Chapter 25
It was their first of their two final days together before Ash would leave to Alola. And it became a real thing the moment the mail came. In an envelope, there was Ash's ticket to Alola, the one he had ordered about a week ago, but the moment he got it, he decided to hide it away, hoping that he could stop time.
Gary promised he would only work two hours in the lab and that then they would spend the rest of the day together, doing what exactly? Ash didn't care, all he wanted was to be with Gary, his Gary.
He and Gary had had breakfast together that morning, before the mail had arrived. It was just the two of them, Ash had to wake up early but he didn't mind, Gary would be free before 8:00am and then they would be together for the rest of the day.
"I promise, just two hours," Gary said as he washed his dishes.
"That's okay, I'll go back to sleep in the meantime," Ash said a little sleepy, yawning.
"Sounds good, feel free to have a wet dream about me," Gary teased.
"Gary!" Ash blushed. "Someone can come in!" Ash exclaimed as he looked behind, to the living room, but the lights were still off.
Gary couldn't stop laughing.
"Alright, I'll see you in two hours, but if you're not awake by then, I might join you in bed," Gary kept teasing.
"Stop it!" Ash exclaimed still blushing but he was enjoying the tease.
Gary walked to Ash and he quickly gave him a kiss.
"Gary!" Ash jumped off from his chair and he rushed to the living room, making sure nobody was around.
"You're so cute!" Gary exclaimed with a laugh.
"Don't play with me like that!" Ash exclaimed, still blushed.
Gary smiled. "Alright, I'll keep everything inside until we're alone, I promise."
"Thank you," Ash said. "Well, I'll go back to my room, good luck."
"Thank you, Ashy boy," Gary said as he walked out of the kitchen.
-o-
Just as Ash was going up the stairs to the second floor, he ran into Dawn at the top of them.
"Good morning, Ash." She smiled to him.
He returned the smile to her, she was still one of his best friends even though she was after the man he loved (or at least that's what he thought).
"You're back," Ash said neither surprised not happy about it and Dawn could notice that.
"Well, I was back yesterday in the afternoon, I had left a small makeup bag from the last time I was here, then I went out with Gary to that party and we came back early, but I just stayed the night, I have my things at a hotel in Viridian city and I will leave tonight after a small coordinators' event," she informed.
"Oh!" Ash exclaimed now surprised and happy, he wanted to spend his last two days in the mansion with Gary and only Gary.
"I know we've had some problems lately, Ash, and I'm sorry for everything," she said out of nowhere, catching Ash off guard.
"Sorry?" Ash asked confused.
Dawn smiled. "You probably still think I'm after Gary, but he's just a friend, a good one, he's fun, he's smart and he does have his good looks, but I only feel friendship for him."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
Dawn smiled again. "I know that you care about Gary," she said and Ash blushed. "After all, I believe he's your best friend, not counting your pokémon of course," she laughed and Ash laughed too. "You're worried about him being in a long-distance relationship and not being happy, I get it."
"Yeah," Ash sighed realizing that's what Gary would have with him, a long-distance relationship.
"I'm sure he'll find someone, just as you and I did."
"Me?" Ash asked astonished.
Dawn laughed again.
"What's so funny? Tell me!" Ash exclaimed blushed and a little angry.
"You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you?" She asked him, changing the topic of the conversation.
"Yeah," Ash sighed.
"Try spending the rest of your time here with Gary, he's really found a good friend in you, and I know he's going to miss you after you're gone."
Ash's eyes started to water.
"Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine, thank you, and I'm sorry for everything as well."
"No problem," she said giving Ash a hug.
Ash wasn't expecting that hug and his eyes opened widely, the tears were on the edge of falling, he really needed to go to sleep.
"Well, I have to get going, is Gary in the lab?" She asked after hugging Ash.
Ash nodded.
"Good, I'll go say goodbye to him too, good luck on Alola," she said and then she took the stairs down.
"Thank you, Dawn, good luck on your coordinator activities," Ash said with a smile.
"Be seeing ya!" she winked and then she turned to the kitchen and disappeared out of Ash's sight.
-o-
Gary was working on his computer, finishing his article, when Dawn entered the lab.
"Good morning," she said watching Gary with his glasses, focused on his computer screen.
"Dawn, you're up early!" Gary said surprised, he stood up from his chair and he walked to Dawn. "Oh, right, you have this event early this morning," he said remembering.
Dawn smiled. "I'm just here to say goodbye, it's been nice spending time with you."
