "It looks like someone here missed you."
Gary took the baby Pokémon in its arms and then looked back at the redhead. "You mean you didn't?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
She lightly punched his arm. "Of course I did!"
"Jeez, woman. Why must you always resort to violence?"
Misty only rolled her eyes.
"So… What are you doing here anyway?" he asked her as they made their way towards the living room.
"Well, the two times you came back to Pallet from Hoenn, you took the time out to visit me. I thought I'd come here to see you this time. I was sure that you wanted to spend as much time with your grandfather as possible before you leave for Sayda Island." She sat down on the loveseat opposite from the brunette. "Besides, Tracey, Mrs. Ketchum and your grandfather kept insisting that I visit. I only arrived last night."
"What about the gym?"
"My sisters got back a month ago, remember? They'll be fine for a week… I hope." She suddenly began to have second thoughts.
"Oh," Gary remarked. "Okay."
A few moments passed before Misty decided to speak: "…Y'know, you never shut up when we talk on the phone… You choose now, when we're both here in person, to be at a loss for words?"
Embarrassed, his face turned a few shades redder. "S-Sorry—"
"What is this? Is the great Gary Oak flustered?" Misty smirked.
He glared at her, but she only waved it off.
"You know that doesn't do anything to me anymore." She leaned forward, rest her elbows on her knees, and looked at him intently. "I'll accept your lame apology, though, and forgive you," she said with a playful smile.
Gary grumbled a 'thanks' before slumping back on the couch and sighing.
"Tired?"
"A little."
"Then, you should sleep."
"I'm alright," he assured, sending a small smile her way.
"Okay, here are the refreshments," Professor Oak announced as he and Tracey each walked in with a tray. The two set the trays down onto the coffee table before sitting down. "So how was Hoenn this time around, Gary?"
"Great. I managed to find some fossils in the mountains… I'm not exactly sure what they are, but hopefully I'll be able to figure it out when I get to the lab in Sayda," the brunette replied.
"Well, the Sayda Lab is the best place for that kind of research," the Professor remarked.
"How so, Professor?" asked Tracey.
"They specialize in the study of ancient and pre-historic Pokémon. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to analyze the fossils that Gary found."
"Oh, I see. That's so cool!"
"When are you leaving, Gary?" asked Misty as she poured a cup of tea for each of them.
"This weekend." He gratefully took the tea that the Cerulean Gym leader offered him. "How're things here, grandpa?"
"Busy, busy, busy," the older Oak replied with a chuckle, "as always."
Following his stop in Cerulean City five months ago, Gary made his way back to Pallet Town. After spending some time at home, he decided on his next course of action: to travel to Hoenn.
Gary was restless and knew that he just needed to keep moving. He spent his time traveling throughout the unfamiliar country, studying the new pokémon there. He traveled back to Kanto twice during the five months in Hoenn to relay his findings to his grandfather in Pallet.
Gary had also kept his promise to Misty and visited her on both occasions. He had actually kept in constant contact with her during his travels, calling her whenever he was able to stay at a Pokémon Center.
"I know how lonely it can get while traveling by yourself," she had said after their first phone conversation. "So feel free to call me whenever you'd like."
He was very happy that he had someone to talk to (other than his Pokémon) after the long and tiring days he had been through. It was the next best thing to having a travel companion.
After first talking to Misty on the phone after his first visit to Cerulean, the two had found that conversation to come very easily to them. Perhaps it was their rather emotional encounter in the Viridian Forest that brought them together… or maybe it was the fact that they didn't know each other very well, thereby giving them liberty to give each other better first impressions… Well, whatever it was, neither of them wanted to complain. They were both very content to each have a new confidant.
The unlikely duo talked about everything from trivial things such as their favorite colors, food, etc. to their plans and goals for the future. Sure, their short tempers and very opinionated views often clashed, but it only made for better discussion. Besides, they both found it entertaining to poke fun at the other.
