Hey, guys, I'm not dead! (Okay, that came out weird...but you guys should realize I'm a weird person) In one review, I think a user told me I take a long time to update, so she thought I was dead. (Perfectly understandable by the way. I take almost a year to update -_-')

ANYWAY, I hope you guys enjoy this filler chapter of sorts, which also answers some questions, but mostly leaves more. (Hehehe) It's pretty short in comparison to the length of my others, but this'll motivate me to update on a more regular basis for you guys (7,000 words actually does take awhile...my procrastination and writer's block do not help at all). I wrote Leaf's POV before today, but I pretty much wrote everything else today just to get this chapter out of the way and introduce a character that's been bugging me for awhile.

I may or may not be distracted because of more ORS (or whatever you want to call it. I just ship it) story ideas, so you guys may or may not be expecting an into for that too.

Thanks to Spacebar, Cutiepiepo2, SadistHaru, and Viridian Cordelia De Green for reviewing the last chapter!

Warning: Characters and interactions may seem OOC. Endings may be choppy, and overall chapter content may be bland.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, or Serena would've been Leaf instead and Gary would be traveling with Ash to just give me the Pallet Town Trio. Or something.


My feet sounds loudly against the gravel, almost rivaling the drumming noise my heart makes. All around, the sky is gray and filled with angry storm clouds and the winds blow harshly against me, buffeting me.

I skid to a stop, causing a few pebbles to go flying.

"Eevee!" I cup my hands over my mouth, shouting as loud as I could over the driving force of the wind. Desperation taints my voice as I look for the eevee I had found and rescued a few days ago.

"Eevee!" I repeat, and I'm almost afraid my voice will eventually grow hoarse and give out. My eyes survey the water below me, below the cliff edge I stand less than ten feet away from.

The sea angrily churls and foams, almost like it's a rabid pokémon itself. Usually the water was calm and a beautiful blue-ish green combo almost like aquamarine. But today, amidst probably the biggest and most odd storm to ever hit Kanto- scratch that- the whole world, the ocean is deep, dark blue almost bordering black. Who knows what lurks beneath its depths?

I shudder. It's an awfully long way down. Attempting to distract myself from the not-so-pleasant thought, I began searching for Eevee more fervently.

"Eevee!" I raise my voice even louder, willing it to be heard.

She acted strange earlier. But then again, so did the rest of the pokémon. The Pokémon Center and many news reporters and officials announced that something about the storm was oddly affecting all pokémon and that to avoid this situation, we should recall all our pokémon back into their pokéball.

Just then, a sudden shriek fills the air, almost piercing my eardrums with its high pitch. I instinctively fold into myself, covering my ears from that terrible sound. I'm too distracted with piecing back my thoughts and ignoring that mind muddling sound that I don't run.


I wake up suddenly with a jolt, gasping for breath as I clutch my bed sheets like it's my lifeline. I try to steady my breath by making them deeper and longer, but even just thinking about my nightmare causes me to hyperventilate.

Before I can even really notice it, tears begin to drip onto my sheets, plopping down silently but quickly as I pull my knees up to my chest and rest my forehead against my knees.

To be honest, my nightmares had been taking a bit of a backseat to the small drama going on my life. I still had them, but not as frequent as its been lately, and never this vivid.

I shudder, glad I woke up before the nightmare could complete itself.

When I swing my legs over the side of my bed and cautiously put my toe to the cold wooden floor, I almost hiss in pain. My legs are like jelly, which at the same time, brings a sudden ache to my body that races from up my leg.

I clench my teeth, stubbornly pushing my weight onto my legs. Once I stand, the floor practically rushes toward me to greet me as the world around me spins. I quickly grab onto my nightstand to support myself and wait until the dizzying fades before walking. At first, I'm stumbling and staggering across the cold floor, but, by the time, my fingers wind around the cool brass door handle, the pain goes away.

My bedroom door creaks slightly as I pull it open a little to glimpse into the darkened hallway. The guest room Marina's in is just at the other end of the hall. I could walk up to there and knock, right?

Yeah, and wake her up at some random hour in the night? My inner self scoffs. You're so considerate.

She has a point. Best friend or not, I don't think bothering Marina about my nightmares qualifies me as a good friend. Besides, I've told her about them once before, and even though she was completely wonderful about it, I don't want to repeat. I had let myself lean on her entirely on that one occasion. If I told her that it's been recurring, she'd be worried about me.

With a sigh, I cross back to my nightstand, though my eyes land on my flute. My fingers gently brush across it before picking it up. I then head outside my room, tiptoeing quietly down the stairs and out the front door.


