Quick Author Note: To Hoenn Master and anyone else who may have wondered this: The Alf that Ash signed at the end of Max's letter was not a typo. When Max and Ash first meet, Max tells Ash that he saw him on T.V. and then proceeds to incorrectly call him Alf. He also introduces him as Alf to his parents later on. Just thought I would clear that up. Now on to the story!
We all learn to make mistakes
And run from them
From them
With no direction
We'll run from them
From them
With no conviction
"Gary! Gary! He's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!"
"That's just disgusting," a girl named Ruby sneered. Her arms were folded across her chest and she was glaring daggers at the boy in the red convertible. "He doesn't even need all that stuff. His ego's big enough as it is!"
"I don't know," her friend replied as he stood next to the girl and watched. "The car would be really convenient. You wouldn't have to walk everywhere. Imagine all the food you could carry with you."
"Really?" she snapped, hitting him on the arm. "Only you would say that, Ash."
"Oww, Ruby," he whined, rubbing the spot where she had hit him.
"Just because his grandfather's a famous researcher, doesn't mean he has to go and act like he's the greatest thing that's hit Pallet," she ranted. "He's been acting like this for a week and it's driving me crazy."
"Well, like you said, we'll probably barely see each other after this. So, you won't have to worry about him."
"Yeah," she weakly replied, her anger draining a bit. It quickly came back in the from of determination. "Once I leave tomorrow, I never have to come back to this dumb town or see all these people again."
Ash internally flinched a bit, the brutality of her comment hitting close to home. As much as he was excited to go on a journey, he was sad that he would be leaving the friends he had known for so long. He would miss them, and he hoped to one day meet them again, but, Ruby had other plans.
"I don't think it's dumb," he casually replied, trying to mask the pain of her comment. "Why would you hate a place like this? There's so much room to run and just do whatever you want. You can't find that in a city."
"Yeah. Well, that's where you and I differ." Ash could tell that she wasn't really listening, instead focusing on watching Gary with all the cheerleaders. Suddenly, though, she grabbed Ash's arm and began to yank him down the hill. "I don't care who he thinks he is. This is our last night together and we're getting our friend back. Let's go, Ash!"
OOOO
In a small apartment, two friends watched as their friend ran around the room, grabbing various items. The woman in question wore a peach colored dress, a grey scarf, and jade-green rain boots, while her reddish brown hair was thrown up into a messy bun with a green, flowered clip.
"Ruby, this is crazy!" her friend, a woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes, yelled as Ruby continued to run around the room. "Elliot, tell her she's crazy."
Elliot just shrugged, knowing better than to get in the middle. He had been friends with Ruby for quite a while, so he knew better than to stop her when she was on a mission.
"I don't care, Maggie. I have to do this," Ruby replied, throwing a few clothes into a green backpack.
"Ruby, you know how many people live in Kanto?" her friend Maggie questioned her. "It's going to be impossible to find her. You don't even know what she looks like now!"
Ruby stood up for a second to face her friend before giving a little laugh. "Impossible never stopped me. You should know this by now, Mags. And I'll know her when I see her."
Maggie just rolled her eyes. If there was one thing about her friend that drove her nuts, it was Ruby's stubborn approach to every thing. "Yeah, neither could a speeding bullet train."
"Where are you going to start looking, Ruby?" Elliot asked, trying to distract the two women from arguing. Although the two were good friends, they differed in personality, often leading to them clashing.
"I'll figure that out later. Right now I just need to pack," Ruby replied. She wasn't one to plan ahead, often thinking and making it up as she went. She knew it often led her into problems, but that's how she was. She followed her instinct and relied on luck along the way.
"Ruby," her friend Maggie groaned in annoyance, "if you don't even know where to start looking, how are you going to find her?'
"Mother's instinct?" Ruby replied, much to the annoyance of her friend.
"You should try Pallet Town," Elliot suggested. "I'm guessing that's probably where she would have gotten her first Pokemon, so maybe they know where you could find her."
At this, Ruby visibly shuddered, dropping her bag onto the floor. Turning her back on her friends, she leaned down to pick the bag up. "No. I can't go there," she told them, as she tried to distract herself.
"But you may get a really good lead as to where she is," Elliot countered.
"Yeah! And isn't that where her dad grew up?" Maggie added.
"No," Ruby snapped back. "I'm not going there. I'll try somewhere else."