"You can say that again," Gary said taking his glasses off and leaving them on the computer desk.
"How are you?"
"Honestly? I'm…" he said trembling.
"I know it can be hard, but when the other person's worth it, a long-distance relationship is not that bad, experience talking here," she smiled pointing at herself.
"It's just that, we have just gotten started and… and now we're going to be apart for a year?"
"You can always visit each other, or make videocalls, it's a good thing he's going to be in the same town for the next six months."
"I can't believe he's going back to school," Gary said with a laugh.
"Well, we all secretly knew our Ash Ketchum needed a little bit more of education," she joked and Gary couldn't help but laugh out loud with her.
"Thank you," Gary smiled.
"For what?" Dawn asked surprised.
"For being my friend, and for understanding me. This is usually Tracey's job but I had the brightest idea to give him a vacation just right before Ash came back to give a massive twist to my life." He laughed.
"I have to confess I didn't expect all of this when I first came here, but it's been nice seeing Ash so happy for something that's not pokémon-related."
"I wasn't expecting to feel what I feel for him, but I'm happy I feel what I feel for him now."
"I just wished he could have told me this, but I guess he's still afraid, promise me you'll take care of him."
"I will, I promise."
"Then my work here is done," she smiled giving Gary a hug.
"You can always come back visit me, I'm going to be very lonely for the next year, and you definitely have to meet Tracey, he's the best!"
Dawn laughed. "I'll definitely take your offer sometime."
-o-
Almost two hours later, Gary was about to finish his article, he just needed to type one last reference and his job would be finished, thus he would be able to spend the whole day with Ash.
"Hey gramps, where's the pokémon book you lent me about a month ago? I need it for my last reference," Gary said after searching for it around the lab for ten minutes.
"Oh! I took it to the attic with some other stuff, I thought you had finished using it," Samuel said sorry.
"Don't worry, I'll go get it, thanks," Gary said leaving the lab.
When Gary entered the living room, he saw Ash sitting on a couch, watching some morning cartoons.
Ash's eyes sparkled with happiness when he saw Gary, that meant Gary was done with his job and now they could proceed with spending the day together.
"Hey!" Ash exclaimed running to Gary and jumping on his arms, almost throwing both of them to the floor.
"Hey, Ashy-boy, watch out!" Gary laughed as he held Ash on his arms.
"Sorry," Ash said blushing as he left Gary's arms and stood in front of him.
"I'm almost done, I just need to go grab a book from the attic."
"Oh! Can I join you?"
"Sure! We can even have some privacy there," Gary teased.
Ash blushed and his body trembled.
"Just kidding! Come on, let's go!" Gary exclaimed grabbing Ash's hand with his and going up the stairs.
Ash and Gary took the stairs to the second floor, then to the third floor, where their bedrooms were, and then to the fourth floor. At the end of the fourth floor there was a small wooden ladder that led to the attic.
"Do you remember we used to hide in here when we were kids?" Ash asked remembering his childhood days in the Oak mansion.
"Yeah," Gary sighed with a smile. "I remember one day we didn't tell our parents and they were so worried they had already called the police when we went down to have dinner."
"My mom was so mad," Ash laughed.
"It's been 13 years," Gary sighed.
"I feel so old," Ash laughed.
Gary took the wooden stairs and opened the small opening to the attic, and then he climbed the stairs to enter it.
Ash took the stairs after Gary.
"Wow! It's not like I remember it," Ash said surprised.
The attic was full of boxes and old objects, there was a piano on the corner and some furniture covered in plastic. And there was a lot of dust too.
The last time they were there together, the attic was pretty much empty space with a big rug in the middle, with some boxes in the corners, and the place was so clean.
"I know, I haven't been here since my parents…" Gary sighed.
Gary breathed in. Gary breathed out.
Ash hugged Gary from behind, giving him support. So much for parents in two days.
"I assume most of these things are theirs," Ash said as Gary walked around the attic taking a look at the boxes.
Gary stopped in front of a particular box that was labeled as Adeline, Alexander & Christine.
"What's in that box?" Ash asked curious joining Gary in front of the box.
"I have no idea, maybe it's some photos of them," Gary said grabbing the box and taking it to the center of the attic, the rug was still there.
Gary put the box in the middle of the rug and he sat down in front of it, he didn't mind the dusty environment.
Ash sat down across from Gary, leaving the box between them.
Gary breathed in. Gary breathed out.
Then he took all the strength needed and he opened the box.