As I hold the last note of the trill I had been playing, a sudden slow clap fills the air. Startled, I slightly jump from the porch swing in my backyard.

My hazel eyes quickly find the source in the dark: Gary Oak.

"What're you doing up?" I ask curiously, though my cheeks burn at the thought that he heard me playing. Maybe I even woke him up. Argh, stupid me. I thought that by going outside, I wouldn't be disturbing anyone…but I forgot about Gary.

How could you possibly forget GARY? Inner me laughs at my stupidity.

"I could ask the same thing to the girl currently playing the flute at two in the morning," Gary replies dryly to me, only his waist up visible to me because of the white picket fence separating our houses.

I flush as I subconsciously look him up and down. He's wearing a white t-shirt that, through the light of the moon and my porch light, reveals the hard muscles underneath.

I clear my throat, reminding myself not to stare, "I couldn't sleep."

"I didn't wake you, did I?" I add, looking hopeful.

Gary's viridian eyes examine me before he shakes his head, "Nah, I was already up."

"Oh," is all I can say as relief hits me.

Gary looks like he's contemplating saying something else to me. For some reason, he's being vulnerable towards me. Well, I wouldn't say vulnerable exactly but…open? It makes him much easier to read in comparison to normal. People's inability to properly read him always seemed to be that subtle wall of defense of his, so him being open to me almost feels like he's being vulnerable. I can't help but wonder what brought this on.

Not that I'm complaining. This is the first conversation we've had in eight years that wasn't about schoolwork or forced by someone else. This is just us.

"Are you okay?" I voice my thoughts before I can stop them. It appears my body's against me at the hour, because, a small pause later, it also pats the cushion of the spot on the porch bench besides me, welcoming him to sit there.

"Why do you ask?" Gary says, suddenly seeming defensive. He doesn't move from his place at the fence, which I'm not sure is good or not. He doesn't come sit next to me at the porch (which I guess is all for the best because then he'd hear how fast my heart beats around him), but he could also easily walk away from the conversation at any moment, and yet, he doesn't.

A part of me wonders if maybe he's had a bad dream also. Or that he's even crankier at two in the morning.

"I just thought…" I say awkwardly, trailing off.

As I do so, I remember what Marina had last said about Gary. That he seemed pretty relaxed to her and that maybe- just maybe- the reason that he was is because Marina was relaxed towards him. She suggested that maybe he was hostile towards me because I gave off a hostile or unsociable aura. And even though I want to deny it, it would make a lot of sense.

I force myself to finish. Whether or not Gary would've prompted me to do so, I feel like I needed to. "…I thought you seemed a little…tired."

"Well, that's to be expected when a person wakes up in the middle of the night," Gary shrugs as he walks to the white gate and undoes the latch. It hasn't been used in such a long time, that I'm almost surprised it hasn't rusted over in the years.

With wide eyes, I watch Gary cross the distance between the gate and the backyard porch swing. He sits down next to me, and with the close proximity of his body, I can smell his usual evergreen scent. He smells like something fresh, clean. Almost like aftershave or an air freshener.

He's warm too. I can practically feel the heat radiating off of him in the cool night air, and I resist the sudden urge to get closer to him and snuggle against his arm.

"Not physically tired," I attempt to explain my words. To explain what I had meant concerning the slight wariness in Gary's eyes. "I meant…emotionally tired."

"Well, what about you?" Gary deflects the comment back to me, gesturing to my still slightly damp cheeks. "You seem the same way."

"I had a nightmare," I admit, scrunching my knees up to my chest. The fact that I confided this to Gary of all people bowls me over.

We fall into a silence after my admission, and I can't help but wonder what he's thinking. Does he think that I had a shallow nightmare? Like I was scared over something materialistic? I don't know what's going on in Gary's head, and never before have I wanted so badly to know.

"…do you want to talk about it?" Gary asks, looking at me cautiously.

He was probably expecting you to expand on your point after you told him Inner me chides.

She's been popping up a lot more lately. Maybe I should just call her "annoying" from now on so you know that it's her.

Hey, I resent that! Annoying says.

More like you represent it I think back.

Okay, maybe I should just stop here before you think I'm crazy.

"I-I'd rather not," I say, biting my lip. I add, "You might think it's…stupid. It's kinda embarrassing for me."

"I wouldn't know if it's stupid unless you tell me," Gary points out, though his eyes soften.

I still nervously twist my fingers together, lacing and unlacing them.

"Does it have to do with your flute?" Gary asks me. I notice how he subtly left the door open for a topic change.