Elliot and Maggie just sighed, knowing there was no convincing her otherwise. To this day, they had never known why Ruby refused to go to Pallet. Other than the fact that Ruby was a very private person, she had never really told them much about her past. While Elliot didn't know anything about Ruby's past, Maggie had been told some information, leading her to at least have a guess as to why Ruby hated Pallet. Ruby had grown up in Pallet as a kid, but the minute she started her Pokemon journey, she left and never returned. After that, the only time she had ever mentioned the small, Kanto town again was when Ruby had mentioned that her Charlotte's father grew up in the town. Maggie assumed that's how Ruby had met him.
"Fine," Elliot sighed in defeat. "But we need to start somewhere. We have to have a plan before we leave."
"He's right, Ruby."
Ruby sighed, setting her bag onto the couch. Sitting down, she rested her head on the palm of her hand, her bangs falling in front of her eyes. "What do you suggest then, Elliot?"
"Well, I say we start in Viridian City," Maggie blurted out. "That's where you two used to live, so, someone's bound to have seen her or know where she is."
"But Maggie…" Ruby's voice wavered a little out of fear, "…what if he's still there? I can't face him again after what I did to them. I haven't talked to him in seven years."
"Ruby, you're not asking him to take you back. You just want to know where your daughter is. The past is the past, and you can't change what happened. You know you made a mistake, and you know what might happen because of what you chose many years ago. All you can do now is move forward."
"I don't know," Ruby sighed. "I just don't know."
"Ruby, I think we should wait," Elliot explained.
"What?" Ruby yelped, shooting her head up to look at her friend. "Are you crazy?"
"No," he calmly replied. "I just think that if we want to find Charlotte, it might be best for us to wait until the Pokemon League. If she's a trainer, she's bound to end up there. When that time comes, we can head over to Indigo Plateau and start asking around. It would narrow down our area of search."
"You guys can do that if you want, but I'm going now," Ruby declared, standing up once again. "I'll head to Viridian and start from there. If I can't find her by the time of the league, I'll meet you guys there."
"But Ruby! You haven't traveled in years," Maggie yelled, trying to find any reason to get her friend to stay. "And what about my contest? You said you'd come and watch."
"You'll be fine, Maggie," Ruby tried to assure her friend. "And you know me. I never stay in one place for very long. This is, after all, my third apartment in six months. I live out of my suitcase. I'll be fine."
"Ruby…"
Ruby just ignored them as she grabbed the Pokeballs sitting on the side table. Pushing past her friends, she made her way to the front door. Grabbing her keys out of the bowl on the table by the door, she threw them over to Elliot, who was thrown off guard.
"I'll keep you guys updated. In the meantime, I'll be back later. Lock up when you leave."
With that she walked out, shutting the door behind her.
"Do you think she'll find her?" Maggie asked.
"Who knows?" Elliot shrugged. "It's Ruby, though. She'll never give up until she finds Charlotte."
"That's what I was afraid of."
OOOO
It was around dinnertime when Ruby finally arrived in Viridian City. At this time, most of the people that lived there were inside for the night, or on their way home from work. As she walked through the crowd, she tried to figure out where the best place for her to start her search might be. She could head to the Pokemon Center and see if the Nurse Joy there had ever met Charlotte. Maybe she could even tell her where Charlotte's father lived, assuming he still resided here. She didn't make it to the center, however, instead coming across a training school that advertised classes for trainers to take before they left.
"If Charlotte is on her journey, then she had to have come here at some point," Ruby told her Leafeon that was tagging along side her. The Pokemon just nodded, letting out a big yawn.
According to the sign posted on the glass doors of the school, it was open for about ten more minutes. That would give Ruby just enough time to ask the owner about Charlotte, hopefully giving her and address she could then go check out. When she entered the main lobby of the school, it was practically empty with only a receptionist sitting at a desk in the far end of the room.
"May I help you?" the receptionist kindly asked Ruby.
"Can I speak to the owner, please?"
"Certainly. His office is just down the hall. Third door on the right," the woman explained, showing Ruby the way by pointing to the hallway to her right.
With a thank you, Ruby made her way down the hallway before stopping in front of a brown door. Lifting her hand and making a fist, she lightly knocked on the door and waited for the owner to come to the door. It wasn't very long before the owner told her to come it, but she still felt like it had been an eternity due to how she was feeling at the time. She really wanted to find Charlotte, but she was terrified of how the meeting would go, or even if she would find her. Due to her decisions in the past, she couldn't help but feel that there was a slim chance Charlotte's father would ever let her see her daughter. She understood he was only trying to protect her, but he was the kind of person who would jump through hoops to protect those close to him.
