A/N: Sooo. I said I would update in a week. I kinda lied. XD I was going to I promise, But this weekend I had some spare time and could write more, so Posting this a little ahead of time is something I can do now! Hehe, don't expect it to happen again. xD

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Chapter 4

"It was right there!"

"It was not!"

"And how do you even know?" his voice was starting to loose his cool.

"Because I came in, and it wasn't there!" Misty replied fervently, pointing at the empty air on the living room sofa. They had been saying the same things over and over again. Gary was convinced he had left his laptop on the living room, Misty, who was covering for May, was trying to convince him he had misplaced it somewhere in the mansion. Gary's birthday wasn't for another two weeks, but May always fidgeted about what getting him, resorting to her usual 'Men are so complicated' line. Her "oh-so-brilliant" plan consisted in hacking into his laptop, trying to figure out what he wanted as a gift.

Not that Gary Oak needed anything in particular. All his needs were more than covered, they were even saturated, and even though Gary insisted year after year he didn't enjoy his own birthday, that he didn't want a present, and that he didn't want people to remind him about it, May wanted to do something a bit different this year.

"Well, your obtuse mind might not recognize something so complicated as a laptop, you know?" Gary said, leaning in and flicking her on her nose. She seemed taken aback with surprise, amusement, and forged anger. She raised her eyebrow in a crooked smile.

"Well, your obtuse mind might not want to recognize you were wrong, egomaniac dork" His eyes twinkled with just the slightest bit of sombre delight. He threw his head to his right, making his neck crack, and let out a breath. "Look Red, I understand your undying desire to keep on talking to a guy like me, but I really have stuff to do" He smiled smugly and suggestively.

Misty nodded mockingly. "Really? And what is next on your oh-so-busy agenda?"

Gary seemed to ponder things, as the usual uncaring and cool aura seemed to gravitate around him like a thrall. She studied him trying to read him, and only found contentment in the fact that she couldn't do it, and didn't even know where to begin with. It made conversations much more interesting.

He shrugged, still pondering. "Might have taken you out. You know, as a proper welcome to the house.—Manners; don't take it wrong, Red" He said so casually she even doubted for a second he was even still aware of her presence there. He seemed to be looking right through her and she stood speechless for a few moments.

"... But can't right now since apparently I misplaced my laptop somewhere in the house" He finished off in a mere whisper, with a victory smile that indicated pure unadulterated triumph. Misty gaped at her loss of speech and all her confusion combusted as she knew he had won that last one. She clenched her fist and was about to reply, but decided against it. It was a lost war already. She would be better prepared for the next one.

Rolling her eyes, she stood silent. After a second she remembered May was still waiting for her in her bedroom, hacking into her brother's stolen laptop. It was only her fifth day in the house, but she was starting to feel a whole lot more comfortable. She walked through the halls and up the stairs as if she had known them forever and into the room. Inside, May wore her usual top-skirt outfit, and was lying in the floor, looking concentrated. She pressed enter and waited a second, as a blue screen flashed against her eyes. She smiled and looked up. "Flawless timing, my dear friend" she greeted.

"Thanks" Misty replied and looked to the laptop, shifting. "Are you sure this is going to help u—you... find a gift?"

May raised an expectant eyebrow but said nothing, as she went back to working. She logged in and gaped as she saw thousands and thousands of files on pokemon research information. "Aw, this is gonna suck" She complained. "Bro better be happy..."

"For breaking into his computer and flat out lying to him about it?" Misty asked sheepishly.

"Damn right!" May did the peace sign and typed away. Misty chuckled and sighed. She couldn't even hope to get some sense into May's head right now. She slumped down on the bedroom loveseat and rested her back for an instant.

She fell asleep almost instantly. Shopping, unpacking, bickering, stealing, hacking, and still training her pokemon had drained her of all her energies. She slept soundly and undisturbed for what seemed to be ages. Suddenly, she felt something warm on her side. It was Togetic, who had made her way into her mom's arms, and fell asleep at her side. Misty smiled and she raised her head.

