Okay.I'll try to do one day per chapter.about 22 chapters, including this
one.let me know what you think!
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Champion Hall.The ultimate in high-class dining, used only for Pokemon Master's official banquets. It was currently as Ultimate Pokemon Master Gary Oak walked through it. He reverently ran his hands over the smooth statues of the trainers that had come before."Gerahid," he murmured, "From Tintia. They're nothing but a bunch of ruffians now," he moved down several statues and came upon one that looked familiar, as well it should. "Gramps," he murmured, a slight smile playing across his face.
"PERVERT!" came an enraged female screech through a doorway across the room. Gary glanced down at his Espeon, up at Arcanine-they traveled loyally at his side through thick and thin, and had gotten him through many scrapes with the ineffectual Rockets. Gary shrugged and headed for the door.
Before he could get to the doorway, however, a kid a head smaller than he was stepped backwards through it, hands up as if defending himself from a blow, his little electric rat sitting on his shoulder. Gary felt a tiny grin tugging at the corner of his lips, "Ash," he murmured. Ash Ketchum, long-time rival, ever since Gary had started on his journey, in fact. Gary had gotten to Oak's lab first, and had gotten a Charmander.
Ash had, for some reason, become hostile, and, Gary had to admit, that he had been acting childish. But, hey! He had told Ash, that had been eleven years ago! Let bygones be bygones, and be friends again. Well, that's what he had meant to tell Ash, but he hadn't been able to, what with keeping the whole league running, the now daily challenges from kids that were only twelve, and the press conferences.
In hindsight, he realized, he had been a little mean to Ash, but he always cared about his Pokemon. For example, his Charmander didn't want to be a trained Pokemon, so, as soon as Gary had caught a Growlithe, his first caught Pokemon, he had sent Charmander back to his Grandfather, who he held in the highest regard. Gary shook his head. Once again, in hindsight, both he and Ash had been too young to start out on their journeys, which was why he had raised the minimum age of Pokemon licenses to twelve.
He had heard that Tintia, home of his greatest hero, Gerahid, was from, had raised their age limit for starting trainers to fourteen. They always had to have the highest age, he thought. Gerahid, the only person who he respected more than his grandfather, was an ancient Pokemon warrior who had come out of the reclusivistic country Tintia to conquer all of what was now Johto and Kanto, then returned the land, saying that he had simply wanted to win a bet.
Now, he was immortalized as one of the first Pokemon Masters, the one, in fact, that showed the pitiful trainers of that age, who used mainly Rattatas and the Magikarp, who had even then deteriorated to pitiful strength, in honor of those Pokemon's much more powerful past. Gary shook his head, it kind of reminded him of the Rockets. They were still using Koffing, Rattata, and Meowth, even thought more powerful Pokemon had been discovered.
Gary was trying to copy Gerahid, to the extent of, in fact, the choice of his own team. Gerahid had had an Arcanine; an Espeon; a Moyferar, a strange Ice Pokemon that had then been plentiful, but had been hunted until near extinction because of their beautiful fur; a Kingdra, the ultimate in dragon/water fighting Pokemon; a Murkrow, the strange Dark/Flying type, and an Ampharos, the Sheep Electric Pokemon.
Gary looked down at his belt, feeling the single unfilled place on his Pokeball snap-on addable deeply. According to his Pokedex, Moyferar lived in a mountain in Johto, Kanto, and Tintia. Exactly which mountains those were, he hadn't been able to find out, not even by hacking into his own Pokedex. He rolled his eyes, and heard Espeon's silent chuckle. He had ended up going to jail for that.hacking into his own Pokedex. It was a bigpress story, but it had ended by all of the media that had covered the event printing or airing an apology to him once they had discovered the truth.
All told, it was pretty embarrassing to have to admit that the reason he had hacked into his Pokedex was to find out the location of a Pokemon, but he gained some face by telling everyone that it was extremely rare, he wanted it really badly, and that it was the final Pokemon he didn't have that Gerahid had had.
"SICKO!" a girl with red hair stormed into the room, and Gary recognized her as Misty. She was somewhat of an enigma. On one hand, she liked, maybe more than that, Ash, but she got upset with him over the smallest things. Gary didn't know how many bets he had lost with Brock, the two trainer's companion, about how soon it would be until both knew that they liked each other.
"Misty!" came a voice from back in the room behind Misty, "Be reasonable!" Brock Slate, of course. "It was a foolish accident!" Brock was the steady point in Misty and Ash's relationship, and, Gary believed, the only thing that kept the two from biting each other's heads off. He was tanned, had spiky, dark brown hair, and had finally gotten glasses, so he didn't have to squint all the time.