"Newspapers?" Gary asked confused, recognizing the paper type.
Christine Oak found dead, family is shattered.
Elswood Enterprises CEO dies in terrible accident.
Sadness in the pokémon community: professor Samuel Oak's wife died.
Family and friends remember Christine Oak in a lovely memorial.
Alexander Oak runs Elswood Enterprises after his mother passed away.
One month after their tragic loss, the Oak family is still in duel.
The future of Elswood Enterprises.
"They're all related to my grandmother's faked death," Gary said shocked as he kept taking those newspapers out of the box.
"Elswood Enterprises?" Ash asked confused.
Gary breathed in. Gary breathed out.
Gary breathed in, again. Gary breathed out, again.
"My grandmother's company, it was passed to my parents after she faked her death… and my parents lost it a year after, the day they died in their accident… I've always thought… it was the guilt of losing the company what provoked their accident."
-o-
13 years ago
"Granny, gramps, my favorite ice cream flavor is banana chocolate!" little Gary exclaimed running through the mansion as soon as he and his parents got back from the ice cream parlor that night. Little did he know, his life was about to change drastically, and not just because he had finally found his favorite ice cream flavor.
Adeline and Alexander watched their son run happily to the kitchen, where Samuel and Christine were having a late-night coffee with some cookies, little did they know, their lives were about to change abruptly as well.
"Banana chocolate? That's a very interesting flavor, my dear," Christine said with a smile on her face as her grandson sat on the table with her and his grandpa. Little did she know, that night would be the last one she would spend with all the family together.
"Isn't that a combination of your parent's favorite flavors?" Samuel asked curious.
"Always intuitive, father," Alexander said rolling his eyes a little.
"What do you say we make banana chocolate muffins tomorrow?" Christine asked her grandson without knowing those muffins would never see the light of day.
"That sounds awesome!" little Gary almost jumped off the chair.
Samuel and Christine laughed to see their grandson so happy, but there was something in Adeline and Alexander faces… and they weren't smiles.
"I think it's time for me to go to bed, I had a really tiring day," Samuel said standing up and stretching his body.
"I'll join you in a moment, dear," Christine kissed her husband goodbye, without knowing it would be their last kiss.
"Good night, father."
"Good night, Samuel," Adeline said giving her father in law a kiss on the cheek.
"Good night, gramps! I love you," little Gary said still excited about the whole banana chocolate situation.
"Honey, it's getting late, you should go to bed right now," Adeline said to her son.
"Okay, but will you come read me a story?" little Gary asked curious.
"I'm sorry, champ, we finished the whole book last night but don't worry, we'll buy a new one tomorrow," Alexander said.
"Alright, I love you mom, I love you dad, I love you granny," Gary said to each person in the room just as he had told his grandfather, and then he hugged each of them to finally leave the kitchen and go to his room.
"I have a feeling you want to talk to me," Christine sighed.
"We can't do it here, mother," Alexander sighed.
"Fine, let's go to your father's laboratory," Christine said standing up and walking out to the backyard. She was calm, it was as if she had been expecting or waiting for that moment… because she had.
Alexander and Adeline followed Christine to professor Oak's lab. Once they were all in, what would be their last conversation together, the three of them, started.
"They're back, aren't they?" Christine sighed, getting straight to the point.
"We're afraid so, we got this memo this afternoon," Alexander took out an envelope from his jacket and gave it to Christine.
Christine opened the envelope and started reading the message, her eyes told everything, her expression of worry… and fear.
Christine breathed in. Christine breathed out.
"How much do they want now?"
"A million," Adeline sighed.
"What? That's insane!" Christine exclaimed angrily.
"But mother…"
"We're not going to give them that ridiculous amount of money, we're not even sure if they have been bluffing the whole time!" Christine exclaimed madly.
"These people are serious, mother… see, that memo was attached to… a bomb," Alexander revealed.
"A bomb? What in heavens are you talking about?"
"It was in your office. When we found it, the bomb had just ten seconds left on the timer, we thought it was the end… but it suddenly stopped when it only had one second left," Adeline revealed.
"That pretty much tells us these guys are serious about their threats," Alexander added.
"We were just glad you took the day off," Adeline said.
Christine put her hand on her chest and sat down on a chair.
"Mother!" Alexander ran to see if his mother was fine.
"I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" Christine sighed.
Christine breathed in. Christine breathed out.
"I… I can't give up the whole company to them… I've worked my entire life for it…" Christine sighed. "Why don't we call the police?"
