Interruption – Chapter 4

Serena? I couldn't have heard her name wrong… this girl… she was the girl who had kissed Ash when he left Kalos… the girl whose name and story about the kiss made Gary leave dinner so abruptly days ago… what in the world was she doing here? What the hell did she want from Gary? Nothing made sense. I suddenly worried about Gary… he definitely had to remember that girl's name.

Gary walked past that girl, opened the door to the mansion and slammed the door against us, leaving us outside (I still had a key, don't worry) but his leaving had been as abrupt as the one he had made during dinner that time. I wanted to run behind him, I knew he needed me, I don't know how her presence here would affect him but I had a feeling it would not suit him well, that somehow, he was crying, wondering the same things I was, but I couldn't just leave that girl alone, it was past midnight and she clearly didn't have a place to stay.

"Did I say something wrong?" Serena looked at Misty and I with concern on her face.

I didn't know what to say, that's where Misty came to help me.

"He and I had a fight moments ago, he was just angry at me but it seems like he's taking his anger on everyone too, sorry you had to see that" Misty said, not the best excuse for Gary's reputation but still, it was better than saying nothing.

"I'm Tracey" I smiled, trying to ease things.

"And I'm Misty."

"So… I guess that guy was Gary, huh?" she sighed "maybe I didn't come at the right time."

"Why don't you come in? It's starting to get cold in here" I had to invite her to come in, what else was I supposed to do? Then again, I knew Gary would not like her being in the manor.

"Thank you so much" she seemed relieved to hear me invite her which clearly proved she had no place to stay the night, I remember Ash told us she was going to go to Hoenn, was she making a small stop here in Kanto? Did she come to find Ash? But she said she wanted to see Gary, my head was going to explode if she didn't tell us why she was here.

I know this might sound selfish from me, but damn I was sure I wasn't going to watch Resident Evil 4 that night.

"I'll help you with your luggage" I said after opening the door to the manor. I took her suitcases, they weren't that heavy as I had expected, and I got in. Misty and Serena entered after me and Misty closed the door behind them.

"Woah! This place is huge! And so elegant!" Serena said looking around the living room, she was astonished and well, who wouldn't? The Oak Manor was an amazing place to be.

"Would you like something to drink?" I asked her leaving her suitcases near the stairs.

"Just some water, please" she smiled.

"Let's take a seat, shall we?" Misty invited her to the living room and they seated in the big sofa.

I got back from the kitchen and gave Serena a glass of water. Then I took a seat in the small sofa in front of them. There was a small silence after that.

"I guess I have to explain myself, right?" Serena smiled weakly.

"We're all-ears" Misty said in a friendly voice to not sound like we were forcing her to speak.

"I guess you have no idea who I am, I should start right there…" she was nervous and we didn't tell her we knew her by name because then we would have to bring the story about the kiss which was buried now because Ash was dating Gary, and well, we didn't want to give the girl falsas esperanzas (is it bad that Christina Aguilera's song came into my mind just then, I meant false hopes anyway).

She hesitated for a moment before she went on.

"Do you guys know Ash Ketchum? If you do, then my story is going to be easier to tell."

"Yeah, we actually traveled with him to the Orange Islands like three years ago" Misty said, there was more to that but it was enough for Serena to know that we knew Ash.

"You guys did?" she sounded surprised.

"Yeah" I smiled.

"That's cool! I was one of his companions in Kalos" she revealed.

"Oh! Go ahead" Misty smiled.

"So… this means you didn't get to see Ash when he came back from the Kalos League, did you?" she expected a no for an answer because if it was a yes, then it would mean that Ash hadn't told us anything about her and well, she kinda expected to be mentioned by Ash in his coming home story, especially the kiss part… I knew I was going to lie but it was for the best, wasn't it?

"Not really, we're not from Pallet Town, I mean, I live here but I'm from the Orange Islands."

"And I'm from Cerulean City" Misty added.

"Yeah… Ash told me he was going to stay here for around 2 days and then he would leave for Alola" she commented.

Then why was she here? She clearly hadn't come to see Ash. Why did she need to see Gary?

"Well, I needed to come here before heading to Hoenn, I'm trying to be a pokémon coordinator there…"

"That's cool, just like May" Misty interrupted.

"May, I think Ash mentioned her a couple of times" Serena thought.

"And he didn't mention either one of us?" Misty asked, clearly disappointed.

Serena understood Misty's tone "I… I have a bad memory, I really don't remember" she gave us a forced smile.

"Don't worry, go on" I insisted.

She thought for another couple of seconds before continuing.

"I came here for Gary's advice. Ash mentioned him a couple of times too, he said Gary was his oldest friend, from his childhood… and stuff" she sighed taking a sip of water "he also said that his best friend was this guy named Brock and he was my first option but I don't really remember where Ash said Brock was from and when he mentioned Gary, he said he was from Pallet Town too and that he was the grandson of professor Oak… so I took a chance and decided to come here and see Gary" she was trembling, nervous.

"You need Gary's advice? For what?" I asked curious but I had already an answer in mind, I just needed her to corroborate it.

She remained silent for more seconds this time but she finally spoke up. She didn't look at us, instead she had a look to her glass of water.