"It kinda does. I usually play the flute after my nightmares to make those…ah, demons go away," I admit.

"So you have the same nightmare frequently?" I can just feel his viridian eyes looking at me so intently.

I look at him in slight shock, wondering how he got that from my words. I hadn't been that painfully obvious, had I?

"I guessed since I heard you play the morning of the presentation," Gary explains to me.

I nod my head, shocked that Gary had heard me play that morning. Did that mean…?

I flush as I think of all the times I went on a "Gary rant". Or even at the beginning of the summer when I was loudly denying having a crush on Gary. Did he…hear all of that too?

Note to self: don't say or do anything embarrassing or relating to Gary while in my room.

"I was wondering why I didn't hear you play guitar that morning," I say weakly, not thinking either.

And another note: don't talk to anybody- especially Gary- in the early morning hours because you'll just embarrass yourself.

I feel Gary stiffen besides me, "You know?"

"Of course," I attempt to laugh off my mistake. "If you can hear me, I can hear you."

"Your Gardevoir's Memoire beautiful," I ramble, my ears burning red as I continue. "It's my favorite piece that you play."

Why couldn't my mouth shut up?!

I look away from my next-door-neighbor abashedly.

"So you've been listening to me every morning for the past week or so?" Gary sounds amused, though there is an underlying tone of shock.

"I didn't tell anyone," I mumble into my knees, avoiding looking at him, "if that's what you're worried about."

"Huh," Gary says, "well a sort-of secret for a sort-of secret, I guess."

I'm starting to think that Gary's more of a night person. I mean, he has Umbreon, which only evolves from an eevee when given friendship at night. Knowing Gary, he was probably up at night thinking of pokémon battle strategies at the time. Not to mention, he's being really….nice right now.

I hold my hand out to him, looking at him sideways. Gary merely looks at my hands for a moment before doing his part of the secret handshake we used to have whenever we would seal a deal or promise.

"You remember," he says quietly, sounding awed. He's had that tone for a lot of this conversation.

"I could say the same," I repeat his earlier words, my hazel eyes slowly sliding up from our hands and his arm to his own viridian eyes. And no matter how intense locking eyes with him is, I force myself to continue looking.

But my nervousness must show or something, because Gary's intense look softens.

"So," Gary says softly, his solemn face not matching his now teasing and amused tone, "you don't like volleyball nets."

What?! What's that supposed to mean?! I mean, it's true, but what is with the abrupt and random topic change? I almost want to smack Gary, because, seriously, we were. having. a. moment.

…oh wait….Marina didn't…

She did Annoying says and stop calling me that!

"Marina told you, didn't she?" I groan, putting my face to my hands as I finally pull my hand away from his.

I thought she said the stories weren't bad! Annoying yells in indignation.

A smirk develops in the place of his lips, "Among other things, yeah."

How mortifying! Marina probably told him all the embarrassing stories about myself!

"How much did she say?" I ask, my head still in my hands and a part of me not wanting to know.

"Just enough that's equal to the stories I told her," Gary tells me, clearly amused.

"…what did you tell her exactly?" I finally let myself peek out from behind my fingers.

"The Stunky incident was one of them," he says nonchalantly.

I moan, "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Depends," Gary softly flicks me in the center of my forehead, "are you going to do something more embarrassing for me and Marina to tease you about instead?"


"…..L….f"

I turn over, hugging my pillow tighter as I bury my face more into it. The pillow helps me to drown out the sound and light beginning to stream into the room.

"..Le..f!"

"Later," I yawn, figuring I could probably use an hour or two more for sleep.

Something soft whacks me in the head, but I easily ignore it and attempt to return my rather nice dream. Gary and I made up and we even had a really nice conversation. Too bad it isn't real.

With a sharp tug, the person rips my blanket from me. Because I was practically wrapped in that soft, fuzzy blanket, I go rolling off the side of my bed and onto the floor.

The sudden jolt and cold feeling of the wooden floor against my face causes me to jolt and push myself upright so that I'm kneeling, "I'm up!"

"It's about time!" Marina huffs, already dressed. "I said your name, like, fifteen times!"

"Geez, Mari," I yawn, "No need to get so worked up. What time is it?"

"It's almost noon!" Marina says, looking at her Pokéwatch.

"In Sevii time or Pallet Town time?" I cast her a skeptical look, doubting that Marina had remembered to change it. It would explain why she would be able to wake up so early.

"…Sevii time," Marina admits sheepishly.

"Then it's only almost eight," I stretch my arms, still yawning. "There's still time for breakfast."