However, Gary found it odd to find someone so easy to strike up a conversation with. He had never had a conversation longer than ten minutes; not even with his grandfather! So why was it that he could talk to the redhaired gym leader for hours at a time? He had never kept in touch with anyone else in the frequency that he did with her… but what was it exactly that made her different from everyone else? Why did he feel so comfortable opening up to a girl whom he had really only known for the last five months?
Regardless, they had grown remarkably close during the course of the last five months. So close that they truly considered each other friends.
That's right: friends.
Who would've thought that the two of them would become friends? Let alone engage in a civil conversation? After all, prior to their run-in in the Viridian Forest, the two had only exchanged a few words with each other (those words usually being insults of some sort).
But they had both agreed to put the past behind them and focus on the present.
Now the only question was: what did the future have in store for them?
"Whoa. Is this the Gyarados you told me about?" asked Gary, looking at the blue pokémon at the edge of the lake. He recalled the story that Misty told him a few weeks ago about the incident with the "Invincible Brothers."
"Yep!" Misty chirped.
To say that the large dragon Pokémon was intimidating would be an understatement. Gary examined the Pokémon, noting that compared to the average Gyarados, its size was a little larger and the scales on its skin were much shinier. It was obvious that she took great care of it.
"He's a sweetheart, really," Misty assured, sensing Gary's uneasiness. "Aren't you, Gyarados?"
The sea-dragon nodded its head.
Gary took a step closer and found himself face to face with the huge water Pokémon. Before he could do anything, the huge water Pokémon nuzzled against him.
"See? It likes you!" Misty said happily.
"Toge, toge, togepriiiii!" Togepi agreed. The baby Pokémon was currently in the arms of its 'mother.'
"I've always wanted to catch one of these," Gary remarked. "I got a few Magikarp, but I never had enough time to train any of them to evolve into a Gyarados. Lucky you to just stumble upon it, huh?" He chuckled.
Misty laughed too. "Yeah, but to be honest, I really didn't like them at first. Next to bug Pokémon, they were my biggest fear."
"Oh? Why?"
"Childhood incident," she said, getting rather shy. "No big deal. The important thing is that Gyarados here helped me get over my fear. Isn't that right, Gyarados?"
The blue Pokémon made a sound of agreement.
"…and so Umbreon used Secret Power and was even able to put it to sleep because of our location. Then she finished it off with Dream Eater."
"Wow. Sounds exciting!" Misty exclaimed. "Very impressive, Umbreon!"
"Togepriiiii!"
"Umbreon!" the dark Pokémon said in agreement.
The four were currently sitting, or rather laying down, on a large, grassy hill that overlooked all of the Oak property.
Misty sighed blissfully. "I wish I could've continued journeying…"
"You can now, can't you?" asked Gary. "I mean, your sisters are back and—" He stopped when he saw her shake her head.
"Violet and Lily have absolutely no interest in battling anymore," she explained. "Daisy knows how to handle the gym and helps me out, but I know that she doesn't really like it that much either."
"Oh… Well, at least you reversed your gym's reputation, right?" It was true. In the last five months, the Cerulean Gym had only given out badges to a dozen first-timers.
Misty smiled. "Right." She really was glad that she was able to fix the gym up (with help from her friends like Tracey, of course). Now, it was back to being a real Pokémon gym. Sure, they still held underwater ballets and such, but battling was the top priority again.
A comfortable silenced passed as the two watched the stars start to appear in the sky.
"The sky here never ceases to amaze me," Misty remarked.
"It is something, isn't it? One of the plus sides to living in the middle of nowhere," he said, making her laugh.
Stargazing was one of Gary's favorite pastimes. After his parents and sister died, he would occasionally leave the Oak estate, after his grandfather had gone to bed, and sit atop this very hill to think until the early hours in the morning.
"It's getting late," he announced, standing up. "We should get back."
"You're right," she replied, following suit. She cradled the drowsy Togepi in her arms as they all made their way back to the lab.
