Sorry it took me a while to update. I had to write to long chapters this time so I didn't leave you hanging...well, not SO much. Anyways, thanks for the billionth time for all the support you've given this story. Charlie's finally going home, so you'll get to meet the family she lives with and one of her friends. (Hooray!) I hope you enjoy the next two chapters.


But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand.

Standing in front of Gary's desk, Ruby gingerly held a wooden frame in her hands. As she examined the picture, she had a longing to be back in the time it had taken place. In the picture she was squished between her two best friends, a symbol of her childhood. No matter what she might have told them or said to them, she could never imagine her life without them, loving them for who they were and what they had done for her. Unfortunately, she found out exactly what it was like to live without them when she had left on her journey. And when one of them had come back, she was never happier. Then fate had taken that friend away, but at the same time, had led her to the other one. Still, in the end, things would never be the same.

"Ruby?" Tearing her eyes away from the picture, Ruby looked up to see Gary staring back at her as he leaned against the doorway. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," she lied, placing the picture in its original place on the desk.

Sighing, Gary pushed himself off the doorway and walked over to her. Ever since he had managed to get her to stay in Viridian for a while, she had remained distant as if she was hiding something from him. While she was still her bossy and independent self, Gary could tell there was an important part of her that was missing. He knew part of it had to do with the fact she had only recently found out that Ash had passed away, but even that had a greater impact on her than Gary had anticipated.

"I want to show you something," Gary suddenly announced, extending his hand for her to grab. She was a bit hesitant at first, unsure of what it was he wanted to show her, but in the end she gave in. Pulling her along, Gary threw her one of his infamous smirks. "It won't be scary, I promise."

Shutting the door behind him, Gary led Ruby down the hallway and to a door he hadn't dare open in years. When he had first inherited the training school, he had gone in there when he was checking the place out. After discovering exactly what was in it, however, he never went in again. Now that Ruby had come back in his life, he was confident that he could face his fear so long as she was by his side.

"It's a door. Very exciting," Ruby stated, sarcasm in her voice. "I can tell this is going to be great."

"It's not just a door," Gary informed her. "This is Ash's old office when he ran this place. I've only been in here once, briefly, when I inherited the place from him."

"This used to be his?" Ruby asked, very shocked. When she had lived in Viridian with Ash, he had never worked at the training school, let alone owned it. In fact, it hadn't even existed. Instead, he had worked at the Viridian City Gym as an assistant. "I never even knew this place existed."

"Not very many people did. I had heard about it before through some friends who lived here, but I never knew that he was the one who actually ran it." Ruby nodded, but she was clearly lost in her own world. "So? Ready to go inside?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I guess," she shrugged. She didn't think she'd ever actually be ready to face the memories she knew were waiting for her in the room. The best she could hope for was that there wasn't much stuff inside to begin with.

Taking a deep breath more for himself, Gary grasped the doorknob and twisted it, pushing open the big wooden door. Flickering on the light, he was struck by the condition of the room and all the things inside that suddenly had connections to things he never knew.

Although the room wasn't a giant mess, Gary couldn't help but notice the collection of kid drawings on the far end of the room. When he had first saw them he had thought them to be pictures drawn by the kids who came to the training school. Upon closer inspection, he discovered them all to be drawn by the same person. Either on a corner on the bottom or somewhere on the top was "Charlie" written in kid like handwriting with an assortment of crayons. In the specific picture he was looking at, Charlie had drawn two stick figures-one with black hair and a smaller one with red-that were standing in front of a big house with smiles on their face. On the head of the black haired stick figure was a yellow blob with red checks, brown stripes, and a lightening bolt shaped tail.

"It's a Pikachu," Ruby observed, popping her head above Gary's shoulder so she could see.

"Yeah," Gary confirmed with a nod. "Pikachu was Ash's first Pokemon. Those two were inseparable."

Until now, Ruby thought to herself. Backing away, she wandered a bit more around the office, observing the various items it contained. On the back wall was a desk with a computer and a tiny collection of picture frames. Picking one at random, Ruby flipped it around and took a closer look. Despite the fact that the red-haired girl in the photo looked vaguely familiar, as her eyes scanned over the photo, she found herself unable to identify anyone in the picture except Ash.

