All while growing up, Gary had been fascinated with legendary and rare pokémon. They just seemed so powerful and awe-inspiring, they were almost the stuff of myth. Magical, unbelievable creatures that couldn't really exist in real life. He'd always wanted to meet one, but now that he had he was left really confused and just a little disappointed.

Silver was a Lugia, but he wasn't a real one. He may be in the body of a powerful pokémon, but he was just a kid, like Gary was. Then there was Raikou, Suicune, and Entei, the legendary dogs known throughout the Johto region. They were supposed to be the stuff of legend, but now that Gary had met them he couldn't help but be reminded of his Umbreon.

They were all really clingy, to each other and to Ash, Blaine, and Lt. Surge, but they desperately tried to pretend like they couldn't care less. The legendary dogs also seemed to be trying really hard to act like they knew what they were doing, but the more Gary watched them the more he was sure that they were just as clueless as they were.

He was starting to think that finding the legendary dogs had been a waste of time. They'd come looking for these pokémon in hopes that they would lead them to a bird called Ho-Oh, but Gary thought that the beasts were hoping that they would lead them to Ho-Oh. They were going in circles, while everybody pretended that everything was going according to plan.

Gary knew that these beasts were strong, there was no denying that much, but they didn't inspire the awe and terror that he had expected. Still, he wasn't stupid enough to mess with them. They may act weird, but they could probably tear him to pieces if he upset them

As weird and kinda intimidating as the legendary beasts and Silver were, the pokémon that confused Gary the most was Mewtwo. The pokémon that was part revived Mew fossil and part human, or more specifically part Blaine. Mewtwo had power just flowing off of him, but that power wasn't limitless. Gary had seen Mewtwo and Blaine work together enough to figure out that they needed to be at each other's side. They made each other stronger, but at the same time they brought out some vulnerability.

Gary had watched all of the pokémon with uncertainty, and when he saw Blaine and Mewtwo walk slightly aside to meditate. It was far from the first time that they had done something like this, but Gary found his curiosity too strong to resist.

Gary quickly glanced around their temporary camp. Lt. Surge was training with Ash, trying to teach his Raichu a new skill or something. Suicune was sleeping, Entei watched Blaine and Mewtwo curiously, and Raikou prowled the perimeter to keep an eye out for trouble. Silver was chasing Totodile around. Silver was probably irritated with the pokémon, and was chasing it to get back at it for splashing him, but Gary knew that Totodile just saw this as a big game.

Everybody was busy. Gary didn't think that anybody would mind if he took a moment to see just what Blaine was doing. Gary sat down on the ground a few feet away from Blaine and Mewtwo. He just watched them for a few minutes. Mewtwo looked completely calm and content. Blaine, on the other hand, seemed a little nervous and even anxious.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Gary asked. It was clear that Blaine didn't like meditating. The scientist opened his eyes and looked back towards Gary. "It's obvious you don't like it."

"Mewtwo finds it calming," Blaine said.

"Yeah, but why does that mean that you have to do this?" Gary asked. Even if Blaine and Mewtwo were connected, that didn't mean that they had to do everything together, did it?

"It strengthens our connection," Blaine said. "Taking a moment like this, it may be difficult, but it allows me to be more in tune with how Mewtwo is feeling. And because Mewtwo knows how much I struggle with meditation, he appreciates the effort, and that builds up trust between us."

Gary didn't entirely understand it, but who was he to tell Blaine how to bond with the pokémon that he created?

"You're free to join us if you like," Blaine said. "Meditating isn't for everybody, but it might surprise you."

Gary scooted closer. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Meditation is just about quiet reflection," Blaine said. "There's no single way to achieve that."

Quiet reflection wasn't really the kind of thing that Gary did regularly. He liked to think that he was nowhere near as reckless as Ash was, but he had his moments where he acted without properly thinking things through. He wasn't incapable of quiet thinking though. When one was raised at a lab by a grandfather who frequently needed complete, undisturbed silence, one got used to being still and quiet for long periods of time.

It actually felt really nice, to just have a moment to breath. Gary had loved every moment since he had joined these guys. He liked the adventure of it all, he'd learned a lot from Koga in the short period of time that he'd been able to train him, and it had been nice to become friends with Ash again. Gary picked on the other boy, but he really had missed their friendship.