"Gary, Ash called a few minutes ago and wanted to speak to you," the Professor said as the two teens entered the kitchen. He was sitting at the kitchen counter, reading the newspaper, while Tracey was rummaging through the refrigerator and cabinets for a late snack. "The number should still be in the phone."
"Thanks," the brunette uttered before going to the living room. Sitting down in front of the phone, he looked the call history and selected the latest received call.
"Hello?" a voice greeted tentatively.
"Hi, Ash. grandpa told me that you called."
Their images materialized on the screen.
"Hey, Gary!" Ash said with more enthusiasm.
"What's up?" asked the young researcher.
"I just wanted to say 'hi.' Professor Oak told me that you're going to Sayda Island."
"Yeah, this weekend."
"Well, I highly doubt that I'll see you sometime before that, so I just wanted to call to wish you luck. I know you'll do fine in whatever you want to do."
"Thanks, Ash. That means a lot."
"No problem."
"So… how are things with you?"
"Great! I actually got my third badge today! It was a piece of cake."
"That's great," Gary said, genuinely happy for his rival-turned-friend.
"Mhm. Mind if you let Tracey know for me?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Thanks. I've been trying to get in contact with Misty too, but her sisters said that she went away for a few days… It's so difficult to keep in touch with everyone," Ash said, embarrassed.
"Oh, Misty's here, actually," Gary informed.
"Huh? She's there with you?" Ash asked, evidently confused.
"Yeah. I'll go get her."
"Uh… Okay—" Ash said, but Gary was already gone.
Less than a minute later, Misty appeared in front of the phone.
"Hi, Ash!" she greeted.
"Uh… Hey, Misty. Say, what're you doing at Professor Oak's lab?"
"Well, I haven't been here in a while so I figured that I'd come down for a visit." She shrugged. "And I wanted to see Gary off before he leaves again."
"Ah…"
"So, how are you, Ash?"
Ash's lips suddenly curved into a smile. "I got my third badge today!"
"That's great, Ash!"
"Yep. One step closer to the Ever Grande Conference!"
Misty shook her head. "Still the same old Ash, I see."
"Yep!" His expression suddenly became serious. "Um… Can I ask you something?
"Of course. What is it?"
"Are you and Gary like… friends now, or something?"
"Yeah, actually… believe it or not."
"I see." The aspiring pokémon master knew that his two friends had been spending time together every now and then, but he never realized how much. "Are you—" he was about to speak again, but was interrupted by a female voice.
"Ash, it's late! We have to get a move on if we want to get to the next city!"
"Alright, alright. I'll be right there, May!" The raven-haired teen looked back at the screen. "I guess that's my cue. I'll talk to you guys soon."
"Okay. Travel safe!"
Gary startled when an extremely loud clap of thunder sounded. Rubbing his eyes, he looked out the window and saw that it was storming outside. He looked at the clock.
3:14 A.M.
Great. He only had 3 hours of sleep so far. There was no way that he could go back to dreamland with so much noise around him. He startled when he heard his door open.
"Gary, are you up?" Misty quietly asked, peeping her head through the door.
"Toge, togepriii…" came her Pokémon's small cry.
"Yeah," he replied before reaching over to turn on the small lamp next to his bed, the soft light immediately brightening the room. He realized that the baby Pokémon in Misty's arms was visibly shaking.
Misty shut the door behind her and made her way over to his bed. She sprinted when another clap of thunder sounded and buried herself and Togepi under the covers.
"You really hate storms, don't you?" Gary said, obviously amused. He leaned back against the headboard.
"Always have," she admitted.
"How'd you manage when you were traveling?"
"Ash and Pikachu's snoring would usually drown out the sounds," she said, desperately trying not to laugh. However, her efforts were proven futile when Gary suddenly burst out laughing.
"That's Ashy-boy for ya."
Their laughter seemed to put Togepi at ease and it stopped shaking. Yawning, it snuggled closer to Misty and began drifting back to sleep.
"Here," Gary said, taking one of the pillows from behind him and putting it at the foot of the bed.