However, Brock complained that now all the girls could tell where he was looking, but Gary had laughed and told him not to worry. "It'll teach you a thing or two about a woman scorned! Besides, their comments might help you get girls!" that last comment had been what had done it. And, somehow, he had been latched onto a cute, petite woman that had graduated from Kanto's finest college. She constantly that wore a lab-coat everywhere, even to formal occasions, for the past three years. But, perhaps, Brock liked repetition. He surely got it from sleeping in his clothes every night.
"He sure is a fool, all right!" Misty snapped back, nearly causing Brock to run up her back, she stopped so quickly. She whirled around to face Brock, "And I'm not so sure it was an accident! A certain someone," she turned back on Ash, "Drilled a hole through the lady's room!"
Gary watched in amusement as Brock turned bright red, well, as red as he could with that dark tan of his, and scratched the back of his neck. Gary began walking forward, shaking his head, "Misty, don't worry about it. He's just trying to compensate for not having a steady."
Brock gave Gary an appreciative smile, "Yeah, Misty, he's just feeling bad for himself that he can't-"
Misty whirled around, "Mr. Married Person, I don't want to hear about it from you!"
Gary raised an eyebrow, "You got married to her?"
Brock blushed again, "Well, it was a small service in Pallet. I didn't know that Oak-er, your grandfather, was a Justice of the Peace."
"Ah," Gary said, he raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Misty, "Wrath has no fury?"
"Like a woman scorned," Brock completed Gary's phrase, and tried to hide his fit of giggling from Misty, who glared at him, "uh.no, I don't think so."
"Hey!" Ash called out, approaching Misty, "Have I turned invisible?"
Misty's response was to whirl around, fist extended, and nailed Ash right in the nose, "NO! I want to know WHY you were passing by the Lady's changing room in the first place! How long have you been snooping?" Gary sneaked a glance at Brock and saw him looking around, a hand scratching the back of his neck once more. Gary snickered, Brock would never change.
"You find something funny about this, Mister?" Misty demanded, taking a step towards him, "Because if you do-" she ran into Espeon's hastily erected Barrier.
"Please continue, Miss Waterflower, because I DO find this amusing," Gary said in his politest tone.
"THAT'S MISS WATERFLOWER TO YOU, SCUMBAG!" Misty threatened, then, realizing what had been said, "Uh.MISS WATER MASTER WATERFLOWER TO YOU, SCUMBAG!"
Gary grinned, "Do you want to take me on, then?"
Misty paled, "Uh, no, no."
Gary stepped forward, "Because I'm sure that my Kingdra alone could defeat your entire team."
One of his aides hurried up, "Oh, good! You're both here! Master Gary, Master Ash, Water Master Misty, Rock Master Brock, I want to let you all know that the camp is all arranged!"
Ash, Misty, and Brock turned towards Gary, "Camp? What camp?" they asked together.
Gary smacked his forehead, "I told you to keep this quiet," he muttered.
"Oh!" the aide replied, "But since four of the six head counselors are here, I saw no reason to hide it from them."
"Head counselors?" the incredulous trio asked. "Gary, What's going on?" asked Brock.
Gary grinned, "Oh, didn't I tell you? You're all being formally requested to help in a camp for new trainers! Think about it.this is the ultimate treat! At the end of the three week course-"
"THREE WEEKS?" Misty interrupted, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??? I can't take three weeks out of my schedule! Think about all the people that are going to come to my gym!"
"-They will become Pokemon League trainers in good standing. They'll be trained to know what to do in any situation. Besides, Misty, your sisters will be able to hold the fort, or, in this case, gym." He quipped.
"But, my wife! Her research!" Brock protested.
"She agreed. She's one of the teachers, the science teacher, actually, and she'll have a state of the art laboratory." Gary shot down Brock's argument smoothly, "Think about it, a place of exploration, excitement, and discovery! Slides, a computer lab filled with computer games that'll help train trainers, an all you can eat buffet, and a kitchen."
Ash frowned, and Misty and Brock looked to him to put up a last resistance, "Will there be Ketchup there?" he asked, and Misty and Brock let out frustrated breaths, probably because of his stupid question wasn't their best idea of getting out of this.
"Why do you need to know if there'll be Ketchup there?" Misty demanded.
"Because I want to make sure that Pikachu doesn't go into withdrawal," Ash replied calmly.
Gary grinned, "I think the term all you can eat is for both Pokemon and humans."
Ash brightened, "All right! We're in!"
Brock sighed, he couldn't expect anything less, since they had left it up to Ash. "One question, Gary, about the other two head counselors. Who are they?"