Gary was able to focus for several minutes, but then he felt Blaine shifting even more than usual next to him. The boy turned to look at the scientist, whose eyes were squeezed shut. He looked anxious about something.

"Hey, are you okay?" Gary asked. It was one thing for Blaine to push himself out of his comfort zone, but he really shouldn't do it if it made him this upset.

Blaine held up a hand to quiet him. "It's not me, it's Mewtwo." Gary looked towards the pokémon. At first glance it looked perfectly at peace, but Gary eventually noticed how tense Mewtwo was. Power was flowing off of him, and Gary couldn't help but think that the only reason that power wasn't lashing out was because Blaine was holding it back.

"What's wrong?" Gary asked.

"He's here," Mewtwo growled. The anger in his tone sent shivers down Gary's spine. Mewtwo shot up, looking ready for an attack, but Blaine was faster. The scientist scrambled to his feet, pulled out his Master Ball, and returned Mewtwo before he could do anything.

"Giovanni's nearby," Blaine said quietly. He rubbed his arm, looking in pain. "I must warn the others. Gary, I have a very, very important task for you."

"What do you need?" Gary asked. He didn't completely understand just who Giovanni was, but he knew enough to know this was a serious situation. Blaine and Mewtwo were certainly nervous, and it wasn't like them to get worked up over nothing.

"Take Mewtwo and get out of here," Blaine pushed the Master Ball into Gary's hands. "We can't afford to let Giovanni get his hands on him.

"You want me to run?" Gary frowned. That wasn't exactly what he had in mind. He knew that sometimes a tactical retreat was the best thing to do, but it didn't feel right to run while Blaine and the others faced trouble. "What about you guys?"

"The more of us there are, the more obvious we'll be if we try to leave," Blaine said. "And if Giovanni is here because of Ho-Oh, we have to stop him."

"Alright, I get it," Gary said reluctantly. He didn't like it, but he understood. They wanted to stop Giovanni, but Mewtwo being here added too much of a risk. "I'll take care of it." Gary was about to leave when he remembered one more thing that he'd heard about Giovanni. "Wait a second, what about Silver?"

Blaine grimaced. "Ideally, we would get him away too, but I don't know if we have time." The others didn't know that Giovanni was around.

"Then you'd better warn them," Gary pocketed the Master Ball and ran towards the nearest set of trees while Blaine rejoined the others.. He didn't plan on going far. He just couldn't bring himself to leave the others alone. He would stay out of sight, but keep himself available just in case.

Gary found a large, bushy tree. He scampered up it as quickly as he could. He wasn't nearly as good at climbing as Ash was, but he could hold his own. He'd had no choice but to become good at climbing, because there was no other way to keep up with such an energetic Ash when they were younger.

Gary climbed until he was high enough up to see the others, but low enough that the branch he was on was stable and provided plenty of cover for him. Gary could see Raikou, Suicune, and Entei running away and they were soon out of sight. So much for getting help from the legendary beasts.

Gary could tell that Blaine must have only just explained the situation. Ash looked a little nervous, but mostly incredibly concerned. He was looking at Silver, who was completely freaking out in clear anger. Ash looked like he wanted to try to calm Silver down, but Blaine held him back. Lt. Surge dealt with Silver, pinning him down to the ground. He was saying something, not to Silver, but to Ash, who looked incredibly reluctant.

Lt. Surge and Ash argued for about a minute before they all heard the sound of a helicopter. Gary clung tightly to his branch to steady himself as the helicopter approached and the wind picked up. Ash looked up anxiously before he nodded and said something to his Raichu. The pokémon looked about as happy as Ash seemed to be, but it nodded and let loose a powerful thunder wave aimed right towards Lt. Surge and Silver.

Gary suddenly realized that Lt. Surge had told Ash to paralyze Silver, because there was no other way to keep him from causing trouble. Silver was fighting the paralyzation, but it was too strong for him. Lt. Surge looked fairly paralyzed too, and he was only able to fight it off enough to pull a pokéball out of his pocket. He returned Silver.

Just as the helicopter landed, Lt. Surge dropped Silver's pokéball. It looked like he just couldn't keep his grip on it, but when Blaine came over and helped Lt. Surge up to his feet, the larger man kicked Silver's pokéball behind him. Totodile picked it up and scurried off, with Sneasel, Golbat, Abra, and Magneton behind it. Lt. Surge was keeping Silver safe from Giovanni.