"Well, whatever," Marina pouts, "The point is, Misty texted me earlier and said that we're all eating at Gary's house."

"I'll pass," I mentally wince, remembering how false my beautiful dream had been from reality.

"No," Marina says sternly, putting her hands on her hips, "You're going to this breakfast at Gary's house whether you like it or not."

"Fine," I groan in defeat, too tired in the morning to bother arguing with Marina.

"Yay," Marina claps her hands together enthusiastically as she begins to walk out of my room, "Make sure to wear something cute and eye-grabbing for Gary!"

"No!" I yell defiantly back through the door, shutting it after her.

But I still begin to eye the clothes in my closet, considering what would make me look really cute.


Gary

I am not a morning person. If that's not a sentence comprehensible enough for you, then you'll be surprised by my attitude in the morning.

"Could you chew any louder, Ashy Boy?" I ask in annoyance, pinching the bridge of my nose as I'm subject to listening to the sounds of Ash's teeth mashing against his breakfast.

"I think so," Ash swallows his waffles loudly before shoveling in some more. "Schee?" he points to his mouth as his jaw opens and closes in a loud and drawn-out manner.

I roll my eyes, "I was being sarcastic, Ashy Boy."

"Geez, Gary," Ash shovels in more waffles into his mouth. "No need to be so grumpy."

I'm not grumpy per se. Just a bit anxious. I merely poke at my own waffles until I hear a knock at the front door.

My older sister's voice rings out, "Gary, I'm a little busy. Can you get that, little bro?"

I stand up reluctantly and go to open the front door, expecting Misty.

Instead, it's Marina, Leaf's friend from Sevii Island.

"Goooood mornin'!" Marina states cheerfully, waving her hand at me energetically.

"Did Misty invite you and Leaf?" I sigh, folding my arms.

Leave it to Misty to constantly invite the two.

"Yep!" Marina nods, "but Leaf was taking too long to wake up, so I left without her."

It's probably from this morning. She woke up pretty early.

"Well," I begin to turn from her, gesturing to the direction of the dining room. "food's that way."

"Wait!" Marina grabs my hand, pulling me towards her, "I, um…have a question for you."

I raise an eyebrow, "You can ask me the question on the way there. Or while we're eating."

"Nononono," Marina shakes her head rapidly, "I, uh, want to ask you this in private."

"Ooookay?" I jam my hands into the pockets of my jeans while I wait for her question.

"Do you think leaving your patio door unlocked is a good idea?" The blue-haired Sevii girl asks me, a suddenly sly smile spreading across her face.

"Wha-?" I start, confused at where her random question came from.

Before I can finish, someone jumps on me from behind, their legs locking around my midsection and their arms around their neck. Like an embrace from behind in a way.

I nearly stumble forward into Marina at the sudden weight on my back.

"The answer is no!" the person says, a hint of glee and amusement to her voice.

"Is there any reason why you wanted to break into my house?" I ask, not bothering to turn my head to see who it is.

"You invited me," Leaf reminds me, laughing. She rubs her hands into my spiked hair, attempting to ruffle it up.

She's incredibly life-like this morning. It's almost as if the meek Leaf from earlier didn't exist.

This…this is what my Leaf was like…before everything changed.

"Which would make walking through the front door like a normal person an option," I say in dead pan, walking towards the kitchen.

"Hey!" Leaf protests, "Wait! Let me down!"

"You hopped up there, obnoxious girl. Deal with the consequences."

I let her down before we reach the dining room anyway. The last thing I needed was for Daisy to see and then think that I was with Leaf or something.

Leaf flushes as she releases her arms from around my neck. It's like the moment she got off of my back, she's back to being quiet again. Weird.

She also shyly pulls down her skirt further down her legs, attempting to cover up more of her skin and ensure her skirt hadn't ridden up when she hopped onto me. I eye her long legs for a moment before the heat in my ears causes me to look away.

Marina, who had been cheerfully following us, puts both of her hands on our shoulders, "Nothing like a tiny prank to break the ice!"

I raise my eyebrow at Leaf, who merely flushes even more and looks away.

"How did you even know the back door's unlocked anyway?" I ask Leaf.

"You always left it unlocked when we were children," Leaf shrugs, "I was just lucky it's still the case now."

I consider protesting this and saying that I only left it unlocked during the day while I was at home, but then I think better of it.

"And this was Marina's idea," she adds, twiddling with her thumbs a little, "I didn't…I don't want to come across as weird."

She throws a small glare at her friend, who merely smiles brightly in response.

"It was actually all Leaf's idea," Marina jerks her thumb to the brunette. "I just gave her some…encouragement."