Three days later, they were standing in a terminal at an airport in Alto, an island nation far to the north of Kanto. Gary recalled that it was on this island that Gerahid had discovered the Tlondike, a strange Rock/Ice Pokemon found only on the island. Alto was almost directly north of Tintia, where his greatest hero was born, raised, and died.
"Where are they?" Misty huffed, "They're late!"
Ash pressed his face close to her watch, "They're not late," he looked up at her face, "Your watch is just fast."
He was on the ground before he knew what was happening, "PERVERT!" Misty screamed, "YOU WERE LOOKING AT, AT, AT-DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!!"
Gary's ears burned as he heard Misty's spiteful words, and a quick glance at Brock showed that the same embarrassment. His embarrassment was heightened further as he heard a voice from behind, "Calm down, you're making a scene!"
Gary turned to the source of the voice, and found a young man, maybe a year younger than he was, with red hair perfectly parted in the middle, shades, a leather jacket, and jeans. Behind him, he saw a girl with blond hair that was drawn back into a ponytail, also wearing shades, a leather jacket, and jeans. "I'm Mitch," the boy said, slowly, carefully taking off his sunglasses. With no glasses, Misty could see deep green eyes. He jerked a finger over his shoulder, "This is Katrina." He put his shades in a pocket of his jacket, and Misty saw, much to her disappointment, a wedding ring on his finger, and a matching one on Katrina's finger. "We're staying in Camp Hope, I believe I read in the job description. Interesting you asked for us personally. Most people think Tintians are stuck-up, thieving people."
"Gary," Misty vocalized in a low, threatening tone, "you invited TINTIANS to the camp? WERE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? We'll have to put locks on all the- "
She was cut off by Ash pushing past her and sticking out his hand, "Hi! I'm Ash Ketchum, someday Ultimate Pokemon Master!"
Misty hissed at him, "Ash! They're gonna steal your watch!"
Mitch withdrew his hand slowly, and stepped back a pace, seeming to have been deeply hurt, "It appears," he murmured, "That our country's false reputation precedes us."
Brock stepped forward with a grin on his face, "Forgive Misty, she's, well, unique." He inserted the last part in response to Misty glaring at him.
Gary, meanwhile, seemed to be staring at Katrina, "Wow," he said, and that seemed to be all he could say.
Misty punched him in the face, "She's just a girl!" She shouted.
"A wife," Ash corrected. "Because she's a wife. I know because she's got a wedding ring on. That means she's married."
Misty, Brock, Gary, Katrina, and Mitch sweatdropped. "Yeah, great observation, Ash!" Mitch praised him sarcastically, "I didn't know that she was my wife and I was married to her."
"Really?" Ash asked, genuinely curious.
Everyone ignored him this time, and Gary asked Mitch, "How did you get a Moyferar?"
"A what very far?" Misty asked, now more confused than Ash, if that were possible.
Mitch grinned, "A Moyferar. They're snow-dogs, pure white. They are said to evolve, but I've never seen one happen, and never heard of it in my lifetime. The evolution does happen though, and the new Pokemon is called Moyfair. It has silver streaks running down the length of its body, from the tip of its nose-over, under, and to either side, and running along the length of its body. The top and bottom streaks split and run to the ends of its legs, and to the end of its tail. Also, its left eye is gray, as opposed to the Moyferar's blue. It is a great accomplishment to catch one, and," He handed a Pokeball reverently to Gary, looking the champion straight in the eye, "a sign of great respect. They're a very large part of Tintian mythology, which is why I know so much."
Gary looked at the Pokeball, and set it on the ground, treating it as reverently as Mitch had. Looking up, he got the man's approving semi-nod, seeming to be only Gary that could see it. "Pokeball go!" he murmured, still kneeling down, looking at the Pokeball.
For a split second, nothing happened, and Misty grabbed Gary's shirt and pulled him back, "It's a bomb!" Gary reached out for the Pokeball, and his fingertips only brushed it before he was pulled away. Immediately, a shaft of red light emanated from the Pokeball, and materialized into a Moyferar. It looked up at Gary with its tongue lolling over to one side.
Gary looked up at Mitch, tears glistening in his eyes, "I, Mitch, I don't know what to say! This, this is the last Pokemon I needed! Now I have Gerahid's team!"
"Actually," Katrina replied, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "He also had an Asgiriath and a Hoay, in addition to the Pokemon on our team."
Gary rolled his eyes good-naturedly as he tried to get up while keeping the Moyferar from licking his face, "Great! There's always something I don't know!"