Gary reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his own pokéballs. He opened it and let out Scyther. "Try to stay out of sight, but go get Totodile, and make sure it doesn't let go of that pokéball it's holding." Gary was sure that Scyther didn't understand the importance of what was going on, but it nodded and immediately left to do as he said. Gary's pokémon may not be as clingy as Ash's pokémon were, but they were obedient.

Gary only had to wait for a long moment before Scyther returned, holding Totodile and Sneazel. The ice pokémon was struggling furiously. It seemed just as angry with Giovanni as Silver was. Gary grabbed onto Sneasel and held onto it firmly.

"You're definitely Silver's pokémon," Gary muttered. He flinched when Sneasel's claws scratched at him, but he just tightened his grip. "You both hate Giovanni, and that's fine and all, but we have to stay put."

Totodile muttered happily and climbed onto Gary's shoulders. It dropped Silver's pokéball onto his lap.

"Yeah, good job," Gary said. Sneasel growled and grabbed onto Silver's pokéball, holding onto it protectively. "Look, I know I said that I would help you get back at your dad," Gary didn't know if Silver could actually hear him while he was in the pokéball, but he felt the need to say it anyways. "But now really isn't the best time."

Gary watched as a man who must be Giovanni stepped off the helicopter. Blaine and Lt. Surge both stepped protectively in front of Ash. There didn't seem to be any sign of violence, but even at this distance Gary could feel the tension. He desperately wanted to go down there and help them out, and he would if it weren't for the job that Blaine had given him. Gary had been trusted to keep Mewtwo away from Giovanni, and that was what he would do.

Gary had thought that even if he was too far away to really hear what was going on he would still be able to tell if they needed help. He would definitely be able to see if any attacking was going on, but Gary wished he'd thought things through. It looked like something was going on, but he had no idea what. The only thing he could see for sure was that Giovanni was talking to Lt. Surge, who looked like he wanted to hit the man.

A minute or so passed, and then something changed. Ash became very tense and took a step away from Lt. Surge with a shake of his head. The others were all looking at him. Giovanni was still talking, though his words were directed at Ash this time. Lt. Surge tried to say something to Ash, but the boy shook his head, looking rapidly from Giovanni to Lt. Surge in disbelief and desperation. Something was bothering him.

Blaine put a hand on Ash's shoulders and stepped in front of him, putting himself between Ash and the others. Gary didn't think it was very smart of Blaine to have his back to Giovanni, because if Giovanni was going to attack at all it would be now, but that seemed to be the last thing on the scientist's mind. Blaine's biggest concern right now was with calming down Ash.

Gary couldn't hear what was said, but whatever it was it didn't seem to be good enough for Ash. He yanked himself away from Blaine and ran towards the trees that Gary had taken refuge in. Giovanni scowled and reached for something, possibly a pokéball, but Lt. Surge shouted in frustration and lunged at him, stopping him before he could even begin to go after Ash or strike an attack.

Blaine glanced towards Ash in worry, but then he lifted his gaze right towards the tree that Gary was hiding in. Gary was sure that he couldn't see him, but he doubtless knew that he was there anyways. Blaine must sense Mewtwo's presence. The scientist nodded and then turned to help Lt. Surge with Giovanni.

Gary quickly shoved Sneasel back into Scyther's grip. "Don't let go of it." Gary quickly climbed down the tree, keeping an eye on Ash. His friend looked incredibly distracted. Ash didn't even notice him until Gary jumped down the last few feet and tackled him down, stopping him in his tracks.

"Ow...ow…" Ash groaned and tried to shove Gary off of him, but he didn't budge. "What are you doing?"

"That's what I'm wondering." Gary frowned. "What happened back there? What did Giovanni say to you, and more importantly, why did you listen to him?"

Ash hit his arm harshly. It wasn't like him. He looked towards Raichu, who had followed him, for help, but his pokémon just whined sadly and nuzzled Ash. "It doesn't matter."

"Yeah, why don't you try saying that again, and maybe you'll believe it yourself this time." Gary sat up, but continued to sit on Ash's chest just in case he wanted to run off again. Ash scowled and refused to meet his gaze. Ash looked like he was on the fence between breaking into tears and screaming furiously.

"Lt. Surge was working for him," Ash growled. "He was part of Team Rocket this whole time."

