DAY 3

THE CURSE

The museum in Pewter opened a while ago, and thus has been there for many years. Clover greatly desired to visit it for a long time, but had yet to do so. As is well known, Pokemon trainers can't travel unless they have Pokemon with themselves, especially if they're young. World is a dangerous and a vast place after all. However, now she was free and she wanted to use this freedom as much as possible.

"Good afternoon, young lady. Entrance fee is 20 poke dollars." a receptionist said.

"There you go. What kind of things can I see here?" she asked.

"Would you prefer I tell you, or would you rather see for yourself?"

"Good point!"

Museum was huge! It was as if she went to some other time, unlocking the secrets yet unknown. There were bones of ancient Pokemon by the wall, tools used by civilizations not existing anymore, crystals ostensibly dug from the very core of the planet! Just as she went to the exhibit of rare stones and minerals, she heard the voice from another room. It sounded hurried, even a little bit angry so she went closer to check what was it all about.

"Come now! A wimp such as you can't possibly make use of such valuable fossil! Hand it over!"

"No! I need this for my research!"

It was no one else but Gary Oak, and by the looks of it, he was pestering a young man for the fossilized stone he was carrying under his arm. Gary noticed Clover, so he stopped his pestering for just a moment.

"Well I'll be! It's Beanstalk! Come, you're smart, explain to this loser here that Pokemon fossil can only have use if it's in hands of an expert Pokemon trainer!"

"Gary the Oak. How odd to see you pestering somebody! I would never have guessed it was you!"

"Can it, Beans. If you don't want to help me, beat it. I will take it from him myself."

"Is that so? Are you going to turn into petty thief now?" she asked.

"Who's going to stop me? I need this fossil!"

"I'm going to stop you!" she said.

"Is that so? Well I won't go easy on you, even though we're friends!"

"I'm counting on it!"

"We will meet outside the museum in an hour. Go heal your Pokemon if you need. I won't fight any weakened ones."

As Gary went out of the museum to heal his Pokemon, the young man approached her.

"Thank you… for standing up for me."

"That's no problem, pal! Gary is a bully, but I won't let him steal from you."

"Wow.. nobody ever cares about me. Are you an angel?"

Clover smiled.

"I have no wings, right?"

"Right… Well, I'm off to the mountain Moon. There's apparently another fossil there, and I'm raring to find it."

"Maybe we'll meet there again, no?"

"I hope so! Bye bye!"

Clover went to the Pokemon center for the quick healing, before she approached the Museum once again to wait for Gary. As she was waiting, she noticed a familiar person walking down the road. It was Ash Ketchum, and he seemed raring to go to the Pewter Gym and challenge Brock. While she wanted to watch the battle, she also wanted to challenge Gary and didn't want to miss out.

Gary has, indeed, appeared very soon and looked at her with his usually haughty stare.

"So, you didn't chicken out yet. Good. Let's get this started."

"If I win, you will promise you'll leave that guy alone."

"Fine! Don't know why you care."

POKEMON BATTLE – CLOVER vs GARY

Many people have appeared from everywhere around, curious about the two trainers suddenly deciding to have a Pokemon battle in the middle of the street. An empty parking lot seemed like a perfect place to do this, so Clover looked at her Pokemon and her Pokedex, just to make sure everything's in order.

"Alright. I'll start small and keep toughest one for later. Weedle, I'm counting on you."

Gary chuckled.

"Weedle? Your tiny worm has no chance against my Pokemon! Pidgey, go!"

"I knew I should have taken those that I've caught… well, what's done is done! Alright, Weedle, use your poison sting!"

Weedle is small, but what it lacks in strength it makes up in speed. As soon as she issued a command, tiny worm propelled itself and hit Pidgey straight in the chest. Tiny bird fell screeched but continued fighting, however, it looked weakened.

"That's fighting dirty!" he yelled.

"Look who's talking!"

"Pidgey, use your gust attack!"

There was no way Weedle could endure the full on gust attack, even while it was fast. Small whirlwind rose it up in the air and Clover could only watch as it spun wildly, before being flung out, thrown to the side. It wasn't moving anymore.

"Ha. Should have known. You should have raised it better." Gary said.

"Weedle! Return!"

"Do you want to quit yet, Beans?"

"I have one more. You won't win this one! Go, Bulbasaur!"