"Gary," she called to her friend. When he turned around, she flipped the frame so that it was facing him, "who are these people?"

Striding over to her, Gary quickly glanced over the photo. "That's Misty and Brock. They were Ash's first traveling companions. The three of them traveled through Kanto and Johto together before they had to part ways."

"Oh."

Now she remembered. Misty had been the girl Ruby remembered being the reason Ash's so abruptly hung up the phone when she called to tell him the news about Charlotte. She had come to check on him when he hadn't followed the rest of them to bed.

"This is May and Max," Gary's voice burst through the silence as he pointed out two figures in another frame. After setting the other one back down, he had turned them all around so he could see them. "They traveled with Ash through Hoenn and when he took on the Battle Frontier."

Setting it back down before Ruby could say anything, he picked up another one.

"And this is Dawn," he once again explained. "Her, Ash and Brock traveled through Sinnoh together."

Dawn. Ruby had seen the blue haired girl many times before when she had gone to watch Maggie's contests. In fact, if she had remembered correctly, she had even beaten the girl in a doubles contest with Maggie. While Ruby had always thought the girl to be a bit peppy yet fairly nice, her friend Maggie had never been fond of Dawn, having been beaten by her many times.

"He went a lot of places," Ruby commented, not fully aware of the extent of Ash's travels. For reasons unknown to her, whenever she would ask him about his travels since he started his journey, he never wanted to talk about them. "I only went to Kanto and Johto before I stopped."

"Yeah he did," Gary replied, not really listening, as he was more focused on deciphering who was in the photos. "This is Iris and Cilan. I think they traveled with him when he went to Unova," Gary muttered, pointing to a picture of Ash with a green-haired man and a younger girl with curly hair.

"He went to Unova?" Ruby inquired, shocked to hear he had traveled that far.

Gary, of course, wasn't listening.

"Oh look!" he cried, picking up a much larger frame. "This must be Charlie."

Flicking her eyes over to the photo he was holding, Ruby felt a tiny pain in her heart as she observed the joyful smile on Charlie's face as she sat on Ash's shoulders with the hat he always wore sitting on her head, much to big for her tiny head. Even Ash looked happy as his matching brown eyes gazed into hers, adorned with one of his lopsided smiles.

"They look so happy," she muttered to herself. If this picture proved anything, it was that they were happy without her and that they never actually needed her to be happy together. "What was I even thinking? This is a mistake. I never should have come here…"

She felt a patch of heat on her shoulder as Gary rested his hand there. "That's not true, Rubes," he tried to comfort her. Gripping her shoulder a bit tighter, he pulled her closer to him. "She'll love you, Ruby. I know it. You just got to give it a chance."

"You don't know that, Gary." Pushing herself away from him, she slipped away under his arm.

While Charlie might learn to love Ruby initially, things would change when Charlie found out who Ruby really was.

"Well you're wrong," he stated, making it obvious he would hear nothing else. Setting the frame back on the desk, he grabbed Ruby's hand and started pulling her back toward the door. "Now let's get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps."

No matter how hard she tried, her frown slowly crept its way into a smile upon hearing what Gary had said.

"Is Gary Oak scared?" Ruby teased, a tiny smile on her face.

"No."

"Hear that Ashy Boy?" Ruby called into the office despite the fact there was nobody else in there. "Gary Oak is actually scared; and of you of all people. Imagine that."

"She lies, Ash," Gary yelled back into the empty room. "Just like always. In fact, remember that time your brand new bike somehow ended up in the lake? Yeah? Well, that was Ruby's fault."

"Gary!" Ruby gasped, lightly whacking him on the arm. Until now, Ruby had never told Ash the truth about what happened to his bike, instead being able to convince him for years that his bike had gotten carried away by a rogue pack of Diglett and Dugtrio. As Gary just laughed at her, she folded her arms, grumbling and pouting like a little kid. "I needed a bike to run to the market, but mine was trapped and yours was right there. It's not my fault that Rattata ran across the road."

To someone looking on, the two would come across as going crazy. But as they stood outside the door bantering back and forth, both couldn't deny the fact they felt like they had traveled back to the times in Pallet.

"You hear that, Ashy Boy? She's a bike wrecker just like you," Gary snickered. As he turned to see Rudy's face looking ticked off and flustered, he felt himself smiling. He had always loved teasing her and making her mad. Plus, she was pretty cute when she was mad. Laughing some more, he just shook his head. "Many bikes could have been saved if she had just told the truth."