Leaf splutters in response. "Wha-! No, I-"

I merely put my elbow on top of her head, knocking off her white fedora in the process and letting my own skin rest against her soft, warm hair for a moment. Then my hand musses it up, ruffling her hair as she had done to me. "There. Now we're even."

Leaf, after retrieving her hat from the ground and placing back atop her head, merely smiles at me.


Misty

"Nonononono," I say frantically, putting my hands against the front desk loudly. I could care less if I was causing a scene. "Please tell me you have one room that hasn't been booked yet."

"I'm sorry, Misty," Nurse Joy shakes her head at me sympathetically. "But the Prestige Competition is bringing in a lot of coordinators and spectators alike to Pallet Town. I'm afraid we're full."

"But what about the room I've been staying in for the past two weeks or so?" I plead.

"That room was only free then because it wasn't during the time of the Prestige Contest," Nurse Joy explains. She reaches for the pamphlets by her computer. "But I encourage you to check out the hotels in Pallet Town before they're all booked up too."

"Okay," I sigh, taking the paper booklet from her and turning away from the desk resignedly. A dark-blue haired girl eagerly takes my spot after me.

School for PTSA is now over, but Ash has had yet to invite me to travel with him on his pokémon journey like I originally intended. I'm also really having fun in Pallet Town, and I certainly don't want to go back to Cerulean yet.

I feel my pokégear vibrate in my bag. I have a cellphone, though, so I wonder why this person isn't calling me from that instead. I get my answer when my sisters appear on the pokégear.

"Hey, little sis!" Daisy cheerfully greets me from the screen.

"Okay, how could you guys possibly have given away all the gym badges?!" I burst out in annoyance. I know that they would only call me if there was a problem with the gym. "The pokémon training season hasn't even officially started!"

"Like, chill, Misty," Lily rolls her eyes, "We haven't done that…yet."

"We just wanted to check in on our little sis," Violet says a little too innocently. "We were just wondering if you've managed to get together with your boyfriend."

"Ash isn't my boyfriend," I respond through gritted teeth. "Anyway, how's Cerulean Gym?"

I hear a gasp in the background, but I ignore it.

"Remember what I told you about Egypt, Mist," Lily winks at me conspiratorially.

"The gym is fine," Daisy tells me with a calm smile, "but we were just wondering how you were. And, ya know, when you're coming back."

"Ash and the rest of Pallet Town recently got out of school," I tell her, "so it'll be awhile, okay? I told you I was going to travel with him this summer."

I manage to extract a promise from all three of them to stop giving away badges and hang up with as little irritation as I possibly can.

"Excuse me," I feel a person tap onto my shoulder.

I turn around, forcing a polite smile onto my face. I'm late for breakfast at Gary's house already.

"Yes?" I ask, finding myself face to face with a girl younger than me. I remember her as the girl who had been in line after me.

Her dark blue eyes shine, "Oh my gosh, you are her!"

"I'm who?" my smile is wiped from my face, replaced by an expression of confusion.

"You're-!" The girl then does my victory pose, closing one eye in a wink and flashing me a peace sign. She then drops the pose, looking at me excitedly. "You're Ash's friend from Cerulean, the one who gave him that lure!"

"That'd be me," I answer slowly, still confused. And a little worried as to how this girl knows.

She reaches her hand out, showing me the high-tech looking watch on her wrist in the process. "Then we're both friends of Ash ."

I take her hand, giving it a firm shake, "I'm Misty Waterflower, the gymleader of Cerulean."

"Let me guess," I say as I pull my hand away. "You're here for the Prestige Contest?"

"Yup!" She nods her head, her dark blue eyes shining brightly. "I'm Dawn Berlitz."


Originally this was going to be longer, but I REALLY wanted to update today. I actually wrote the majority of this chapter in one day, merely because I finally got past writer's block and summoned the will to get past this filler chapter.

In case you totally missed the last part, Dawn's arrived in MN! (Geez, it's about time I brought in more characters). Alright, a couple things: first, sorry that Ash is barely in here. Misty too to a certain extent. Second, yeah, I know this chapter is pretty short in comparison to my other long chapters, but I really wanted to update, and I wouldn't have the longer chapter done soon enough. Third, are you guys happy now? I gave you guys some Leaf/Gary interaction that actually didn't blow up into a fight (usually it's passive-aggressive).

And you know this is coming, but, guys, I STILL suck at endings. Maybe not the ending to Misty's but I personally found my endings for Leaf and Gary to be very choppy. I'll be working on that, I promise.

Please give me your comments, opinions, and suggestions!