Adeline breathed in. Adeline breathed out.
"We're afraid the rest of the family if we do that," Adeline expressed with fear, fear that her son would get dragged to that situation.
Christine breathed in. Christine breathed out. She didn't want her husband to suffer for the situation either.
"So, this is it? We'll give them the money and what then? In a year, they will ask for the rest of the company?" Christine asked still angry.
"My father's job is enough to sustain this family, we'll be fine, and safe," Alexander sighed.
"There has to be something… some way to get rid of them… what if…"
"We're not faking your death, Christine, we already talked about that," Adeline interrupted.
"They don't know you got the memo! They think it was me who got it, don't they? So…"
"If you were dead, they would think no one else knew about the threat and they might not send it again," Adeline thought.
"We're not faking her death, Adeline!" Alexander exclaimed angry.
"But they have a problem with me, not you! If I was dead, I'm sure they'd just leave us alone!" Christine exclaimed.
"I'm your son, don't you think they would go after me next?"
"I'm completely sure Giovanni has his personal motives against me, not you, even if you are my son," Christine commented.
"That asshole…" Alexander said furious.
"Please… if I were dead… this family would finally get the peace they deserve," Christine insisted.
"By leaving my father widowed and Gary without his granny?" Alexander asked so angry he was about to cry.
"We have no choice, dear," Christine said looking down.
"What if they suspect we faked your death? Wouldn't it look odd to them that you die the moment you got this threat?" Alexander kept arguing with his mother.
"They wouldn't, I have the perfect idea," Christine answered.
"You already know how to fake your death? How long have you been planning this?" Adeline asked worried.
"Since the last threat we got," Christine sighed.
"I'm not going to let you do this, I won't!" Alexander shouted crying, and then Adeline hugged him.
Christine breathed in. Christine breathed out.
"I want the best for this family…" Christine sighed with a smile.
"Then stay with it and don't leave it! They can have Elswood Enterprises if that's what they want, but I'm not going to let them take you away from us!"
"My mind's made up, dear," Christine said standing up.
"I'm not letting you do this, I'll lock you in this room if that's what it takes!"
"I'm sorry dear, know that I love you, and I'm sorry too, Adeline, please, don't tell Gary and Samuel about this, knowing my death is fake will only endanger them," Christine said determined as she walked to the door of the lab.
"Stop!" Alexander stood between his mother and the door.
"Please, there must be a better way to overcome this," Adeline said worried.
"I'm afraid there's not… sorry honey, I love you," Christine said closing her eyes and taking what it looked like a medical needle from her pocket.
Alexander's eyes opened widely when he saw his mother holding that thing, but it was too late to react, Christine quickly applied whatever liquid there was in the needle on Alexander's shoulder and he fell to the floor, unconscious.
"Christine!" Adeline exclaimed in fear, trying to stop her.
"Sorry dear," Christine applied the needle to her daughter in law as well and she fell to the floor next to her husband.
Then, before leaving the lab, she took out her cellphone and texted someone: "The time has come, meet me outside the mansion as soon as possible."
"When you wake up tomorrow, I'll be dead already, I hope you can forgive me one day," Christine sighed as she got out of the lab, not before giving her son and her daughter in law a farewell kiss.
And as she walked through the backyard, she contemplated everything for the last time, appreciating it more than ever… the trees, the flowers, the pokémon… it was something interesting, she hadn't been a pokémon person in the past… then she married one of the best pokémon professors in the world, and she became so passionate about them.
Then she walked through the kitchen and she cried when she thought of Gary and how they would never make those muffins together… and how she would never see him grow up… then she thought about her husband… her beloved husband, the only man she had ever loved… and because she loved him so much, she was determined to go on with her plan.
Then she walked to the living room and she looked at the family pictures before leaving…
"Jiggly?" her old friend, her jigglypuff had followed her from the backyard, she knew she was worried.
"I'm going to miss you," Christine said with tears on her eyes.
"Jiggly!" her jigglypuff exclaimed with tears on her eyes as well.
"Take care of Gary, please."
She took her jigglypuff into her arms and gave her a goodbye hug. Then jigglypuff returned to the backyard, still crying.
Christine breathed in. Christine breathed out.
She finally opened the main door to leave, and someone was already expecting her.
"Ready to go, miss Oak?" a familiar man asked her, he was waiting for her outside a car.
"Cut the formalities, Reid, let's go," Christine said getting into the car.