Disclaimer:- I don't own Pokemon.

Warning:- There is some violence in this chapter. Also mention of character death.


Chapter 4:- The Assistant and The Shipwreck

Gary:-

The first thing Gary noticed when he opened his eyes was a massive Oak tree towering in front of him. For a few moments he just stood staring at its lush green leaves growing in a spiral manner and it's thick grey bark which seemed to have worn down over the years.

All of his childhood memories of playing with Ash under the Oak tree flashed before his eyes. The very tree which was cut down a few months before they had left Pallet town to start their respective journeys. One of the first signs of being in the past.

He could smell warm summer air in the surroundings and the sun scorched brightly above him. He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight and squinted at the wide pathway that lay beyond the tree. He knew this route very well. He was currently standing at the outskirts of Pallet town and this road would take him to the place where he had an important job to do.

As he walked past the tree towards the road he remembered something. When Celebi was just about to send him to the past he had heard an all too familiar voice. He had felt for a moment as if Ash was calling out to him and asking him to stop. But he couldn't be sure. And how could it be Ash anyways? He didn't knew anything about Celebi or Gary's plan.

'I must have imagined it,' Gary thought to himself and continued on his way.


Ash:-

Ash Ketchum opened his eyes and almost lost his balance. He hastily grabbed the hand of someone standing beside him and looked around. He and his friends had landed on a small rock right in the middle of an ocean. There was barely enough space for all four of them to stand properly.

"Ouch! Ash don't grip my hand so tightly!" he heard Misty's angry tone from beside him.

"Sorry!" he yelped and immediately let go her hand and scanned their surroundings. The sea was bellowing loudly around them and cold spray of saltwater hit their faces every time the waves hit the rock.

"How did we ended up over here? Do you think it's because of Celebi?" May asked.

"I think this might have something to do with Celebi's time-travel abilities," Brock spoke, looking deep in thought.

"You mean Celebi sent us here?" Ash wondered, and then a fear that almost bordered on panic crept up inside him.

"Where's Gary?" he asked loudly, "He was right in front of us before we came here! I was running towards him. Where did he disappeared?"

"You don't think he fell into the ocean right?" May asked looking worried, "This rock is really very slippery."

"We need to send our water-Pokemon to search for him," Ash said, his hand already on Greninja's Pokeball. He was hoping against hope that Gary had landed in some different place and not fallen in the ocean. But if he had, then they needed to find him immediately.

"Greninja, I choose you!" he said and the Pokemon instantly came out of its ball in front of him. "I need you to find Gary. We think he might have fallen somewhere in the ocean."

Greninja quickly gave an affirmative nod and dove into the water in search of Gary.

"Misty, quick, use your water-Pokemon too, they would be able to help!" Ash spoke, the panicked tone still refusing to leave from his voice.

But Misty was staring at a scene right in front of them. Her eyes and mouth were wide open in shock. Ash turned to see what she was looking at and felt a chill run through him.

At some distance away from them several life-boats were floating in the water and rescue helicopters were circling the air. Even at this distance they could hear the screams and cries of people. Clearly, some ship had met with an accident.

Ash hated shipwrecks. They brought back bad memories.

"We should help them. But we need to find Gary too," he muttered feeling nervous.

"I'll go with my Pokemon to help them. You and Greninja continue searching for Gary," Misty told him.

"Gyarados, Staryu, Starmie, Corsola, Polytoed I choose you!" Misty yelled and threw the Pokeballs in the air.

She expertly climbed on Gyarados's back and told her team, "Looks like there has been a ship accident. We need to go and help them!" They immediately headed in the direction of the shipwreck.

"We will also go and help them. Wartortle go!" May shouted and released the blue turtle-like Pokemon from its Pokeball.

"Marshtomp go!"Brock cried out and released his water-type as well.

Ash saw May and Brock head out towards the shipwreck too. He knew the three of them would be able to handle the situation.