Misty carefully lay the Pokémon down and then moved to sit next to the brunette. She flinched when they heard another loud thunder clap, but relaxed when she felt her companion's arm come around her shoulders.
"You freak out too much, Red."
"Oh, shush." A few moments passed before she spoke again, "So are you excited?"
He raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
"Sayda," she stated. "What else?"
"Oh!" He chuckled nervously. "I… I guess I am. I mean… I don't really know. I know that I want to do research, but I'm not sure which field I want to study exactly… I doubt I'll stay there for too long, though."
"Why is that?"
"I don't know… I just feel like I have to keep moving. I don't want to stay in one place for too long."
Misty looked at him. "You don't want to stay in one place?" she repeated. "Why wouldn't you want that? I mean… Obviously we're too young to 'settle down' and whatever, but what about when we get older? Are you really going to be traveling then?"
He turned towards her and their eyes met. "I'm really not too sure of anything right now, Misty," he admitted. "All I know is that I'll be moving until I find… well, whatever it is I'm looking for. I know I want to research, but I still want to find that place that I can be comfortable in and call my own, y'know?"
"Wow."
"What?"
"Who knew that Gary Oak could be such a sap?"
"Hey!"
Misty laughed, but her facial expression soon softened. "Hey, lighten up! I totally get what you mean. I just didn't expect you to be like that about it."
"What about you?" he asked after a few moments of silence.
"What about me?"
"You don't expect yourself to still be a gym leader ten, twenty, thirty years from now, do you?" Gary asked.
"Of course not!" she replied, almost defensively. "But… Well, it's something for me to do until I figure everything out: after all, I still want to become the best water pokémon trainer in the world! As of now, though, I'm happy, and my Pokémon are happy… so I think I'm doing alright for now."
He smiled. "Yeah."
Gary woke up (again) to a very strange weight on his body. Opening his eyes, he saw that Togepi was jumping on his stomach.
"Toge, toge, toge, togepriiiiii!" the egg-Pokémon exclaimed when it noticed that he had (finally) woken up.
"What now, Togepi? You couldn't let me sleep in a few more hours?" he groaned.
"Togepriiiii!" it replied, oblivious to the brunette's drowsiness.
Gary looked over at his clock and saw that it was only 8:13 A.M. Knowing that he definitely wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now, he grudgingly got out of bed and went to his bathroom to brush his teeth—
Wait a second.
Why was Togepi here in the first place?
Suddenly, the events of the previous night came back to him.
Thunder… lightning… then Misty coming into his room scared… Togepi falling asleep… talking… Misty falling asleep… in his arms.
His cheeks reddened when he recalled the last detail. He finished freshening up and picked up Togepi before leaving his room. The smell of pancakes immediately filled his senses as he descended the stairs, as well as some chatter between Misty and Tracey. Entering the kitchen, he saw Misty standing behind the stove while Tracey was setting the table.
"You should've seen this guy!" Misty said. "He was at least three times your size and with tattoos and whatnot covering his arms. To top it all off, he came to the gym with a bunch of his friends: all on motorcycles."
Tracey whistled. "Sounds tough."
"Uh huh. So obviously, he came to challenge me. Guess what kind of Pokémon he had."
"I dunno." Tracey pondered for a moment before guessing: "A Machamp? Feraligatr? Houndoom?"
"A jigglypuff."
"No way!" Tracey chuckled. "Did you beat him?"
"Barely. I used Politoed, but oh, man, that Jigglypuff had one hell of a double-slap."
Tracey laughed again. "Well, I guess you really shouldn't judge someone based on their appearances—Oh! Good morning, Gary," he greeted, when he noticed the sleeping brunette by the doorway.
"Morning, Tracey. Morning, Misty."
"Togepriiiii!" Togepi chirped when it smelled the food cooking.
"Morning," Misty greeted with a smile.
"Is grandpa up yet?"
Tracey nodded. "He's in his lab and told us to call him when breakfast was ready—"
"Which should be about…" Using a spatula, Misty lifted the last pancake off of the frying pan and tossed it onto an already massive stack on the counter. "Now," she said with a grin.