"That's it!" Katrina said into her microphone from her place in her plane's pilot's seat, "Camp Hope. You guys okay back there?"
"Yeah," Mitch chimed in on the same frequency, "I hope you're enjoying it!" He took his plane through a swift, tight spiral at high speed. "I LOVE these jet fighters we have."
"FIGHTERS?" Misty screeched, "We are SO dead!"
Gary groaned, "As much as I hate to admit it, Misty is right."
"Don't worry, Misty, Gary, we own these," Katrina assured them, "Well, since we're in the Tintian military and went through flight school and everything, not to mention the two years of mandatory military school."
"What?" Brock asked, just as Mitch pulled his fighter out of his spiral, and went straight up at high speed. After he had expelled the contents of his stomach into a barf bag, he asked, "Mandatory military school?"
"It's one of the reason no one's invaded us for a loooong time," Mitch informed Brock, "Besides, since every Tintian citizen is in the military, it helps with the lawyers-they're banned from the country-and the murder rate."
Gary snorted, "Sounds like you've got a fix for all the world's problems, get rid of the lawyers and bureaucrats!"
Katrina laughed, the warmth not quite making it past the radio static, "Actually, we have a small bureaucracy, but nothing to the extent of Kanto or Johto, and especially nothing to the extent of the Indigo and Johto Leagues."
"You saying the organization of the League is too big?" Gary demanded hotly, "Because if that's what you meant-"
"Gary, chill. I was just using it as an example! That's all, okay?" Katrina cut him off quickly.
The planes landed smoothly, forestalling more argument. Katrina popped her hatch first, "Glad they built the airstrip out here," she commented to Mitch, "I didn't want to land on the road again." She jumped out of her plane and to the ground, hitting it a second before Mitch did.
Slowly, Gary climbed out of the fighter, legs still wobbling, "Uh, I'm not sure if I can walk.you two turned my legs into noodles."
Ash hopped out of the other plane, and Brock appeared behind where he had been, "It's not THAT bad, Gary!" Ash said cheerfully, "It was actually pretty fun!"
Gary fumbled with his foot for a step, and realized, panicking, that there wasn't one, and felt Katrina pull him down. Somehow, he managed to avoid landing on his neck or head, and glared at Katrina, "I could have died! What was that for?"
"You were taking too long," she replied coolly, "Now let Misty get on your shoulders."
"What?" Gary demanded, "Why?"
"Because you are a guy, and she is a girl." Mitch replied, having pulled Brock down from his jet. "That's the way it is in Tintia."
Gary shook his head, "Uh uh! No way am I going to-" he stopped talking as Mitch shrugged and moved to where Misty could step on his shoulders. After she had done so, Ash helped her the rest of the way.
"Thanks Ash!" she said, unwrapping herself from his arms. Brock and she hurried over to Emily Slate, Brock's wife, who had come out of a building to meet them.
Ash stared off after her, "So that's why people get married," Gary smiled, thankful that Ash had finally figured it out, and murmured reverently, "So they can help their wife out."
Gary Face-faulted, "No, Ash, that isn't why people get married. They get married because-" Katrina looked over at him, a you're-telling-a-little-kid- about-Santa? expression on her face, "because then they can hug."
Ash thought about this for a moment, "Then why does Misty hug her sisters?"
Emily hugged Misty, "It's so good to see you, Misty! I've missed you." She let the carrot top go, and looked at Brock, "Hello, hot stuff! My husband isn't here right now, would you like to come in?"
Emily Slate was about five two, lean build, and had blue eyes, along with the lab coat Brock said went everywhere. Misty imagined that it probably went over the lampstand, the TV, the radio, a vase or two of flowers, and Emily's lab notes and equipment at night. Misty looked away as she knew Brock and Emily were about to kiss. Glancing at her watch, she noted the second they started. Finally, they released each other. "Ha!" Misty said, "That was two minutes without air! You two could go diving for treasure!"
Brock grinned, "I sure could!"
Misty averted her eyes as Brock kissed his wife, for a long time, again. "I didn't mean it like that, Brock."
Emily looked up as the others came, "Oh, there's so much work to be done! Cutting the grass, mending the fences, applying another layer of paint, cleaning the cabins, cleaning the kitchen, and stocking the freezer and cupboards. Brock," she said, beckoning him with a finger, "I need your help with my experiments."
"I bet you do," Mitch muttered under his breath as the door closed on the two. He glanced at Katrina knowingly, "So, who wants to polish the windows." Insantly, Gary's hand shot up.
"Thanks for volunteering, Misty," Katrina said.
"HEY!" Gary said, "I volunteered!"