"Oh yeah?" Ruby countered, her tone of voice challenging. "Who put a firecracker in the Pidgey bird house and then framed you? Wasn't me."

"He he he. I remember that," Gary laughed sheepishly. While his grandfather had run inside to get something, he had stuck the firecracker in the birdhouse and then acted like he was playing with the Caterpie. "I kind of feel bad about it now. He got into a lot of trouble."

"I know. He was grounded for like two weeks and Ms. Ketchum made him write an apology letter and help the Professor build a new one."

"You want to go get some hot chocolate? My treat." Gary asked out of the blue. He didn't want to stand here any longer than he had to. "It'll be much more exiting than hanging out in a dead guy's office. I swear."

"If you're buying, then sure."

"Good," he smiled, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek. "Then it's a date."

OOOO

"We made it Pikachu!" Charlie cried as she halted in front of a tiny house. "We're finally home."

The house that Charlie and Pikachu stood in front of was a yellowish house with a big front porch and patches of soil where flowers had once been. Where Charlie and Pikachu were standing was a gate attached to a brown fence that ran around the perimeter of the house. Running up the path, Charlie beamed in excitement when she spotted her mother's Skitty scratching at the window, having recognized Charlie.

"That's Nigel," Charlie explained to Pikachu, pointing at the pink kitten. "I should warn you that he likes to chase things, so, watch out."

"Pika," Pikachu groaned, drooping his head a bit. Skittys were just one of the several Pokemon he did not like very much. They were always too hyper for him, and they always chased his tail.

After having warned Pikachu about Nigel, Charlie knocked on the door and proceeded to wait. When she heard footsteps from the other side, her excitement became almost uncontainable. She truly was happy to see her family after so long.

When the door opened, it revealed a woman with brown hair and dark blue eyes. A rather petite woman, she wore a purple long leave shirt and jeans. When she saw Charlie standing in front of the door, she ran forward and embraced her in a hug.

"Charlie! You're home," she cried, crushing her in a tight hug. As quickly as she had hugged Charlie, she released her and turned back toward the open door. "Daniel, come quick! Charlie's home!"

After yelling to her husband, the woman named Christina turned back to Charlie and just smiled. She was beyond excited to see her daughter after almost a year, and was slightly surprised at how much she had changed in that amount of time. Her hair was much longer, her skin slightly tanner from days spent walking in the sun, and she now had a Pikachu sitting atop her head that had not been there when she left.

Flicking her eyes away from Charlie, her blue yes met Pikachu's big black ones as they stared at each other. Since Pikachu hadn't been with Charlie since Ash's death, he had never gotten the chance to meet the people she now called her parents. Despite not having met them, though, he instantly recognized the woman from years past. And from the look on the woman's face as she stared back at Pikachu, he could tell that she was starting to recognize him, too.

"Is that your dad's Pikachu?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Charlie asked, surprised her mother had quickly picked up on this fact. Before now, nobody had known who he was except Max.

"I'd recognize this Pikachu anywhere," she smiled back at her daughter. "Do you still like ketchup, Pikachu?"

Before Pikachu could respond with a cry of glee, a man with light brown hair and hazel eyes emerged from the doorway. He was much taller than his wife, gaining a good foot over her and he wore a button down shirt and jeans.

"Hey there, Charlie," he greeted her with a little less enthusiasm than his wife. That didn't' mean he hadn't missed her. As he stepped forward to give her a gentler hug, he ruffled her hair in loving and fatherly way. "How'd your journey go, kiddo? Did you solve all the riddles?"

Before Charlie had left on her journey, he and his wife had given her the box they had kept for years. They didn't know what was in the box and had only been given instructions to give it to her when she turned ten. After opening the box, Charlie had explained to them that it was from her dad and that it was filled with letters and clues she was supposed to use to find people along her journey. Daniel remembered her telling them that there weren't any actual names given, only nicknames and little descriptions about the people. He imagined this would make it much harder for Charlie to find the people she needed to, but she had assured him that she would be able to find them.

"I have two more envelopes left, including the one for the person I'm supposed to find here in Viridian" she informed them. "So three left. I don't know if they are all letters, though. I really haven't looked ahead."