"...So?" Gary didn't understand what the big deal was.

"So? So they're bad guys!" Ash squeezed his eyes shut tight. Gary looked to the side. He really hoped that Ash didn't start crying, because he didn't want to deal with that level of emotion.

"I don't think Lt. Surge is a bad guy," Gary said. "Isn't he doing a whole bunch of stuff specifically to stop Giovanni? How can he be working for him if he's trying to stop him?"

"I...I don't know," Ash grimaced. He looked incredibly conflicted, like he believed one thing, but was trying to convince himself that it wasn't true. "Maybe...maybe it's a trick?"

"That's way too elaborate of a trick," Gary said.

"I know." Ash sighed. "Maybe he quit, like Blaine did."

Gary frowned slightly. "Blaine used to work for this guy?"

"It's where he created Mewtwo," Ash said.

"Okay, but you still trust Blaine." Gary said. "Because you know he quit. Why are you getting so worked up about Lt. Surge doing the same thing?"

"I don't even know. It's just...it's a lot." Ash groaned and put a hand over his eyes. "Koga and Sabrina said they used to work with Lt. Surge, and they seemed to know Giovanni really well, so they probably worked for him too." Ash sighed. "And Silver's Giovanni's kid. Why is everybody I know so connected to Giovanni? I don't want anything to do with him, but I can't escape it."

"Well...I have absolutely nothing to do with him or Team Rocket," Gary said. He thought it was safe to get off of Ash. The other boy sat up and gave him a slight push.

"Yeah, that makes me feel much better." Ash said. He rubbed his eyes, and he really did look much better than before. "I'm fine, really, I just wasn't expecting it, and it felt like too much all at once." Ash sighed. "I wish Lt. Surge would have just told me."

"With the way you freaked out, I don't blame him for wanting to keep it a secret."

"Ah, man," Ash groaned and pet his Raichu. "He probably thinks I hate him."

"I think his feelings will be fine," Gary raised an eyebrow at Ash. He may not have known Lt. Surge as long as Ash had, but even he could tell that the man wasn't so sensitive that he would take a child's hasty, hurt feelings personally. He was a grown man, he would be just fine. "He's kinda busy fighting with Giovanni right now to worry about what you said."

Ash's eyes widened in slight concern. "We should help him." He scrambled to his feet.

"But Lt. Surge is so strong," Gary said. He couldn't imagine a man who looked like he belonged behind a desk posing too much of a threat, but Ash was so concerned.

"Giovanni's one of the strongest trainers I've ever seen," Ash said. "And he's not afraid of hurting people. He's the one that broke Koga's ribs." Gary flinched. Maybe Ash was right to be nervous.

"I can't help," Gary said. He pulled the Master Ball out of his pocket and showed it to Ash. "Blaine told me to keep an eye on this guy."

"Mewtwo," Ash said. "We need to keep him away from Giovanni."

"And Silver too, yeah?" Gary said.

"Yeah," Ash nodded. He looked around for a moment. "Uh...where is Silver?"

"Sneasel has him, and my Scyther has Sneasel." Gary pointed up towards where he had been waiting in the tree. Ash looked up and paled.

"Uh, you mean the Scyther that has been frozen to the tree and the Sneasel that is about to let someone out of a pokéball?" Ash asked.

"What?" Gary looked up just in time to see Sneasel let Silver out. "No!" Silver didn't spare them a glance. It shook off the paralyzation and quickly flew off towards the others. It seemed that Silver didn't want to have patience. He was furious with his father, and he didn't want to sit back and let someone else fight him.

"Who are we more worried about here?" Gary asked. The angry boy who probably wasn't thinking clear enough to deal with a man who hunted legendary pokémon for a living, or the man who had no idea that this young Lugia was his son, and hated him with an intense passion.

"I don't know." Ash said. He sounded scared. "But I can't just sit here." He stood up and ran back towards the others. Gary sat there, holding the Master Ball in his hands and wondering what he was supposed to do. He hadn't signed up for any of this.

A/N: I don't really know why I really wanted to write this chapter from Gary's point of view. Like, what possessed me to think 'when I bring Giovanni back in and have Ash finally learn that his friends had all been working for Team Rocket, I'm going to do it from an outsiders perspective, and not even show that conversation actually happening'. It was kinda fun though.