"Yes," Katrina replied sweetly, "and I volunteered Misty!"
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Champion Hall.The ultimate in high-class dining, used only for Pokemon Master's official banquets. It was currently as Ultimate Pokemon Master Gary Oak walked through it. He reverently ran his hands over the smooth statues of the trainers that had come before."Gerahid," he murmured, "From Tintia. They're nothing but a bunch of ruffians now," he moved down several statues and came upon one that looked familiar, as well it should. "Gramps," he murmured, a slight smile playing across his face.
"PERVERT!" came an enraged female screech through a doorway across the room. Gary glanced down at his Espeon, up at Arcanine-they traveled loyally at his side through thick and thin, and had gotten him through many scrapes with the ineffectual Rockets. Gary shrugged and headed for the door.
Before he could get to the doorway, however, a kid a head smaller than he was stepped backwards through it, hands up as if defending himself from a blow, his little electric rat sitting on his shoulder. Gary felt a tiny grin tugging at the corner of his lips, "Ash," he murmured. Ash Ketchum, long-time rival, ever since Gary had started on his journey, in fact. Gary had gotten to Oak's lab first, and had gotten a Charmander.
Ash had, for some reason, become hostile, and, Gary had to admit, that he had been acting childish. But, hey! He had told Ash, that had been eleven years ago! Let bygones be bygones, and be friends again. Well, that's what he had meant to tell Ash, but he hadn't been able to, what with keeping the whole league running, the now daily challenges from kids that were only twelve, and the press conferences.
In hindsight, he realized, he had been a little mean to Ash, but he always cared about his Pokemon. For example, his Charmander didn't want to be a trained Pokemon, so, as soon as Gary had caught a Growlithe, his first caught Pokemon, he had sent Charmander back to his Grandfather, who he held in the highest regard. Gary shook his head. Once again, in hindsight, both he and Ash had been too young to start out on their journeys, which was why he had raised the minimum age of Pokemon licenses to twelve.
He had heard that Tintia, home of his greatest hero, Gerahid, was from, had raised their age limit for starting trainers to fourteen. They always had to have the highest age, he thought. Gerahid, the only person who he respected more than his grandfather, was an ancient Pokemon warrior who had come out of the reclusivistic country Tintia to conquer all of what was now Johto and Kanto, then returned the land, saying that he had simply wanted to win a bet.
Now, he was immortalized as one of the first Pokemon Masters, the one, in fact, that showed the pitiful trainers of that age, who used mainly Rattatas and the Magikarp, who had even then deteriorated to pitiful strength, in honor of those Pokemon's much more powerful past. Gary shook his head, it kind of reminded him of the Rockets. They were still using Koffing, Rattata, and Meowth, even thought more powerful Pokemon had been discovered.
Gary was trying to copy Gerahid, to the extent of, in fact, the choice of his own team. Gerahid had had an Arcanine; an Espeon; a Moyferar, a strange Ice Pokemon that had then been plentiful, but had been hunted until near extinction because of their beautiful fur; a Kingdra, the ultimate in dragon/water fighting Pokemon; a Murkrow, the strange Dark/Flying type, and an Ampharos, the Sheep Electric Pokemon.
Gary looked down at his belt, feeling the single unfilled place on his Pokeball snap-on addable deeply. According to his Pokedex, Moyferar lived in a mountain in Johto, Kanto, and Tintia. Exactly which mountains those were, he hadn't been able to find out, not even by hacking into his own Pokedex. He rolled his eyes, and heard Espeon's silent chuckle. He had ended up going to jail for that.hacking into his own Pokedex. It was a bigpress story, but it had ended by all of the media that had covered the event printing or airing an apology to him once they had discovered the truth.
All told, it was pretty embarrassing to have to admit that the reason he had hacked into his Pokedex was to find out the location of a Pokemon, but he gained some face by telling everyone that it was extremely rare, he wanted it really badly, and that it was the final Pokemon he didn't have that Gerahid had had.
"SICKO!" a girl with red hair stormed into the room, and Gary recognized her as Misty. She was somewhat of an enigma. On one hand, she liked, maybe more than that, Ash, but she got upset with him over the smallest things. Gary didn't know how many bets he had lost with Brock, the two trainer's companion, about how soon it would be until both knew that they liked each other.
"Misty!" came a voice from back in the room behind Misty, "Be reasonable!" Brock Slate, of course. "It was a foolish accident!" Brock was the steady point in Misty and Ash's relationship, and, Gary believed, the only thing that kept the two from biting each other's heads off. He was tanned, had spiky, dark brown hair, and had finally gotten glasses, so he didn't have to squint all the time.