"That's wonderful, dear," her mom praised her, brushing her hand down Charlie's hair. "How about we go inside and I'll fix you some lunch. You can tell us all about your journey then. Sound good?"

"Yeah. I'm starving."

OOOO

"Is anyone else back yet?" Charlie asked after finishing telling her parents about her journey through Kanto and all the different people she had met along the way.

"Grayson got back the other day," her mother informed her. Giving a small laugh, she went on to tell Charlie that, "I ran into this mother the other day and she said that he was already bored."

At this Charlie couldn't help but laugh as well. It was no secret that her friend Grayson had the attention span of a Rattata. Whenever they would do something together, if it wasn't appealing to him, he would lose interest within minutes of starting the activity. He had to constantly be active, switching from activity to activity.

"Maybe I should go visit him after this," she suggested.

"I think that's a lovely idea," her mother replied. "Your father has to work tonight and I have to run to the grocery, so it's going to be rather quiet."

"Alright. I'll do that then."

After finishing up her lunch and helping clean up the dishes, Charlie was ready to go visit her friend Grayson. When she had asked Pikachu if he wanted to come along, he had refused to move, instead wanting to take a long nap after traveling. So, after cleaning up and changing her clothes, Charlie headed out to go visit her friend. Once outside, she ran past her house and down the street before turning the corner onto another one. Out of all her friends, Grayson had always lived the furthest away. Thankfully, despite his house being far away from the others, the neighborhoods in Viridian were close together so it wasn't unbearable.

Upon reaching Grayson's house, she felt the same excitement she had experienced when she had reached her own house. They had grown up together as kids, and had even planned on traveling together once they started their journeys. But upon receiving the package of her dad's letters, Charlie had insisted she travel by herself. It hadn't been because she didn't trust Grayson or that she was afraid of him finding out; he had always known about her dad's death. It was just that, as her friend Harmony had described, "she was too stubborn and proud, insisting she do everything on her own." Looking back, she somewhat regretted the decision, as she had felt lonely several times, enjoying her journey more when she spent time with one her dad's friends.

Knocking on the door, Charlie stepped back and waited for someone to answer. Hearing footsteps approach the door, she felt her heart race a bit in nervousness.

"Charlie!" Mrs. Stewart, Grayson's mom, greeted Charlie with a big smile. "It's so good to see you. How are you dear?"

"I'm doing well, Mrs. Stewart. I came home so I could fight the Viridian City Gym leader for my last badge," Charlie kindly informed her. "My mom told me Grayson's been pretty bored, so, I decided to stop by and visit."

"Of course! He'll be so excited to see you," Mrs. Stewart replied. Moving aside, she let Charlie enter the house before shutting the door behind her. "He's up in his room right now. You still remember where that is?"

"Of course I do," Charlie laughed. Even though it had been a while since she had been here, she could never forget where her best friend's room was.

Thanking Mrs. Stewart, Charlie headed up the steps to Grayson's room. As she reached the door, Charlie lifted her hand up and knocked on the door as obnoxiously as she could. After a few seconds, Grayson finally opened the door.

"Sheesh. Where's the fire?" he joked. When he saw who was at the door, though, his eyes widened in surprise. "Charlie! You're back!"

"Yep! I just got back today."

"Really? How was your little quest? Did you figure out that riddle? Did you find who you were supposed to? Who was it?" Grayson asked, firing off question after question.

"Grayson! Too many questions at once," Charlie snapped, unable to keep track of his questions. "If you want we can go hang out somewhere and I'll tell you all about it."

"Sure. If you're, um, up for it, you can walk to the training school with me. I've got to pick up some forms for a class I want to take."

"My dad's old place?"

"Yeah…"

As Charlie took in the information, Grayson watched her face for any sign of what she might decide. When they were little, he, Charlie, Morgan and Harmony would always go to the training school so they could watch the battles. But after Charlie's dad passed away, she never set foot in the training school again. That's why when Grayson suggested Charlie accompany him to the training school, he knew things could get sensitive.

Charlie bit her lip in nervousness as she debated what to do. "Grayson, I…"

"It's okay if you don't want to go, Charlie," he promised her. He knew how fragile Charlie could be and he didn't want to push her to do something she wasn't ready for. "I understand. I can always go tomorrow."