She twisted the knob and pushed the door open before walking in the room, her Leafeon tailing in behind her. Shutting the door, she waited patiently for the man to turn around and acknowledge her arrival. While she waited, she glanced around the room that seemed really empty compared to most offices she had seen. There were two plaques hanging in the far right corner that were for awards given for Pokemon Researching, while on the table to the right of her, there was a stack of videos and papers. What caught Ruby's eye, however, was a picture she spotted on the man's next, just to his left. It was one of only three pictures sitting on his desk, and in it, she spotted a younger version of herself squeezed between a boy with black hair, and a boy with brown hair.
"Gary?" she caught herself saying before she could take it back.
The man at his desk lifted up his head and spun around in his chair to face Ruby, his eyes widening in shock.
"Ruby?" He stood up from his chair and slowly walked over to greet her. Before Ruby could react, though, she felt herself being engulfed in a hug by Gary Oak of all people. Releasing his grip, he stepped back to get a good look at her. "I can't believe you're here. I thought I'd never see you again."
"Yeah…well, I'm here," she meekly replied. She really didn't' know how to react. There was no doubt she was shocked to see Gary, not having seen him in a while, but she wasn't so sure if she was as relieved to see him as he was to see her. "I can't say I was expecting you either…"
"What's wrong?" he asked her, his face reflecting a look of concern. It had been years since he had seen his childhood friend, but he was somehow still able to tell when something was bothering her. As he glanced over her face, trying to figure it out, his once concerned look quickly transformed into one of his famous smirks. "You're in trouble again, aren't you? And you need the help of Gary Oak, don't you?"
Was she that obvious? It was true that as a kid, Gary had always been there to fight off the boys or girls that would tease her, but that wasn't the reason she was here. Plus, after a while, she no longer needed him, building up a tolerance of her own against the kids who teased her. she stopped, But she technically wasn't in trouble...Or, at least, not yet.
"Well, yeah," she sighed in defeat.
"Well, you're just in time. I was just about to finish up painting one of the training rooms. If you help me out, I'll help you."
She folded her arms, annoyed that he wasn't going to give out the information as easily has she had hoped. Before she could say anything, though, Gary shoved a paintbrush and a smock in her hand. After that he grabbed the buckets of paint she had missed on the way in and exited the office. Once she was sure he was out of earshot, she stomped her foot and let out a yell of frustration. Almost twenty years later, and he still hadn't changed a bit.
OOOO
"So what brings you to Viridian?" Gary asked as he stared to apply a fresh coat of paint to one of the training rooms. "You were looking for me weren't you? Just couldn't bare the thought of going so long without my charm."
"Please," she snorted, dipping her paintbrush into the can of paint before angrily smacking it against the wall. "My life was so much better without your inflated ego everyday."
"Whatever you say Roo Roo," he smirked. Ruby paused paining for a second, taking in what he had just called her. When she did, her anger flared up again. She despised that nickname as a kid, threatening to beat up Gary and Ash whenever they called her that. She knew it was all part of their goal to annoy her, making sure to shout it as many times as they could, but that didn't mean she couldn't hate it. "You'd have no friends if it wasn't for Ashy boy and I."
"Some friends you guys were. Between you and him, I don't know who was more annoying. Probably you, though."
"Ouch, Roo Roo. That one stung. Just as temperamental as ever I see. Ashy boy always did have a soft spot for feisty red heads."
"What?" Ruby gasped, almost dropping her paintbrush. Does he know?
She suddenly felt herself start to panic a bit at the possibility that Gary might have known what happened between her and Ash. If he did, what would he say? How would she explain to him that she had fled years ago, and now, she was looking for the same girl she had ran away from. He would probably know where Ash lived, but would he give her the information after knowing what she did?
"Relax, Ruby. I was only kidding," Gary replied, rolling his eyes a bit. "Besides, you're more my type anyway."
She quickly turned her head to hide the small blush that was quickly appearing. She tried her best to give off a laugh, but it came out more like a nervous one.
The two continued to paint, the silence starting to become very bothersome to Gary. He hadn't seen Ruby since they were kids, so he wanted to start out on a good note by teasing her like he always did. Now, though, since she was here, he wanted to take the opportunity to finally ask her a question that had been left unanswered for five years.
"Ruby, why weren't you there?"
"Where?"
"Ash's funeral. Why didn't you come?"