Greninja hadn't surfaced yet but Ash couldn't just patiently wait for him. If Gary had fallen in the ocean and was in danger then Ash wanted him out of water and safe as soon as possible. He looked at Pikachu standing beside him and told the little mouse, "I need to go and search for him, Pikachu."

"Pikapi!" the yellow Pokemon gave a startled cry but Ash had already made up his mind. He put his back-pack on the rock, removed his cap, shoes and jacket, then taking a deep breath he dove into the cold waters of the ocean.

Due to years of travelling Ash had became a moderately good swimmer but the waves were too strong and he found it difficult to swim against them. He moved his arms and kicked his legs but it was almost impossible to get away from the pull of the waves. He was being pulled closer and closer in the direction of the shipwreck and the numerous life-boats floating on the wide ocean.

Water splashed all around him and he found himself gulping in a mouth-full of salty water. As Ash struggled to remain afloat he accidentally over-heard a conversation from the nearest life-boat.


Gary:-

Gary had finally reached his grandfather's lab and was now standing in front of it. Not much had changed in all these years, except that he was quick to notice that the roof of the lab was purple in color. They had painted it red just a few weeks before Gary had departed for his journey. Another sign of being in the past.

He went ahead and cautiously knocked the door wondering who will open it, his younger version or his grandfather's past-self? So he was a little surprised when a young girl who had dark hair and dark eyes opened the door.

His sister had moved over to Johto almost immediately after he had started his journey and since then her visits had became less and less frequent. The last time he had seen her was almost an year ago. So much that he had forgotten that she used to live with them when he was a kid.

"Hello, are you here to meet Professor Oak?" May Oak asked eyeing his lab-coat suspiciously. Gary had remembered to put on his lab-coat before visiting his grandfather's lab as he felt it would help him in appearing more professional. He had also applied a ton of make-up on his face to make himself less recognizable. He now wore light-grey contacts, had bright pouty lips and had dyed his hair blond. He was also glad for the new hair-cut he had done while in Sinnoh, as it helped to distinguish him further from his past-self.

"Yes, I have always been a huge admirer of Professor Oak's work. And I had recently heard that he was in search of an assistant. So I thought of applying for the job," Gary replied his well-rehearsed story.

"And your name is?" she asked him.

"Harry Greenwood. I am a researcher from the Sinnoh region," Gary replied. He couldn't reveal his real name for obvious reasons.

"Alright Harry, come inside. I'll go and tell my grandfather," she said and went inside.

Gary knew his sister was used to people applying for the job of becoming his grandfather's assistant every few weeks. In fact, they had had a series of failure with assistants until the talented Tracey Sketchit had stepped in.

Gary still remembered how one of the assistants had accidentally set almost half of the lab on fire. Another was even more forgetful then Professor Oak. And a third one was suspended after he caused a huge explosion where the Voltorb and Electrode were kept.

Gary saw his sister go up the stairs to call his grandfather as he sat down on a chair in the living-room. He was a little surprised at the indifference he felt towards her. A part inside him was still angry at her for abandoning him after their parents' deaths. Although he hoped her behavior would be different if he managed to save his parents this time.

"Hello there, so your name is Harry Greenwood?" he heard a familiar voice spoke in a slightly more youthful tone.

Gary turned around and saw Professor Oak approaching him. He obediently stood up and smiled at the Professor in a respectful manner, something he had seen Tracey do a lot of times. Gary needed this job at any cost and he didn't mind using his natural charms for that.

"Yes that's me Professor Oak. I have heard a lot about you. I am a huge admirer of your work," he said in a polite voice.

"And you want to be my assistant?" the Professor enquired.

"Yes sir. I have always dreamed of becoming an assistant of the famous Professor Oak," Gary spoke in a smooth and silky voice.

"And do you have any prior experience of assisting any Professor?" Oak asked him.

