"So what did Professor Oak say when you told him the news, Gary?" Tracey asked as the younger boy came walking down the path to the grass Pokémon preserve.
"Gramps was actually pretty cool with it," said Gary. "He was a little disappointed when I told him that I didn't want to stay here, but he said that he thought that what I wanted to do was great. He said that he'd get in touch with Professor Hale and see if I could go on an expedition with him."
"Professor Hale is a pretty cool guy. You'll like him," Tracey said. "Matter of fact, he's looking for a new assistant."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Skylar, his old assistant, just finished his Ph.D. and went back to Houen to teach. Maybe you could take over his spot."
"Wow, that would be great."
"And Professor Hale has a daughter too."
Gary's eyes lit up. "Really? What's she like?"
"Well, her name's Molly. She's blonde, blue eyes, real cute, and wants to be a Pokémon trainer more than anything."
Gary slicked back his spiky hair, imagining the beautiful Molly Hale swooning over the handsome, dashing Pokémon trainer known as Gary Oak. "Well, maybe the great Gary Oak can teach her everything there is to know about being a Pokémon trainer."
Tracey had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. "Oh, there's one more thing, Gary."
"What?"
"She's seven years old."
"Seven years…you sonofa…!" Tracey dodged a dirt clod that Gary sent flying in his direction. "You made me think she was a hot babe!"
"Well, she will be…in about seven or eight years from now," Tracey smiled.
"You jerk, I'm gonna kick your butt!" Gary leapt atop Tracey and the two boys started playfully wrestling.
And in another section of the grass Pokémon preserve, another pair was engaged in a playful struggle.
"Bay?" ["Give up yet?"] Bayleef had Bulbasaur in a chokehold with its Vine Whip attack.
"Bulbasaur. Bulba?" ["Not bad, Bayleef. But can you handle this?"] Bulbasaur shot a stream of Razor Leaves in Bayleef's face, causing the Pokémon to lose its grip on Bulbasaur. Then in the blink of an eye, Bulbasaur's Vine Whip shot out, seized Bayleef, and threw it to the ground.
"Bulbasaur. Bulba. Bulba-bulba-bulbasaur." ["You lose again, Bayleef. That's three out of three. You'd better keep eating your Poké Chow if you ever want to get strong enough to stand a chance against me."]
"Bay! Bayleef!" ["Just wait! You'll see!"] Bayleef dove into a nearby bowl of Poké Chow and began gulping the brown pellets with vigor.
Back in the other section of the preserve, Tracey had Gary pinned facedown on the ground and was ready to rub the boy's face into a mud puddle when a female voice caught their attention.
"What are you two idiots doing?"
Tracey looked up and saw a pair of pretty legs standing over him. "Oh, hi, Misty." He released his grip on Gary, stood up, and made an attempt to wipe the mud stains off of his shirt.
"I can't believe the two of you!" the girl said indignantly. "Tracey, just because you're jealous of Gary that doesn't give you the right to beat him up!"
"Jealous of…?" Gary stood up, wiped the mud out of his eyes, and turned to Tracey in surprise. "You're jealous of me?"
"Yeah, I was," Tracey told Gary. "Because I thought you were going to take over my job. But Gary's going to go Professor Hale's in Greenfield instead," Tracey explained to Misty. "We're friends now."
"If the two of you are friends, then why are you beating each other up?" said Misty, arching a disbelieving eyebrow.
"It's what friends do," Gary said, grinning and pointing to two Pokémon at the other end of the preserve. "Like those two."
Misty gasped in amazement at the sight of Bulbasaur and Bayleef tussling with each other. "I don't believe it! Bayleef is back on her feet again?"
"Yeah, and eating like a Snorlax," Tracey smiled. "She's going to be just fine now."
"But how…? What made Bayleef want to eat again?" asked Misty, who stared in disbelief at the two wrestling Pokémon.
"Bulbasaur kicked her butt," replied Gary. "He told her to get over Ashy-boy and get on with life. Speaking of which, how are you doing, Misty?"
"Okay," Misty replied. "I just stopped by to pick up the medicine for Politoed that Professor Oak said he'd make for me. Politoed has a bad case of Poké-itis."
"Yeah, Professor Oak said he had it ready for you. He's in the lab," Tracey told her.
"Thanks, Tracey. Well, you guys get back to fighting or being friends or whatever it was you called it." Misty replaced Ash's hat atop her red hair and headed up the path back to the lab while Gary watched with interest.
"Ash sure is one lucky guy," Gary smiled, studying Misty's legs appreciatively. "Think she'll get over him someday?"
"Forget it, Gary…she's taken," Tracey smiled. "Besides, you have Molly Hale waiting for you, remember?"
"Molly…? You bastard, I'm gonna kick your butt for leading me on like that!"
Gary dove at Tracey, and the two boys fell into a huge mud puddle with a loud splat.
To be continued…