"No. It's okay. I'll go," she finally decided much to Grayson's surprise. Maybe her journey had actually helped her out.

"Are you sure?" While he was happy that she had decided to finally try, he wanted to make sure she wasn't just saying yes because he had suggested they go.

"Yeah. Let's go," she quickly answered, afraid she would psych herself out. "Before I change my mind."

"Sweet," he replied, giving her an assuring smile.

Shutting his door, he proceeded to walk down the stairs with Charlie following behind. Since the training school was located downtown and Grayson's house was far from the city, it would be a long walk. Knowing that the large amount of time would allow Charlie to think about where they were going, Grayson tried to strike up a conversation in hopes that it would distract her and prevent her from changing her mind. While he would never push her if she ended up backing out, deep down he knew that this was something she needed to do.

"So, you were going to tell me about how your quest went," Grayson started to say, picking up the conversation where they had left it. "Who was the person you were supposed to find in Cerulean City?"

"The gym leader, Misty. She was one of my dad's friends and his first traveling companion," Charlie explained, retelling the tale of her eleven month journey. "He stole her bike and then it got destroyed. After that, she told him that she wasn't going to leave until he paid her back for her bike."

"He knew Misty?" Grayson repeated. Although he didn't know her personally, he did know whom Misty was, as he had battled her for his own Cascade Badge in the middle of his journey. "That's really cool. She's a really strong gym leader. She had this really cool Oshawott, too. They're really rare here in Kanto. So where'd you go next?"

"Well, next I met his friend, Brock, who used to be the Pewter City Gym Leader. Now he's a Pokemon Breeder," Charlie continued on as she walked next to Grayson. "He's one of the best cooks I've ever met. Probably better than your dad."

"Nice try, Charlie," Grayson chuckled, finding her statement funny. "Nobody's as good as my dad. You can't beat a professional chef."

"You never know…" she grinned.

"Whatever. You know I'm right," Grayson concluded for the two of them, settling the argument. "Anyways, how many people did you end up meeting?"

Holding up her hand, Charlie started to count the number of people with her fingers. "Let's see… Misty, Brock, Tracey, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, Cilan…So, that's eight."

"Eight people?" Grayson whistled out of sheer number of people. "That's a lot of people. Your dad sure had a lot of friends."

"Yeah, I know. I still have people I haven't met yet, too," Charlie giggled. Her dad had accumulated a lot of friends in the short amount of time he had spent traveling. "It was lots of fun meeting them, though."

"Really? Wow. Well in that cast, since you and I are back together again and you wouldn't let me help you out before, can I help you out now?" Grayson asked. Clasping his hands together, he put on his best Growlithe eyes. "Pretty pleeeasse."

Ever since she had told him about the journey her dad had set her out on, he had begged her to let him join. He wanted to meet the people who she was supposed to find, curious about the life of Charlie's dad. When she had told him she wanted to do this herself, he had asked if he could maybe meet her half –way through so she could do the first half on her own. Despite his bargaining attempts, Charlie's decision hadn't swayed and she had gone off on her own. Now that he was here and was probably going to pester her until she gave in, she didn't see anyways around saying no.

"Fine."

"Yes!" Grayson cheered, throwing his fist in the air. "Can I see the riddle?"

Pulling it out of her backpack, Charlie handed the note card over to Grayson. As he read over it, she walked quietly beside him. Unlike when she had visited all the other towns and cities in Kanto, the majority of the people in Viridian knew who her dad was. That meant they would probably be able to tell her who his friends were and who he considered his rival.

"I feel bad for the loser," Grayson finally said after a few seconds. "They just got insulted by a dead guy."

"Oh yeah. He didn't really say much about this person like last time," Charlie added. "It'll be hard to narrow down."

"You should talk to Gary when we get to the training school," Grayson suggested, handing the note card back to Charlie. "He always seemed to know a lot about your dad."

At the sound of Gary's name, Charlie abruptly stopped walking. Grayson kept walking, not noticing her abrupt stop. "Wait, do you mean Gary Oak?"

Stopping his own walk after finally noticing she had stopped, he turned around and faced her.

"Yeah. He runs the training school now." I'm pretty sure I told her that before.

