Chapter 23
"One Of A Kind"
Pikachu was on my shoulder, and Persian was sitting next to me. I rang the doorbell of the Oak house.
Last time I did this……was a whole year ago…
* * *
I wonder if Gary's as excited as I am…
I rang the doorbell to his house. I needed some way to relieve my nervousness, and talking to either Gary or Mayo always helped.
Their mom opened the door.
"Hi, Ash! Are you looking for May?"
"Well…Actually, either one is fine," I said, and laughed as if it was a joke.
She nodded. "Okay. Gary's in his room, but May is-"
"Asha!!"
"Mayo!" I laughed.
She hugged me tightly, and her mom closed the door behind us.
"Do you really have to leave tomorrow?" she asked, still hugging me as tightly as she could.
"Yeah. I have to start my Pokémon journey and become the best in the world!" I replied.
"Even better than Gary?" she asked with a giggle.
"…Even better than Gary!" I said proudly.
"You wish!!" came a new voice.
We both looked up and Mayo finally had to let go of me.
"You're never even going to come close, Ash!" Gary told me, "I bet you don't even know which Pokémon you're gonna choose tomorrow."
"Um…Of…course…I…do……" I lied.
"You'd better get there early then, 'cause I'm gonna pick the very best one of all!"
"Uhh…Which one is that?" I asked.
"That's none of your business! Besides, if you'd actually spent any time going over the options, you would already know which one is the best!"
"…They all kinda looked good to me……"
Gary had been getting angry at me a lot lately. I wasn't used to it…I'd always thought that we were friends…
"They're not all good," Gary stated, "You'll see, Ash. Once we get started, you'll find out who's going to be the master."
I didn't say anything. I couldn't understand why he was being so mean……
"Oh, don't worry about him, Asha," Mayo said, "If you want, we can look at them all in my room. I've got books from Grandpa."
"Okay," I said.
Gary watched us as we went to Mayo's room.
"It's too late to start studying now, Ash," he said, "You'd better hope you don't get there early so you don't have any choice."
I finally decided to ignore him. By tomorrow, I would know which Pokémon I wanted to start off with…and I was going to get it too.
* * *
It was taking a while for someone to get the door. Mayo was the one who finally opened it. She gasped softly and her eyes got really big.
"Asha…!!"
"The one and only," I grinned.
"M…"
She grabbed me and squeezed as hard as she could, which was even tighter than last time.
"m…ayo…?" I gasped.
She didn't let go.
"Don't ever try to kill yourself again!" she whispered.
"I…"
I somehow managed to pry her off of me.
"I didn't try to kill myself," I said, "I just needed to help Billie, or she might be dead right now…So everything turned out for the best, right?"
"I…I guess so……"
"Hey, May! Who's………"
We looked up. Gary was standing at the top of the stairs and was staring at me. It took a while, but he realized that he was staring. He crossed his arms and looked away.
"So you decided to come back from the dead…"
"I didn't die, Gary."
"It doesn't matter…I…knew you were alive anyway……Even if…Even if you were dead……it wasn't like I missed you anyway…Right, May?"
"What are you-!?" she started.
"Well, Ash……I guess it's kind of a good thing that you're alive……but it means I'm not Pallet's top trainer anymore………Hmmph……Well, I've got to go. There are things that I need to take care of……"
He went back upstairs.
"……Asha, he really did miss you," Mayo said quietly, "…You should have seen him……I've never seen him act that way before…………At least he's back to normal now………"
I just nodded.
"We're going back to Indigo so I can challenge Lance again…You want to come with us?" I asked.
"Uh……Yeah!………What about Gary?"
"…………You can ask him if he wants to come……but if he doesn't then………that's okay too………I'll meet you guys at the edge of town, okay?"
"Okay, Asha."
She went upstairs and I backed out of the house. I closed the door. I tried not to think about what Gary had said……
"Even if you were dead, it wasn't like I missed you anyway…"
…He didn't miss me?…I missed him……How could he say something like that…?…If I thought he was dead, I would miss him……
"Pikapi?"
'You okay?'
I nodded.
"…Let's go, you guys……I said I'd meet them at the edge of town…I don't want to disappoint them……"
"Pi?"
'Huh?'
* * *
I had no idea what time it was, but I knew that if I didn't hurry up, I would be late. I only gave myself enough time to throw on my shoes and dash out the door. I didn't even bother to change out of my pajamas.
Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander, anyone's fine, just please, save one for me!
"Gary, Gary! He's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!"
I didn't know who all those people were, but I had to get to Professor Oak's lab, and they were in the way.
"Oh! Sorry! Excuse Me!" I said as I pushed through the crowd.
I bumped headfirst into someone and got knocked down.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" I heard Gary say, "Well, you must be Ash. Better late than never, I guess. At least you get the chance to meet me."
I stood up.
"Gary?" I asked in total surprise.
Why is he acting as if we don't know each other…?
"Mr. Gary to you. Show some respect!"
Huh!?
"Well Ash, you snooze you lose. And you're way behind from the start. I've got a Pokémon and you don't."
"You…got your first Pokémon?"
"That's right, loser. And it's right inside this Pokéball."
"Let's go Gary, let's go! Yeah! Yeah! Let's go Gary!"
I looked back at the girls who looked a lot like cheerleaders.
Where did these guys come from, and why are they cheering for Gary??
"Thank you, fans! Thank you all for this great honor! I promise you that I will become a Pokémon Master, and make the town of Pallet known all round the world!"
The crowd started cheering.
"Excuse me," I said to Gary.
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of Pokémon you got," I said.
There's no reason he won't tell me, right?
"N-none of your business!" he retorted "If you showed up on time, you would've seen that I got the best Pokémon from Professor Oak. It's good to have a grandfather in the Pokémon business, isn't it?"
He got the best one?…Just like he said he would……but why is he acting so strange…?
He got in a red car with one of the cheerleaders and waved goodbye.
"Thank you for coming out to see history in the making! Now I, Gary Oak, am off to learn the ways of the Pokémon trainer!"
The car started to drive off, and the crowd of people followed after him. I couldn't believe what was going on.
"Rr…I'll show you!" I growled after he had left.
Your grandfather may be in the Pokémon business, but good Pokémon care runs in my family too! And I don't even need that!
* * *
…It runs in my family, huh…?………Yeah right…
I sighed. Somehow, all the confidence that I had found again…had run off again……
…Gary………