"Yes, I have worked as an assistant for Professor Rowan from the Sinnoh region for the past three years. But I always thought that the subject of Pokemon and human relationships was more interesting than reviving fossilized Pokemon," Gary told him.

"Ah, I know Professor Rowan. Well, sit down Harry, we need to talk about this," Professor Oak said.

The next few minutes passed comfortably. Gary showed his list of achievements signed by Professor Rowan to Professor Oak, although he had been careful to change the dates. He had also found out that Professor Rowan had been busy digging for Pokemon fossils in a remote cave during this time, eight years ago, so that would make it difficult for Professor Oak to cross-check with him.

"You have revived an Aerodactyl and Shieldon!" the Professor exclaimed looking impressed, "And you have also researched on the relationship of humans with Pokemon revived from fossils. That would make it easy for you to learn things here."

Gary waited as the Professor went through his achievements, exclaiming every now and then. After that, the Professor asked him a few questions about Pokemon and Gary being the expert he was with any information related to Pokemon, answered them easily.

The Professor was looking really impressed now.

"Well Harry," Professor Oak said with a smile, "Looks like I have found a new assistant for myself."


Ash:-

Ash was struggling and gasping to remain above water when he heard the following conversation,

"I don't care Keaton. We need to dispose of these experiments as soon as possible," someone in a nearby life-boat spoke.

"But Professor Castor if we throw them in the ocean they would get drowned," a voice sounding unsure and frightened spoke.

Ash craned his neck and to his horror saw a man holding three unconscious Pokemon in his arms. He was surrounded by a bunch of people who were all wearing lab-coats.

"Listen Keaton, if we don't throw away these experiments then they might find out we were responsible for damaging the ship," a woman's angry voice sounded from the life-boat, "I think you should go ahead and destroy the evidence Professor," she said to the man holding the Pokemon.

Ash only got to glimpse that man's face for a few seconds but he would have to admit he had never seen so much cruelty on anyone's face before. The man hauled the Pokemon above him and threw them into the open sea. Their life-boat was a little away from other boats, so they had the advantage of going unnoticed in the mass chaos and panic that was happening due to the ship-wreck.

"No!" Ash yelled and swam as fast as he could to save the three Pokemon. But just then a huge wave came down on him, he started feeling suffocated by the force and pressure of water from all sides and everything went dark.

He felt someone slapping his face and shaking him. Ash slowly regained his consciousness and felt a hard, scaly surface beneath him. He opened his eyes and found a very concerned Misty staring down at him.

"Why is it that every time I have to save your sorry ass from drowning?" she whispered angrily , but it looked as if she had been crying just a few moments ago.

"I don't know," Ash whispered, his voice sounding hoarse, "Where are we?"

"On the back of my Gyarados. Me and others were helping the rescue operation. And you were supposed to remain on the rock, not try to play a hero on your own!" Misty almost shouted at him.

"Sorry," Ash mumbled and then he remembered what he had heard before drowning.

"Misty, we need to save them! The Pokemon are going to get drowned!" he yelled loudly.

"Which Pokemon Ash?" Misty asked sounding confused.

Ash sat up and taking long deep breaths, told her the whole story.

"Someone called Professor Castor was trying to drown Pokemon? That sounds horrible!" she gasped, "We need to talk to Officer Jenny, I had seen her over here only a few minutes ago."

Just then both of them saw a motor-boat rushing in their direction. Officer Jenny was at the controls while Brock and May were seated behind her.

The moment the boat came near Gyarados, Officer Jenny smiled and asked, "And you must be the friends of these two, right? I am glad that you all helped in the rescue operation. And thanks to the help of your water-Pokemon we managed to get everyone to safety and there were no deaths as far as I can tell right now."

However, Ash noticed that May and Brock had extremely worried expressions on their faces. He couldn't understand what was wrong with them.

"Officer Jenny, we need to tell you something," Misty spoke in a troubled voice and then looked at Ash. He recounted his story to Officer Jenny, Brock and May.