However, Brock complained that now all the girls could tell where he was looking, but Gary had laughed and told him not to worry. "It'll teach you a thing or two about a woman scorned! Besides, their comments might help you get girls!" that last comment had been what had done it. And, somehow, he had been latched onto a cute, petite woman that had graduated from Kanto's finest college. She constantly that wore a lab-coat everywhere, even to formal occasions, for the past three years. But, perhaps, Brock liked repetition. He surely got it from sleeping in his clothes every night.
"He sure is a fool, all right!" Misty snapped back, nearly causing Brock to run up her back, she stopped so quickly. She whirled around to face Brock, "And I'm not so sure it was an accident! A certain someone," she turned back on Ash, "Drilled a hole through the lady's room!"
Gary watched in amusement as Brock turned bright red, well, as red as he could with that dark tan of his, and scratched the back of his neck. Gary began walking forward, shaking his head, "Misty, don't worry about it. He's just trying to compensate for not having a steady."
Brock gave Gary an appreciative smile, "Yeah, Misty, he's just feeling bad for himself that he can't-"
Misty whirled around, "Mr. Married Person, I don't want to hear about it from you!"
Gary raised an eyebrow, "You got married to her?"
Brock blushed again, "Well, it was a small service in Pallet. I didn't know that Oak-er, your grandfather, was a Justice of the Peace."
"Ah," Gary said, he raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Misty, "Wrath has no fury?"
"Like a woman scorned," Brock completed Gary's phrase, and tried to hide his fit of giggling from Misty, who glared at him, "uh.no, I don't think so."
"Hey!" Ash called out, approaching Misty, "Have I turned invisible?"
Misty's response was to whirl around, fist extended, and nailed Ash right in the nose, "NO! I want to know WHY you were passing by the Lady's changing room in the first place! How long have you been snooping?" Gary sneaked a glance at Brock and saw him looking around, a hand scratching the back of his neck once more. Gary snickered, Brock would never change.
"You find something funny about this, Mister?" Misty demanded, taking a step towards him, "Because if you do-" she ran into Espeon's hastily erected Barrier.
"Please continue, Miss Waterflower, because I DO find this amusing," Gary said in his politest tone.
"THAT'S MISS WATERFLOWER TO YOU, SCUMBAG!" Misty threatened, then, realizing what had been said, "Uh.MISS WATER MASTER WATERFLOWER TO YOU, SCUMBAG!"
Gary grinned, "Do you want to take me on, then?"
Misty paled, "Uh, no, no."
Gary stepped forward, "Because I'm sure that my Kingdra alone could defeat your entire team."
One of his aides hurried up, "Oh, good! You're both here! Master Gary, Master Ash, Water Master Misty, Rock Master Brock, I want to let you all know that the camp is all arranged!"
Ash, Misty, and Brock turned towards Gary, "Camp? What camp?" they asked together.
Gary smacked his forehead, "I told you to keep this quiet," he muttered.
"Oh!" the aide replied, "But since four of the six head counselors are here, I saw no reason to hide it from them."
"Head counselors?" the incredulous trio asked. "Gary, What's going on?" asked Brock.
Gary grinned, "Oh, didn't I tell you? You're all being formally requested to help in a camp for new trainers! Think about it.this is the ultimate treat! At the end of the three week course-"
"THREE WEEKS?" Misty interrupted, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??? I can't take three weeks out of my schedule! Think about all the people that are going to come to my gym!"
"-They will become Pokemon League trainers in good standing. They'll be trained to know what to do in any situation. Besides, Misty, your sisters will be able to hold the fort, or, in this case, gym." He quipped.
"But, my wife! Her research!" Brock protested.
"She agreed. She's one of the teachers, the science teacher, actually, and she'll have a state of the art laboratory." Gary shot down Brock's argument smoothly, "Think about it, a place of exploration, excitement, and discovery! Slides, a computer lab filled with computer games that'll help train trainers, an all you can eat buffet, and a kitchen."
Ash frowned, and Misty and Brock looked to him to put up a last resistance, "Will there be Ketchup there?" he asked, and Misty and Brock let out frustrated breaths, probably because of his stupid question wasn't their best idea of getting out of this.
"Why do you need to know if there'll be Ketchup there?" Misty demanded.
"Because I want to make sure that Pikachu doesn't go into withdrawal," Ash replied calmly.
Gary grinned, "I think the term all you can eat is for both Pokemon and humans."
Ash brightened, "All right! We're in!"
Brock sighed, he couldn't expect anything less, since they had left it up to Ash. "One question, Gary, about the other two head counselors. Who are they?"