"That's it!" Charlie suddenly hollered, her high-pitched cry of victory piercing Grayson's ears. "Gary's the person I'm supposed to find. One of my dad's friends showed me a video of my dad battling Gary. The announcer said that they were rivals. Gary has to be it. He just has to be."

After hearing her explanation behind why Gary was whom she was supposed to find, Grayson thought it over for a second. "That would make sense…Wah!"

Mid sentence, Grayson was cut off when he felt a thud against his side as Charlie crashed into him with a hug. "You're the best Grayson!" Releasing the hug, she grabbed Grayson's arm and proceeded to tug him behind her as she ran down the street. "Let's go see Gary!"

OOOO

"Welcome, how may I help you?" the lady at the front desk greeted them when they walked in.

Now that Charlie stood in front of the desk, it actually hit her as to where she was. In her rush to find Gary, she had run right into the training school without even a slight hesitation. With her brain all cleared up and her ability to have a better sense of her surroundings, she felt a tiny wave of fear.

"We need to talk to Gary, please," Grayson explained. He had glanced over to see if Charlie would explain why they were here, but when he saw the look of fear on her face, he spoke up for them. "It's really important."

"Alright. Just let me go check to see if he's busy right now," the receptionist explained. Getting up from her seat, she headed down the hallway. "I'll be right back. Just wait here."

After the woman had left, Grayson quickly turned to look at Charlie. "You okay, Charlie?" he carefully asked her. He knew from experience that she could get a bit touchy when she was afraid. She didn't say anything, though, instead nodding her head very slowly. Smiling a bit at the fact that she was taking this better than he thought, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "You can do this, Charlie. It'll be okay."

"Thanks," she replied, her voice barely audible. While she knew that coming here would be a good first step after traveling around Kanto in search of her dad's friends, she was still very scared. Scared of what, she didn't know. She just never came in here.

After that, nothing was said until they heard the clapping of heels as the receptionist returned. "He's free if you need to talk with him. His office is just down the hallway. Third door on the right."

"Thank you," Grayson said for the both of them.

Lightly grabbing Charlie's arm, he gave her a tiny yank to get her moving. He knew she was still pretty scared, but he also knew that if he unfroze her from where she was standing, she would start walking. The two of them walked down the hallway until they came across an open door that met the receptionist's description.

"Gary?" Grayson called into the open room.

At the sound of his name being called, Gary turned around in his chair to see who was at the door. Next to him on the floor was his prized Umbreon snoozing happily.

"The one and only," Gary smirked, leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms and put them behind his back. "How can I help you?"

"Um, well, my name's Grayson, and…" Moving aside to reveal Charlie hidden behind him, he continued the introductions, "…this is my friend-"

"Charlie," he finished for Grayson. "Don't worry, I know her."

"You do?" Charlie asked, looking back at Gary. She knew he had seen her at the lab in Pallet, but she hadn't actually thought he remembered her name.

"I know all the kids who start out in Viridian. They all take the intro class," he explained. At the beginning of each year, he got a list of all who would be leaving for their journeys that year. This was so that he could contact them and inform their parents about the training classes offered for those who were about to embark on their journeys. "She, however.." he stated, pointing his finger at her, "...was the only one who didn't."

"Well, you see..." Charlie started to try and explain.

"I know why," he stated, giving her a sympathetic smile. Nodding toward the jacket Charlie was wearing, he remarked on her jacket, which was obviously too big for her, falling to almost her knees. It was the exact same one he had seen Ash wearing when he had left for Hoenn, leading him to conclude that Ash had probably given it to her. Smirking, he uncrossed his arms and leaned forward in his chair. "So how's Ashy Boy's little group of misfits? Were they surprised that he had a daughter? I sure was."

When Charlie's eyes widened in surprise, Gary just laughed."Ash's Group of Misfits" was a name he given to whatever poor soul(s) were forced to travel with him. Ever since he had met Ash's first couple traveling companions, he had decided that Ash always seemed to find those who had these odd little quirks.

He traveled with Misty, the girl who couldn't keep her temper in check for more than five minutes, and Brock the ex gym leader who couldn't seem to pick up a girl no matter how hard he tried.

After that it was Professor Oak obsessed Tracey; May, the girl who had no interest in training Pokemon but had gone on her journey anyway; her brother Max who's greatest thrill in life was getting to experience a Pokemon's strongest attack.