It was dark outside, and she was blown away. Bickering with Gary had been almost at 5pm, and that meant she had slept for at least 5 hours. She felt rested and smiled as she saw May, lying in the ground of the dark room, bathing in the glow of the laptop screen. She was also asleep, her forehead resting against the keyboard. "So much for the scoop you said we were gonna get on him" She whispered, trying not to wake her up. She made her way to the laptop and grimaced at the scientific talk on every single one of the documents. Researching sure seemed to be something terribly hard.

She stayed awake and must have been browsing Gary's files for at least 3 more hours, and was about to fall asleep again due to boredom, but something caught her eye. It was a folder named "Togepi (tic)" and she looked at her baby pokemon from the corner of her eye.

There was something that still annoyed her when it came to referring to her baby pokemon as a scientific project. However, she wanted to know what was new with her baby pokemon. She double clicked the folder, but didn't get a handful of documents as every other single folder she had explored.

It was probably the first folder that actually contained pictures or graphic files. She opened the files selecting them and hitting "enter". The first pictures were of Togepi, still clad in his egg shaped body. Then something that surprised her. It was him, feeding Togepi, playing with her, actually smiling in a photograph, being tackled by the egg shaped pokemon, Holding him just like Misty used to. She had never seen him act so gently before, and she never quite expected the lucky only witness to be her baby pokemon. However, the pictures stole a smile from her, and she found herself admiring them. Gary waking up, Togepi lying on his head, Gary trying to dodge the camera that made Misty assume it had been Professor Oak who had been stalking togepi with the camera.

But there weren't pictures her evolving. It made her realise it wasn't something planned. These pictures did not have scientific purposes because there was no way they could have known Togepi would evolve so suddenly. They were taken out of pure entertainment, by either Samuel Oak or May.

She looked at Togetic, who was staring at her enigmatically and chirped happily. Misty smiled back, feeling only a little dejected. As Togepi, she never had a link as strong as theirs with someone who wasn't her. But the pictures were telling, and Gary looked so carefree and light-hearted it made her continue to stare at them. She wondered if Togetic missed him, she wondered if he missed Togetic, if he had seen her evolve, or if he had been taking care of her for only scientific purposes.

Funny how the mind works, it isolates important thoughts and dismisses them for later, as Misty quickly disregarded her inquiries and stood up from the laptop, shutting it off. Maybe it was just one more puzzle piece she had just stumbled into.

However, even if she had yet another piece of the puzzle and should be closer to figuring him out, Misty couldn't help but grin sadly. As she walked to the middle of the dark room, she picked up Togetic and walked towards the door.

She felt more disoriented than ever.

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Thanks to:

Maia's Pen: Haha, Your review cracked me up, It really does cheer me up immensely. Yes, there are a lot of things that apparently run in the Oak blood, hehe, I hope you like them. She had a line on the GB game? Really? Do you know it? xD I don't. That's a cliffie? Nyah! I didn't even consider it as a cliffie! xD But there will be cliffies in the near future. Haha, nice exchange you had with Professor Oak there. Teehee, it made my day.

DarkAngelTorchic: I didn't get the URL, apparently the review censored it or something, but I assumed it was the homepage in your profile? I visited and couldn't find it either. Maybe if you could write the URL in a different way so that ff dot net won't recognize it? I like that song, too . Thanks for the review!

Reanne1102: Ah yes. Writer's block, don't they suck? I actually get them a lot, that's why I like to post my stories when I am ahead by several chapters. So nothing like that could stop me from updating regularly. I'm incredibly flattered by your review, thanks for reading!

megs626: Hehe, she is a bit of a girlie girl, It was kinda what I was going for. Anyway, I hope she turns out okay, and the matchmaker thing... Muaha! Only time will tell.

MagCat: haha, lively is certainly a good word for describing May Oak. Ah yes, the Gary/Misty action. I certainly do hope this chapter made the Gary/Misty action craving get a little bit more satisfied. I think the next chappie is also very loaded with them. xD

Michelicious: hehe, don't get emotional! It was nothing, really. I really like the idea you have for Safari love, I think you did a great job at the setting, even if it's just the rules. When I was reading it, I imagined a number of possibilities of things that may occur in it! Write on!

Everyone: Okay, I updated super mega fast. xD I hope you like the treat, since I had a lot more of spare time this weekend that I thought I would have. So I typed two more chapters and decided I could post this one ahead of time. I hope you liked it!

Midnight Mist

I bake cookies with review-baking-powder!