Three days later, they were standing in a terminal at an airport in Alto, an island nation far to the north of Kanto. Gary recalled that it was on this island that Gerahid had discovered the Tlondike, a strange Rock/Ice Pokemon found only on the island. Alto was almost directly north of Tintia, where his greatest hero was born, raised, and died.
"Where are they?" Misty huffed, "They're late!"
Ash pressed his face close to her watch, "They're not late," he looked up at her face, "Your watch is just fast."
He was on the ground before he knew what was happening, "PERVERT!" Misty screamed, "YOU WERE LOOKING AT, AT, AT-DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!!"
Gary's ears burned as he heard Misty's spiteful words, and a quick glance at Brock showed that the same embarrassment. His embarrassment was heightened further as he heard a voice from behind, "Calm down, you're making a scene!"
Gary turned to the source of the voice, and found a young man, maybe a year younger than he was, with red hair perfectly parted in the middle, shades, a leather jacket, and jeans. Behind him, he saw a girl with blond hair that was drawn back into a ponytail, also wearing shades, a leather jacket, and jeans. "I'm Mitch," the boy said, slowly, carefully taking off his sunglasses. With no glasses, Misty could see deep green eyes. He jerked a finger over his shoulder, "This is Katrina." He put his shades in a pocket of his jacket, and Misty saw, much to her disappointment, a wedding ring on his finger, and a matching one on Katrina's finger. "We're staying in Camp Hope, I believe I read in the job description. Interesting you asked for us personally. Most people think Tintians are stuck-up, thieving people."
"Gary," Misty vocalized in a low, threatening tone, "you invited TINTIANS to the camp? WERE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? We'll have to put locks on all the- "
She was cut off by Ash pushing past her and sticking out his hand, "Hi! I'm Ash Ketchum, someday Ultimate Pokemon Master!"
Misty hissed at him, "Ash! They're gonna steal your watch!"
Mitch withdrew his hand slowly, and stepped back a pace, seeming to have been deeply hurt, "It appears," he murmured, "That our country's false reputation precedes us."
Brock stepped forward with a grin on his face, "Forgive Misty, she's, well, unique." He inserted the last part in response to Misty glaring at him.
Gary, meanwhile, seemed to be staring at Katrina, "Wow," he said, and that seemed to be all he could say.
Misty punched him in the face, "She's just a girl!" She shouted.
"A wife," Ash corrected. "Because she's a wife. I know because she's got a wedding ring on. That means she's married."
Misty, Brock, Gary, Katrina, and Mitch sweatdropped. "Yeah, great observation, Ash!" Mitch praised him sarcastically, "I didn't know that she was my wife and I was married to her."
"Really?" Ash asked, genuinely curious.
Everyone ignored him this time, and Gary asked Mitch, "How did you get a Moyferar?"
"A what very far?" Misty asked, now more confused than Ash, if that were possible.
Mitch grinned, "A Moyferar. They're snow-dogs, pure white. They are said to evolve, but I've never seen one happen, and never heard of it in my lifetime. The evolution does happen though, and the new Pokemon is called Moyfair. It has silver streaks running down the length of its body, from the tip of its nose-over, under, and to either side, and running along the length of its body. The top and bottom streaks split and run to the ends of its legs, and to the end of its tail. Also, its left eye is gray, as opposed to the Moyferar's blue. It is a great accomplishment to catch one, and," He handed a Pokeball reverently to Gary, looking the champion straight in the eye, "a sign of great respect. They're a very large part of Tintian mythology, which is why I know so much."
Gary looked at the Pokeball, and set it on the ground, treating it as reverently as Mitch had. Looking up, he got the man's approving semi-nod, seeming to be only Gary that could see it. "Pokeball go!" he murmured, still kneeling down, looking at the Pokeball.
For a split second, nothing happened, and Misty grabbed Gary's shirt and pulled him back, "It's a bomb!" Gary reached out for the Pokeball, and his fingertips only brushed it before he was pulled away. Immediately, a shaft of red light emanated from the Pokeball, and materialized into a Moyferar. It looked up at Gary with its tongue lolling over to one side.
Gary looked up at Mitch, tears glistening in his eyes, "I, Mitch, I don't know what to say! This, this is the last Pokemon I needed! Now I have Gerahid's team!"
"Actually," Katrina replied, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "He also had an Asgiriath and a Hoay, in addition to the Pokemon on our team."
Gary rolled his eyes good-naturedly as he tried to get up while keeping the Moyferar from licking his face, "Great! There's always something I don't know!"
"That's it!" Katrina said into her microphone from her place in her plane's pilot's seat, "Camp Hope. You guys okay back there?"