The paintbrush fell from her hands, crashing to the floor, leaving a huge stain of paint where it landed. "Hi-his what?" she stuttered.
"His funeral? You know? The one five years ago?"
She could feel her legs start to wobble a bit as they slowly began to give up on her. Her breathing sped up, and she felt like she had air stuck in her throat. She wouldn't believe it. He was Ash: the boy who did the most daring things and laughed at danger. He talked non-stop about Pokemon, claiming he would catch them all and one day become a Pokemon Master. There was no way he could be gone.
For unknown reasons, Gary felt himself getting angry with her. He had wanted to ask her for years why she hadn't attended the funeral, and now with her here, he couldn't help but want to yell at her and tell her what he really thought about her actions in the past. It was as if, at this moment, everything she had done to tick him off had built up and was now boiling over. To make matters worse, she obviously had no idea what had happened.
"You were supposed to be there, Ruby! Every single one of his friends showed up, including people who barely knew him. They all showed up except you. You know why?" Out of fear, Ruby said nothing, instead just shaking her head. "It's because whenever life gets too stressful for you, you get selfish and you run away. Ms. Ketchum kept asking me if you were coming, but I had to tell her that I didn't know. She needed you Ruby. I needed you."
"I didn't know," she managed to squeak out. Nobody told me.
"If you cared about anybody in Pallet you would have known," he sneered. Gary's once blue eyes had turned a dark hue of blue, reflecting the anger he was feeling. "But Pallet and the people there weren't good enough for you. Or at least, we were only good enough when it was convenient to you. I remember you told us the day before our journey that once you left you were never coming back. I just didn't know that applied to your friend's funeral, Ruby."
"You could have looked me up in the phone book and found me that way!" she yelled back at him.
"I tried! But all I got was a message telling me the phone was disconnected. When I tried asking your parents, they told me they didn't even know where you were. When Ash needed you, you weren't there. He was always there for you, though. Always looking out for you when we were kids."
Before Ruby could retort back, Gary interrupted her, now on a roll.
"He has a kid, too. A daughter. Did you know that? Her name's Charlie. I met her when she was getting her first Pokemon. She now has to grow up without a dad, and my grandfather told me her mom isn't around and that I can't say anything to Delia about her yet. I know Ash has other friends, but you and I have known him the longest. Because of that, you and I need to step up and take care of her for Ash, but I know you. You won't do it because it'll become too stressful. So just run away now, Ruby. Get it over with before you get involved in her life. You let Ash down when he needed you. I won't let you let his daughter down, too."
It had been ages since she had seen Gary this mad before. The last time she had, they were kids and he and Ash were yelling at some boys for having picked on her. She had watched in fear, thanking the heavens that she wasn't one of those boys Gary and Ash had screamed at. Now, however, she was just like those boys. She was on the receiving end of the normally calm Gary, and it scared her.
She wanted to tell him that she knew about Ash's daughter if only to show she still cared. But by doing that, she would be treading into waters she didn't want to. For, by telling him she knew about Charlotte, she would have to tell him about how she had done exactly what he was mad at her for. At the same time, though, she knew she had to do something. Gary could lead her to Charlotte, and she could make it up to Ash and Charlotte for all the years she had let them down. But instead, just like normal, she resorted to expressing herself through anger.
"What makes you think you're the best one to take care of her? Why do you even care? You used to tease Ash to no end and make him feel like crap when we were kids," she retorted as she glared at him. "Are you going to ridicule his daughter, too?" Are you going to make her feel like she was never good enough just like you did to Ash?
"Unlike you, Ruby, I grew up," he snapped. "Before he died we became good friends, but since I did tease him ruthlessly as a kid, I'm going to make it up to him by helping his daughter."
"Ugh!" She screamed, balling her hands into fists as she slammed through air. "Why should I bother helping you? You never once cared about me!"
Gary blinked, shocked by what she had said. "Is that what you really think?" he questioned her. "That I never cared about you?"
"Think? I know," Ruby sneered. " We used to be best friends, Gary. You, Ash and I. But then you changed and Ash and I became your back up friends when your "real" friends wouldn't invite you to things. We were scum compared to your other friends and those stupid cheerleaders!"
"Ruby..." Gary pleaded, his anger having greatly decreased in intensity.
The tables had turned, though, and now Ruby was on a roll.