"I… I am in… in love with Ash… and I thought… Gary would… that he would help me" she finally said.

I didn't know what to say and Misty didn't either, she didn't save me this time.

Neither Misty nor I acted with surprise, we both knew that, and I know Serena was looking for some reactions like "Oh my God!" or "I can't believe it!" or "Ash is so lucky that a girl like you fell in love with him" and we both knew we looked like cold-people, like someone had died, because we took her confession as something… I don't know… sad.

"I… I don't think Gary could help you with that" I finally said and Misty gave me a concerned look, like "What the hell are you going to do?"

Don't worry, I wasn't going to tell her Gary and Ash were dating.

"He can't?" Serena faced us holding back her tears.

"It's just that he and Ash aren't really that close now… they… they haven't seen each other in a very long time" Misty intervened and saved me.

"Oh!" she stared to the chimney and I faced Misty, worried, then I faced to the stairs and saw Gary emerged from the darkness, then he faced us with a look that said "What the hell?" and he quickly disappeared.

"I need to go check something upstairs, feel comfortable with Misty, Serena" I smiled but she didn't turn to face me or say something.

Misty understood and I made my way to Gary's room. He had the door locked, something he rarely did. I knocked and he opened, now I could see his eyes, they were red, like he had dried them after crying a lot.

"Why the hell is she in my house?" Gary slammed the door behind me. He clearly didn't listen to anything Serena had told us by then.

"Gary… please…" I said as I took a seat on the bed.

"Why did you let her in?!" he shouted looking at me with anger "I know I told you that you can have people over but I primarily meant Misty, not strangers like that girl!" he screamed crying more, his voice weakling.

"Hey" I said walking to him and I gave him a hug, he received it well and he kept crying on my shoulder.

"I… I didn't do anything bad, did I?" he said in tears, still hugging me.

"No! Of course not! You did nothing bad!" I rubbed his back.

"Then why do I feel this bad? Like… guilty" he sighed.

I didn't know how to answer, I knew Gary had done nothing wrong but I couldn't find the right words to say at that moment. My silence didn't help him at all when he got away from my arms.

"I love him, Tracey, I love him" he covered his face with his hands.

"I know, Gary, that's very clear to me" I smiled trying to relax him but it didn't work.

"She's in love with him too, isn't she?"

I didn't answer and he took my silence as an affirmative one.

"And she has no idea that Ash is with me right now" he said walking to the door and pushing his back against it, slowly falling until he was sitting on the floor.

"She's not in love with him, she… she just has a crush on him and that's very different, she likes him yeah but she doesn't love him. Her feelings are not as strong as yours… this is not a competition, Gary… the most important thing here is that Ash loves you, not her" I said softly, sitting in front of him and grabbing his hands.

He stopped crying but a smile didn't appear on his face. He didn't look at me either.

"Hey, it's going to be alright, trust me" I took his chin and make him look at me "I'll ask her to leave, I'll take her to Viridian City and pay her a night in a hotel if that makes you feel better" I smiled "I'm sure she has a flight to leave tomorrow or during the next days, she said she's going to Hoenn and that she just made a small stop here" I informed trying to relax him but again, it didn't seem to work.

"Why the hell does she want to see me? Why me?" he asked ignoring my suggestion for the moment.

I couldn't lie to Gary "she… she thought you'd help her… to…" words couldn't come out of my lips.

"To get to Ash?" he looked at me, devastated.

"She has no idea that…"

"I know she has no idea that I'm Ash's boyfriend!" he was upset.

"Please, calm down, Gary" I took his arms with my hands.

"I'm a horrible person, aren't I?" he looked at me with the saddest face I'd ever seen on him.

"Don't you dare say that again! Ever!" I shouted to him, holding my tears "you did nothing wrong! Ash and she weren't dating, they didn't even kiss on the lips! You have to understand that!" I shouted more, knowing he was worried about exactly those things.

And then he cried more, I didn't know if it was because I had been mean shouting at him like that.

"I'm sorry" I sighed grabbing him in my arms and hugging him, his head rested on my shoulder.

Gary didn't say anything more, he wasn't asleep, he was just silent.

I helped him get up and he sat on his bed.

"I'll take her to the hotel in Viridian, you need to rest and forget about this, okay?"

I walked to the door, decided to leave but then he said something.

"… wait! It's too late, just…" he sighed "just give her a room far away from mine and I'll talk to her myself tomorrow" he put his hands over his forehead like he had a headache.

"You sure about this?" I wanted to tell him it was a mistake, that he didn't need to talk to her, but I respected his will to do what he thought was right, so I shut up.

"Yeah, I'll just think things in my sleep"

"Okay" I nodded, he needed support and as his best friend, hell yeah I was going to give support to him.

He stood up, walked towards me and gave me another hug and I received him well into my arms. He didn't cry this time but he was still worried.

"Do you want some hot milk? I can go to the kitchen, heat it and bring it, it will help you fall asleep easier" I suggested.

"Nah, I'm fine, I'll just take a hot shower"

I walked to the door and after I opened it, I turned to him again and he said "thank you for being my best friend, Tracey" he then smiled holding back his tears.

"You're very welcome" I smiled.

His smiled lasted at least until he was out of my sight. Then I went downstairs to talk to Serena and Misty.