"Yeah," Mitch chimed in on the same frequency, "I hope you're enjoying it!" He took his plane through a swift, tight spiral at high speed. "I LOVE these jet fighters we have."
"FIGHTERS?" Misty screeched, "We are SO dead!"
Gary groaned, "As much as I hate to admit it, Misty is right."
"Don't worry, Misty, Gary, we own these," Katrina assured them, "Well, since we're in the Tintian military and went through flight school and everything, not to mention the two years of mandatory military school."
"What?" Brock asked, just as Mitch pulled his fighter out of his spiral, and went straight up at high speed. After he had expelled the contents of his stomach into a barf bag, he asked, "Mandatory military school?"
"It's one of the reason no one's invaded us for a loooong time," Mitch informed Brock, "Besides, since every Tintian citizen is in the military, it helps with the lawyers-they're banned from the country-and the murder rate."
Gary snorted, "Sounds like you've got a fix for all the world's problems, get rid of the lawyers and bureaucrats!"
Katrina laughed, the warmth not quite making it past the radio static, "Actually, we have a small bureaucracy, but nothing to the extent of Kanto or Johto, and especially nothing to the extent of the Indigo and Johto Leagues."
"You saying the organization of the League is too big?" Gary demanded hotly, "Because if that's what you meant-"
"Gary, chill. I was just using it as an example! That's all, okay?" Katrina cut him off quickly.
The planes landed smoothly, forestalling more argument. Katrina popped her hatch first, "Glad they built the airstrip out here," she commented to Mitch, "I didn't want to land on the road again." She jumped out of her plane and to the ground, hitting it a second before Mitch did.
Slowly, Gary climbed out of the fighter, legs still wobbling, "Uh, I'm not sure if I can walk.you two turned my legs into noodles."
Ash hopped out of the other plane, and Brock appeared behind where he had been, "It's not THAT bad, Gary!" Ash said cheerfully, "It was actually pretty fun!"
Gary fumbled with his foot for a step, and realized, panicking, that there wasn't one, and felt Katrina pull him down. Somehow, he managed to avoid landing on his neck or head, and glared at Katrina, "I could have died! What was that for?"
"You were taking too long," she replied coolly, "Now let Misty get on your shoulders."
"What?" Gary demanded, "Why?"
"Because you are a guy, and she is a girl." Mitch replied, having pulled Brock down from his jet. "That's the way it is in Tintia."
Gary shook his head, "Uh uh! No way am I going to-" he stopped talking as Mitch shrugged and moved to where Misty could step on his shoulders. After she had done so, Ash helped her the rest of the way.
"Thanks Ash!" she said, unwrapping herself from his arms. Brock and she hurried over to Emily Slate, Brock's wife, who had come out of a building to meet them.
Ash stared off after her, "So that's why people get married," Gary smiled, thankful that Ash had finally figured it out, and murmured reverently, "So they can help their wife out."
Gary Face-faulted, "No, Ash, that isn't why people get married. They get married because-" Katrina looked over at him, a you're-telling-a-little-kid- about-Santa? expression on her face, "because then they can hug."
Ash thought about this for a moment, "Then why does Misty hug her sisters?"
Emily hugged Misty, "It's so good to see you, Misty! I've missed you." She let the carrot top go, and looked at Brock, "Hello, hot stuff! My husband isn't here right now, would you like to come in?"
Emily Slate was about five two, lean build, and had blue eyes, along with the lab coat Brock said went everywhere. Misty imagined that it probably went over the lampstand, the TV, the radio, a vase or two of flowers, and Emily's lab notes and equipment at night. Misty looked away as she knew Brock and Emily were about to kiss. Glancing at her watch, she noted the second they started. Finally, they released each other. "Ha!" Misty said, "That was two minutes without air! You two could go diving for treasure!"
Brock grinned, "I sure could!"
Misty averted her eyes as Brock kissed his wife, for a long time, again. "I didn't mean it like that, Brock."
Emily looked up as the others came, "Oh, there's so much work to be done! Cutting the grass, mending the fences, applying another layer of paint, cleaning the cabins, cleaning the kitchen, and stocking the freezer and cupboards. Brock," she said, beckoning him with a finger, "I need your help with my experiments."
"I bet you do," Mitch muttered under his breath as the door closed on the two. He glanced at Katrina knowingly, "So, who wants to polish the windows." Insantly, Gary's hand shot up.
"Thanks for volunteering, Misty," Katrina said.
"HEY!" Gary said, "I volunteered!"
"Yes," Katrina replied sweetly, "and I volunteered Misty!"
