So you're all probably thinking, "Why the heck is this update so late?" Well, FF hasn't been working for me. Whenever I tried to login, it wouldn't let me. Now it's working! Anyways, I wanna thank MidniteMelodie, TheBobWhoFrtd, Miyuku-chan, RANDOMNINJA2398, zflame393, Pablo and Bobboo, Clydell Humphries, and sparkingpikachu1994. By the way, sparkingpikachu1994, the reason my chapters are shorter is because that's just how I write. Sometimes they're long and sometimes they're short. I hope you all enjoy anyway!

LEAF'S POV

I felt a tear or two run down my cheek. "Thank you so much for finding this, Gary. I would've died if I'd lost it."

Gary peered over my shoulder. "Who's the man on the inside?"

I held in the tears as they threatened to burst. "It's my father. He died when I was five."

Gary had no idea about my father, but then again, no one did. "I'm really sorry about your father, Leaf."

I took my eyes off the ground to glance at his face. "I gotta go." The waterworks were coming and I didn't want to break down in tears in front of him.

"Are you sure? You can come back to the lab with me if you want."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry."

I turned around and ran as tears flew from my face faster than I could wipe them. When I reached my house, I slammed the door behind me and sped up the stairs. I ran into my room, shoved my face into a pillow, and cried my eyes out. I heard running up the stairs a minute later. There was a loud knock at my door.

"Leaf! Open up!" Gary said, his voice barely audible through the door.

"Go away."

"Leaf! I am not leaving until you let me in!"

"What do you want?"

"I wanna talk to you. Please let me in," he said, softer and quieter this time.

I sighed. "Fine."

He opened my door and walked in. He hopped onto my bed and sat across from me. My eyes were slightly red and puffy from crying.

"What happened back there? You never turn down a trip to the lab unless you're really busy or there's something wrong. What's wrong?"

I felt a big lump rise in my throat. "It's just...it's just..."

I burst into tears as horrible memories of that night flooded into my mind. I told him the entire story, from being woken up to crying myself to sleep. I felt a huge weight lift off my chest.

Gary placed his hands on my shoulders. "I'm so sorry about what happened to your father. I had no idea. If there's ever something wrong, you can tell me. I hope you know that."

I nodded. I had to admit, Gary was one of my best friends. I should've known I could've told him in the first place.

"Do you want to go to the lab now?"

"Sure," I said in almost a whisper. I wiped away the last of my tears and smiled. I got up and ran for the door.

"Where are you going?" Gary asked as he got off of my bed.

"I'm just gonna beat you on the way to the lab. Bye!" I said as I made my way down the stairs.

"Oh no you're not!" I heard as he came running behind me.

XXXXX

"So what's the professor working on now?"

"Not much actually. He's always watching different trainers, like Ash's, pokémon a lot, so he doesn't have a lot of time to do anything else."

I sighed. I fell in love with this lab the first time I saw it. It was so big and full of interesting stuff. I wondered if Gary would get the lab when he got older. Probably.

"Gary, do you want the lab when you grow up?"

"Yeah. I want to become a pokémon researcher just like my Gramps."

"Really? I thought your goal in life was to be an amazing pokémon trainer and beat Ash into a pulp."

He raised an eyebrow.

"What? That's exactly what you said as the three of us went on our journeys."

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, well, I think I'd rather be a researcher than a trainer. I'm still planning to beat Ash along the way, of course."

I laughed. I was finally able to get my mind off of my deceased father.

"So, watcha working on?" I asked as I rocked back and forth from my toes to my heels.

"Just some Unown project. It wouldn't interest you."

I rested my hands on the desk chair and my head right next to Gary's as I peered at the computer screen. He glanced at me and I swore I saw him blush, but I highly doubted it.

"You're right. That looks really boring to me, but if you want to waste time staring at pokémon, be my guest."

He rolled his eyes as I stepped back and he turned his chair around. "Why couldn't Misty or Trina watch you over the weekend?"

"Well, Misty's working on gym tests and hanging out with Ash a lot. Trina, well, I haven't seen since-"

"Wait, since when do Ash and Misty hang out together?"

I just stared at him. "They didn't tell you?"

He looked back at me, clearly confused. "They didn't tell me what?"

"Ash and Misty are a couple now. I can't believe Ash didn't tell you."

"When did this happen?"

I tried to contain my laughter. "It's been, what, about a week now? Yeah, about a week."

"I am going to kill him! Sure, I know he's dense, but really? He forgot something this important and he didn't even tell me?"

I took a step back. "Gary, calm down."

He slapped his hand on his forehead and ran it down his face.

I smirked. "Are you jealous of Ash?"

Not looking up from his computer, he answered, "Why would I be jealous of Ash?"

My smirk grew even wider. "Because Ash has a girlfriend and you don't."

He looked at me. "Yeah, I do!"

I folded my arms. "Really?"

A long silence followed.

"Crap. I don't have a girlfriend."

I started running around the lab singing, "Ash has a girlfriend, and Gary doesn't!"

"Oh, you are so in for it!"

He leapt up from his chair and started to chase me around the giant laboratory while I kept singing. I hid behind a support beam and peaked out from behind it, but I didn't see Gary anywhere. He grabbed me from behind as I screamed.

"Put me down! Put me down!" I turned my head as he looked at me.

"Don't yell, and say the magic word," he whispered, his face so close to mine I could feel his breath tickle the bridge of my nose.

I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and as Gary's eyes widened, I knew he heard it too.

"What's going on down there?"

I'll try to update more often from now on. Please review, and then I'll mention you in the next chapter!