"I'll go get him, then," said Tracey, leaving the room after he finished setting the table.
Gary helped Misty bring all of the food to the table before the two sat down.
"Do you want some tea?" she asked him whilst pouring herself a cup. "You look like you need something to wake you up."
"Well, yeah. No thanks to your little ball of sunshine over here," he retorted, gesturing to Togepi, who was happily eating its breakfast.
The redhead only rolled her eyes in response. She poured him a cup of tea before speaking: "Thanks for last night. I uh, I'm sorry that we kept you up."
"It's fine," he assured, "really. Don't worry about it." His tone changed suddenly, "I'm just glad that my good looks come naturally, so I really don't need that much sleep," he said, smirking.
She snorted. "Oh? Well, I beg to differ—"
"My, everything looks and smells absolutely delicious," Professor Oak remarked when he and the young Pokémon watcher walked into the room. "I'm sure it tastes delicious as well." The two sat down and all of them began eating and making small talk.
It was when they were clearing the table that the phone rang.
"I'll get it," Misty said going to the living room.
"So kids, what are your plans for toda—" The Professor was cut off by Misty's yelling from the other room.
"WHAT? NO!"
Alarmed, the three males ran into the kitchen to see what was wrong.
"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS, CRAZY? YOU CAN'T JUST GIVE BADGES AWAY!" Misty yelled at the image of her sister, Daisy.
"But like, all of them have been waiting—"
"Just tell them to wait a little longer, then!"
"Well, what if we like, give them the badges and tell them to come back later?"
"No, no, no, Daisy! I'll be home by tonight, okay? Just tell them all to sit tight. Now, good bye!" she yelled, slamming the receiver back down.
"Woah, a little harsh there, don't ya think?" Tracey remarked.
"You wouldn't understand," Misty said, sighing. "You don't have them as your sisters."
"Uh… Misty, if you don't mind my asking, how were your sisters able to handle the gym before you returned?" the Professor asked.
"They didn't," came her reply. "After Gary, Ash and the other two trainers from Pallet beat them, they turned their focus to underwater ballet."
"So… you're leaving…" Gary left the sentence hanging.
Misty fumed. "I can't believe them! I've only been here two days and already they're being such—"
"Don't say anything you might regret," Tracey warned, interrupting her.
Misty sighed. "You're right…" She gasped and stood up. "Now I have to pack, get a ferry ticket to Vermillion, reserve a seat on the train and—"
"Hey, Mist, why don't Tracey and I arrange all of that while you pack? Then we can all go out and do something before you leave," Gary suggested.
"Really?" The two boys nodded. "Thanks so much!" She ran upstairs to pack up her things.
Three hours later, the group found themselves standing on the docks outside of Pallet Town.
"Well, have fun in Sayda, Gary," Misty said. "Take care, okay?"
"I will," Gary replied.
She sighed. "Yeah, well… What can you do?
They shared a smile for a brief moment before she suddenly glared at him.
"Now, just because you're going to be busier than before doesn't mean that I won't be expecting a phone call every now and then!"
"Don't worry, Red. I'll call," he said, laughing. "And I'll make sure to call you once I get to Sayda," he added before she could say anything else.
She smiled again. "Good." She then turned her attention to the other two males. "It was great seeing you again, Tracey."
Tracey nodded in agreement. "I'll make sure to come up and visit when I have some free time."
"And I'll make sure to give him some free time," the Professor said, jokingly. "Misty, you're welcome back whenever you'd like, remember that."
Misty nodded. "Thank you, Professor."
Their goodbyes were interrupted by an announcement for passengers to board the ferry.
"Well, it looks like we have to go, don't we, Togepi?"
"Togepriiiii!"
"Bye, Misty!"
"Goodbye, Misty!"
"See ya, Red."
"Bye everyone!" Misty called out as she boarded the ferry.
Chapter 3 done. Wooooo!