"We tried so hard to be good enough for you because you were the only one who even acknowledged our existence. No girl in Pallet wanted a bug lover for a best friend, and no boy wanted Ash as a friend, because they all knew he as ten times better than they were. That's why I left Pallet and vowed never to return. I tried to convince Ash to do the same thing, but he loved that dumb town too much. I was there for him when you pushed him away, and now that he's dead, I'm suddenly the bad guy and you're the superhero?" She stopped to recollect herself, her chest heaving from all the yelling. "Ash is gone, Gary. You don't need to replace him by suddenly acting like you care about everyone."
"Ruby, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to blame you," Gary tried to backtrack. He knew it wouldn't work, though. Despite the front she put up, Ruby was fragile inside, had little trust in people and never forgave them easily. It would take ages for him to get her to even consider believing him, let alone forgive him."I know you don't believe me, but I always cared about you and Ash. I was just never good at showing it."
"People never forget, Gary." Unknown to Gary, her words had a double meaning. While she was referring to the way Gary had treated her and Ash, she was also talking about her own treatment toward Ash and Charlotte. She knew she was a hypocrite for yelling at him about what he did to someone, but she didn't care. Like he had said, she was selfish and only cared about her own feelings. "Oh, and when you find Charlie, let me know how you explained to her why her father called you his friend when you treated him like crap for four years."
Before he could say anything else, she turned on her heel and sped walked to the door, making sure to slam it behind her. Gary watched her go, staring at the closed door long after she had left. Breaking out of his trance, he kicked the paint can, sending paint flying all over the place. After years of wondering where she was, she had appeared and all he had done was chase her away. She was right there, his mind screamed at him. Right there and you blew it! She was your only connection to Ash and now she's gone again. You told her to run away, and that's exactly what she did.
He would never admit it, but, despite what Ruby thought, he had always cared deeply for her. As a kid, he wanted her to think he was cool and tough, but in the end she had the better friendship with Ash. He really hadn't meant to yell at her like that. He was just frustrated and he wanted answers. He wanted to know why she wasn't at the funeral when he needed her. After they had departed on their journeys, his friendship with Ash had practically died, being replaced by friendships with people such as Brock, Misty, May and Dawn. So, at the funeral, when they all had each other and Ms. Ketchum had his grandfather, Gary wanted Ruby. She was proof that he was once friends with Ash and not just rivals and he needed her there. So, when she hadn't showed up, he had been angry, and when she had shown up in his office today, he once again felt those feelings all over again.
Sliding down against the wall, Gary held his head in his hands. And for what felt like the first time in ages, he needed Ash.
What do I do now , Ash?
Meanwhile, after reaching the center and getting herself a room, Ruby found herself curled up on the bed, trying her hardest not to cry. Ash had been gone for five years and nobody had told her. She had missed his funeral and now her daughter was without a mother or a father. With this new information, she began to ponder new questions. Questions such as, where had Charlotte been since Ash died? Did she know who her mother was? Had she been at the funeral? And most importantly to Ruby, was she okay? As she pondered these questions, the tears finally started to fall as she realized that all of this could have been prevented if she hadn't fled all those years ago. Because of this, she wondered if she was just better off calling quits on her search for Charlotte. Charlotte didn't know who she was, and just appearing in her life after being gone for seven years would not be beneficial to her in any way. But she wanted to know her daughter like she never got the chance to. She wanted a active life that revolved around a kid and not moving from apartment to apartment because she was bored. She could stay here and wait or come back in three or four months when Charlotte would probably be here.
It was times like these where, when she was a kid, she always seemed to find herself sitting in the tree house in Ash's backyard venting to Ash about her latest problem, while he sat and listened attentively. He wasn't here to give her the answers she needed, though. And if she was, he probably wouldn't give them to her anyway. So, while she sat on her bed letting the tears fall and wishing her friend was here to tell her what to do, she felt herself give a weak smile as she found comfort in the humor that she was staying in the Pokemon Center Ash had once destroyed. It had been one of the few stories he had told her about his travels, but oddly enough, it worked for now. And unlike the more sentimental questions one might ask the dead, she couldn't help but giggle at the question that popped into her head.
How's the food in heaven, Ashy boy?
*Crosses fingers this chapter wasn't a failure* I wanted to write a chapter-maybe eventually chapters-about Charlie's mother since some people were wondering who she was and if she would appear in the story. I hope this chapter worked out and that you enjoyed it. Fill free to let me know what you think. I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can. (It will be back to Charlie's journey.) Thanks for all the support! :)
P.S.: The satisfaction of getting it right to whoever can guess where the title of the chapter came from. (It is Pokemon Related. I promise.)