"That sounds terrible! Why would anyone do such a thing?" May said looking upset.

"Are you saying that Professor Castor drowned three Pokemon? He is a very renowned researcher boy, you need to think twice before pointing a finger at him," Officer Jenny reprimanded him.

"But that's what I saw! That person's name was Professor Castor," Ash argued stubbornly.

But at that moment a tall blue frog-like Pokemon burst out of the surface of the water carrying three unconscious Pokemon. Two Eevee and a Cleffa.

"See, those are the three Pokemon I was talking about!" Ash exclaimed.

"Are they alive?" Officer Jenny wondered with concern as Greninja deposited them on the boat. He then turned to face Ash and shook his head sadly.

Ash felt a sudden cold dread grow inside him the moment he met Greninja's eyes. Greninja had failed to find Gary. He could have drowned and be miles down in the ocean right now for all Ash knew.

"The Pokemon are alive!" Brock exclaimed with relief as he felt for the pulse of each Pokemon, "I have some medicines in my bag which would heal them."

"Thank goodness!" May exclaimed with relief but then she saw the look on Ash's face and asked in a sad voice, "Did you found out anything about Gary?"

"No," Ash said in a small voice.

"Who is Gary? We can search for him," Officer Jenny said.

But before Ash could tell her anything, Brock interrupted and said, "He is a friend of ours but we don't think he came here. We were travelling in that ship but we didn't saw Gary anywhere, right Misty," he asked her.

"Yes Brock," Misty immediately started as if she had received some sort of cue from Brock, "I don't think he was on the ship. Our water-Pokemon would've found him otherwise."

"Well, if you say so," Jenny said to them.

"But-" Ash tried to say something but was immediately interrupted by Brock.

"Officer Jenny, I might be able to heal these Pokemon but they still need to be taken to a Pokemon Center. Can you tell us where the closest Pokemon Center would be?" he asked.

"Well, we are in the ocean near Seafoam Islands. I can give you a map and a compass which will guide you till there," she told them.

Ash couldn't understand anything of what was happening. He saw Officer Jenny give a map and a compass to Misty. Brock picked up the two Eevees while May picked up the Cleffa and then they jumped onto Misty's Gyarados.

Ash was still in a daze until May said to him, "Ash, you need to get Pikachu from that rock."

"Oh right," he muttered and immediately asked Greninja to bring Pikachu as well as his back-pack, shoes and jacket from the rock.

The moment Greninja was back and Officer Jenny was out of sight Ash rounded on Brock and Misty.

"Why did you two lied to her? Gary could have drowned in the ocean and we are not doing anything about it!" Ash shouted angrily.

"I don't think Gary ever came to this place Ash," Misty told him, "Our water-Pokemon searched everywhere."

"And it's not just that, while we were rescuing the passengers we found this newspaper that some of them were reading. Have a look at it," Brock said and handed the paper to Ash.

Ash couldn't understand what was so special about the newspaper until May nudged him and said, "Look at the date."

Ash saw the date and felt his mouth open in surprise. He let out a loud gasp and stuttered, "Bu-but this can't be true! This must be an old newspaper."

"We asked the passengers and they did confirmed that this is today's newspaper. I think Celebi sent us to the past. That's why I wanted to get away from Officer Jenny as soon as possible because we shouldn't interfere too much with the past. It can have drastic consequences," Brock explained.

"I think Gary must have been sent somewhere else by Celebi," Misty spoke bracingly.

Ash sank down on Gyarados's hard back with the newspaper in his hands, his three friends staring with concern at him and Pikachu gently rubbing his cheek against Ash's knee.

They were eight years in the past. Ash had no idea whether Gary had survived or not. He had seen a guy trying to drown three unconscious Pokemon and he couldn't do anything to punish that person. He felt like this was the beginning of some nightmare.


Author Note:- Hope you liked it! :)