Then there was Dawn who tried to pack a suitcase for her travels and dressed up for contest like she was going to the ball; Iris, who slept and lived in trees; and Cilan, who spoke in terms Gary didn't even understand. Oh, and he couldn't forget their fearless leader, Ash, who couldn't get through a town or city without destroying something. He was always surprised that no lawsuits had ever been filed against Ash.

"How did you…How did you know who I am?" she stuttered.

Unlike everyone else, Gary knew exactly who she was before she introduced herself, AND he knew who's daughter she was. She wondered if one of her father's friends had warned Gary about her coming, but she was pretty sure her dad had said nobody would know her connection to him.

"That's for me to know," he grinned devilishly at her. He knew he had told Ruby that he would be nice to Ash's daughter since he had ruthlessly teased Ash as a kid, but messing with people was in his personality. Charlie was no exception. In fact, she was special. "It wouldn't be much fun if I just told you now would it?"

"I guess…" He carefully watched as she pulled a note card out of her pocket and flipped it over to see if there was anything on the other side she had missed. "So were you my dad's rival then?"

"Rival? Is that what he told you I was. I'm insulted." Frowning at her, he really did try to look insulted by what she had said. He was a measly rival to Ash? That's it? He was more than that. He was Ash's only rival, no matter what he said about Paul. "Without me he would have never gotten as far as he did. I should have a much cooler title. Maybe just even Gary Oak. My name alone strikes fear into people."

"Right…So I have something for you."

With hesitation, she handed him the envelope. Before he took the envelope from her, Gary took a few moments to get a good look at Charlie. When he had seen her at his grandfather's lab at the beginning of the year, it had only been as she was leaving and he was coming in. He hadn't known at first that she was Ash's daughter, and had only then found out through some research. It hadn't been that she looked like Ash that had made him suspicious, but rather her name. She had introduced herself as Charlie and had stated that she was from Viridian City. It was then that he remembered her as the only kid who hadn't attended any beginner's lessons. On top of that, he also knew that she had never stepped foot into the school, always causing him to wonder why.

So, after returning home, he tried to figure out who she was. Through his research and asking around, he discovered that her name was Charlotte West and that she had been left to live with a couple named Christina and Daniel after her father had passed away. Then during one of his classes, he had overheard two kids talking about how their friend Charlie had recently been given a mysterious box from her father.

"What was in the box?" Gary curiously asked them. After taking over the school, he had made it his goal to get to know the kids who came through here so he could help them if they ever needed him.

"There were just a bunch of envelopes," the girl, Harmony, explained. "She said the first letter said that the envelopes were meant for all these people she was supposed to find. I don't remember where the first one was for, though."

"Cerulean City," the other girl, Morgan, finished for her friend. "She said she was supposed to find some girl called, The Tomboy Mermaid, but she had no idea who that was. I told her I could help her since I knew the answer, but she wouldn't let me."

"You knew the answer?" Harmony asked, surprised. When Charlie had shared the first riddle with her, she had no idea who it was referring to. She hadn't heard that name before.

"Duh," Morgan replied, rolling her eyes. "It's the nickname for the Cerulean City gym leader, Misty. She's only one of the best water Pokemon trainers out there."

"Right. You would know that."

"Wait, who's her dad?" Gary asked.

If Charlie's dad knew Misty, Gary probably knew him, too.

"You don't know anything about her, do you?" Harmony accused, eyeing him suspiciously. When Gary shook his head, Harmony sighed in annoyance. It had been weird that Gary was asking her all these questions about her friend, but the fact he didn't know anything about her made it more understandable. "When we were kids, her dad used to run this place and we would come in here all the time to watch him battle. But after he passed away, Charlie never came in here again. I guess it freaked her out."

"Yeah," Morgan nodded in agreement. "Her actual last name is Ketchum, but after Mr. and Mrs. West adopted her, she changed it."

"Thank you."

Gary was floored by what her two friends had just told him. There was no way Ash had ever had a daughter. As far as Gary knew, he was the only one who had ever kept in contact with Ash, and there had never been any mention by Ash of having a daughter. Then again, when they would talk, Ash would be very vague in what he was up to in his life.