After she sent her Bulbasaur out to the shadow by the building, she made sure to fasten the leaf parasol around its waist to protect it from the sunlight of the bright afternoon.

Gary smiled.

"It sure looks tougher. But it's still a grass Pokemon! Grass is weak against flying!"

"We have an ace up our sleeve. Go, Bulbasaur! Use your sleep powder!"

"Pidgey, use your gust attack, again! Blow the powder away!"
Pidgey flapped its wings and the powder scattered everywhere. Sadly, it didn't put the bird Pokemon to sleep, like Clover intended.

"Alright, listen up, Bulbasaur. Pidgey is flying now, however, Gary rarely uses same move twice. To use the tackle, it has to fly low. When it does, use another sleep powder!" Clover whispered to her Pokemon. Bulbasaur nodded.

"What are you whispering about? Go, Pidgey, use your tackle attack!"

"I know you too well, Gary. Alright, Bulbasaur! Use your sleep powder!"

As Pidgey went down to tackle Bulbasaur head on, it had no time to use another gust. Bulbasaur sent a cloud of sleep powder into its face and tiny bird fell flat on the ground, hitting the fence.

"Gah! Pidgey, come on, get up!"

"Not so fast! Bulbasaur, use your tackle! Full force!"

The way Bulbasaur hit that Pidgey, it was wonder it didn't break it in half. It was more than enough to make Pidgey unconscious.

"Damn it! Alright, Pidgey, return!" Gary was angry.

"Do you give up yet, Oak?"

"I'll wipe that smirk of your face! Go, Squirtle!"

His Squirtle looked a bit tougher than it did in the barn, but not much. She was sure her Bulbasaur had a type advantage. She also knew Gary put all his confidence in that Pidgey, thinking there's no way she could defeat him with Weedle and Bulbasaur. It was a stroke of luck she started the fight with Weedle, since it made Gary believe he can win the battle without ever using his Squirtle.

And now, he had his back against the wall.

"Alright, Bulbasaur! Use your razor leaf!"

"Squirtle, withdraw!"

Squirtle withdrew into the hard shell, and Bulbasaur's razor sharp leaves barely scratched the surface.

"Now, Squirtle, use your water gun!"

Of course, against grass Pokemon, water gun did not do much. It was clear Bulbasaur was enjoying the shower. It broke through the water, and Clover confidently squeezed her fist.

"That's right, Bulbasaur, now finish it off with razor leaf!"

"Squirtle, return!" Gary pulled his Squirtle back from the battle.

"What are you doing, Oak?!"

"This is pointless. I won't waste more time here."

"You can't just run away from the battle!"

"Who says so? You? Come now, Beans."

Somebody from the crowd complained about his lack of sportsmanship, but he did not care. Gary walked away from the parking lot, not even saying goodbye. It really angered her so she ran after him and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Listen here, Oak! I'm done with your attitude! If you can't let me enjoy victory, at least show enough respect to say goodbye before you go!"

Gary turned around and looked her square in the eyes.

"Piss off, loser."

Now it was enough. She had enough of his attitude to last for the lifetime. Without even thinking, she slapped him so hard her palm went numb. He merely put fingers on his cheek, as the crowd cheered on. They were largely on Clover's side this time. No matter how she felt just a moment ago, a wave of regret washed over her.

"I'm… I didn't mean to..."

Gary looked at her and his eyes filled with disappointment.

"So that's how it's going to be. It just proves you're the same as everybody else. Whatever! I don't need you, or Ash, or anybody else! I'm going to be the strongest Pokemon trainer and that's all that matters!"

He turned around and walked away with a brisk pace.

"Wait, Gary! Please!"

He didn't even answer her.

"I'm such a stupid idiot..." she uttered.

Later, as she packed her stuff in the hotel room, planning to visit the museum once more, Clover could not help but feel regret about what she did. Gary Oak was her friend as long as she remembers, and even tho he was a major asshole, she was the only one who saw behind this facade. Sometimes they would spend hours talking, and he'd open up like he never did to anybody else. However, now that she "punished" him for his attitude, she could literally see her image in his eyes breaking to billion tiny pieces. Like a mirror, broken, bringing years of bad luck.

She placed the hand on her chest, feeling the necklace pressed against her skin. She and Gary had the same ones, yet with inverted colors.

"There's a bit of me in a lot of you, and there's a bit of you in a lot of me. We're one and the same." she said. Yet nobody answered.