After that, he had called his grandfather and asked him if he knew anything. To Gary's surprise, Professor Oak had known all along. In fact, he had even known about the box Charlie had received from Ash. That's when he had instructed Gary to not say anything to Ash's friends or Ms. Ketchum. So, since then, Gary had been sitting here waiting for her to return.

They really do look alike. She had his brown eyes and some similar facial aspects. But there was something else; someone else he recognized in her. No way. He felt his breath catch in his throat as he took notice of her hair color, her face and her kid like features. Snatching the envelope from Charlie's hands, he ripped it open and pulled out what appeared to be a letter. There's no way. They wouldn't go behind my back and do this, would they? As his eyes flew over the words of the letter searching for an answer to his question, he kept glancing up at her.

...She's my daughter…

He already knew that. He wouldn't be Gary Oak if it wasn't always one step ahead of Ash.

…If she's home in time for Christmas, could you take her to Pallet to meet my mom? She's the last person that Charlie needs to meet, and I figured it would be a nice Christmas present for her. It could be like the gift that keeps on giving. I know it would…

While it wasn't a problem for him to take her to Pallet to meet Ms. Ketchum, it wasn't what he was looking for.

…There's something else I need to tell you about her. I feel like a coward telling you this through a letter, but if I don't, I just know you would never find out. Plus, you deserve to know the truth. I'm sure you probably recognized a familiarity to Charlie that had nothing to do with me. While these traits are limited in appearance, the more you get to know her personality the more they show through. But I won't beat around the bush anymore. That girl I met that night was Ruby, and long story short, Ruby is Charlie's mother.

I'm sorry, Gary. I never meant for any of this to happen. Nobody did. It was a mistake and we…

Gary couldn't read the letter anymore. In four little words, his worst fear had been confirmed. He had always known that Ruby had a better friendship with Ash than him, but he had never thought they would go behind his back and do that. They had never even liked each other, right? Ash had always loved Misty and Ruby wasn't even around anymore. Worst of all, though, Ruby had lied to him. Looked him directly in the face and lied about ever knowing anything about Charlie. She hadn't come to Viridian because she needed his help. She had come here in search of Charlie and had just happened to run into him in her search.

"I've got to go deal with something. Come back later," Gary suddenly spoke up.

Stuffing the letter into his pocket, he abruptly stood up and rushed out the door. Sensing its trainer's sudden agitation, Umbreon raced after Gary.

As Charlie and Grayson watched him walk out the door, a sense of anger and hostility to his manner, they were left confused.

"Something's wrong," Charlie stated, biting her lip. What had her dad said in that letter that had made Gary so mad? What had he seen in her that had made snatch the letter with such urgency? She was pretty sure he hadn't even read the whole thing. It was if when he opened it, he was searching for something. Obviously he had found it, but it was also obvious he didn't like what he found. If only he had left the letter on the desk. "We should follow him."

"Charlie," Grayson protested, his voice wavering. While he knew it wasn't right for them to spy on Gary, Charlie was a hard person to stand up to, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"You can stay here then," she decided for the both of them. "But I'm going to go find out. I just have to know."

As Charlie ran out of the room after Gary, Grayson didn't know what to do. He hated her stubborn attitude and he hated how she wouldn't just let things go. With Charlie it was you help her out or she'll just do it on her own. While Harmony and Morgan usually just let her do whatever she wanted (they never wanted to deal with her stubborn attitude), Grayson had always felt that he had the job to run after her and try to stop her. It had been something he had done for years without a thanks or a acknowledgement. Harmony had once asked him why he did that, but he had just shrugged it off saying he just hated seeing her hurt. That's why he had pushed so hard for Charlie to let him travel with her. He knew she would get herself into trouble, unable to say no and walk away.

So when she refused, he was a little hurt and confused. It was strange for him to think she wouldn't need him anymore. And when he had finally left on his own journey, it had just been weird without her there. Throughout his journey, he would always wonder how she was doing and hoping that she was safe. When she had showed up at his door today, he was beyond excited. But, standing here watching her chase after Gary only proved that she was the same and things were falling back to the way they were-and not for the good either. He knew she would only get hurt by whatever she learned from spying on Gary, and when she did get hurt, he seemed to always be the one who had to pick up the pieces for her.

"You owe me, Charlie," he uttered under his breath as he, for what felt like the millionth time, followed after her.