Chapter 2
Gary shook his wrist vigorously, but it was no use: Misty stuck to him like flypaper. He couldn't shake her off!
She had only been in his presence for a few minutes and already she had earned the title of 'world's biggest pain in the ass'. When he tried to pull his hand away from her she just dug her nails into his innocent skin and yanked him harder. She dragged him through the hotel parking lot as though she were trying to pull a starving Ash Ketchum away from an all-you-can-eat buffet! Misty did not retract her claws until they were standing in the dead center of the lot.
Aside from the lights cast by the hotels 'No Vacancy' sign it was totally dark outside now.
"Okay, Oak: where's your vehicle?" Misty spoke with the authority of a police captain.
It had snowed at least another ten centimeters in the ten minutes that Gary had been inside. He decided to ignore how cute crazy Misty looked as the snowflakes caught in her hair and, instead, shot her with an aggravated glare of his own. "Over here," he stomped through the snow toward a particular lump of white. He then proceeded to brush the snow off of the rear window with his bare hands.
Misty shook her head in disbelief. "Your convertible? This is not a snow car. We are going to get killed if you take this on the road!"
Gary went on to brush the snow off his front windshield. "When I woke up today I thought that I would be driving away from the snowstorm, not into it."
Misty grunted. "You are driving a sports car and you are cleaning off the snow with your hand? You don't even have an ice-scrapper?"
"Again: I thought that I would be driving away from the snowstorm, not into it. Stop worrying about how I clean off my car and clean out your own ears."
Misty scrunched up her face with annoyance but said nothing.
Was something besides him bothering her? Or was she really this repulsive to be around?
Once he was satisfied that the front and rear windows were momentarily cleared of snow, Gary walked over to the drivers side and got in; Misty silently followed his lead and sat herself into the passengers seat.
The first thing she did was noisily strap on her seatbelt. "I hope this is a good quality seatbelt, something tells me that I'm going to need it."
Gary ground his teeth; his dentist was going to be very unhappy during his next appointment. Maybe he should send Misty the bill? "The roads are slippery so I would prefer not to have you harping on me while I'm driving. I don't know what your deal is, Misty, but you've been nothing but rude to me from the get go. So if all you've got for me are insults you can just stay quiet for the entire six hours back to Cerulean City." Gary wasn't kidding.
Misty sucked in a short breath but remained mute as Gary guided the car out of the parking lot and onto the main road. An uncomfortable silence suffocated them both for the next five miles . . . although for Gary it seemed like one hundred miles. He was talkative by nature and he did not like having to stay quiet in his own car. But then again, he couldn't very well talk out loud to himself nor could he possibly even hope to have an adult conversation with this arrogant, rude, stuck-up red head.
Finally, Misty let out a tedious breath. "You're right, Oak," she sighed earnestly. "I have been treating you unfairly."
Gary glanced at her, but said nothing. Her expression actually looked genuine beneath the flickering highway lights.
"I guess that I took all my frustrations out on you the moment I saw you," she admitted. "You really irritated me, plus I'm having a terrible day . . . so I overreacted and I lashed out at you."
She was being . . . nice?
Well, Gary Oak wasn't one to hold a grudge (any person named Ash Ketchum excluded) . . .
"It's okay, we all have bad days," Gary offered her a lopsided smile, but he was careful not to take his eyes off the road . . . he could tell that his tires were straining to grip the icy pavement. "Aside from the storm, what else happened to ruin your day? Why are you up here anyway?"
"My best friend, Brock, lives in a cabin north of the Lake of Rage. I was visiting him over the weekend. We had a great visit but I was really upset when I had to say goodbye. Brock and I use to be really close. You might recall that we both traveled with Ash years ago."
"Yeah, I know who Brock is. But I didn't know he lived all the way up here. When did he resign from the Pewter City Gym?" Gary was surprised that he was so out-of-the-loop, usually his granddad kept him informed of all of Ash's and Ash's friends nauseating activities . . . although, Gary did generally tune the old man out.
"Brock resigned last month, but his father is still running the gym," Misty continued somberly, twirling a lock of that silky apricot hair around her finger . . . Oops, Gary wasn't supposed to be staring at her. He quickly reset his sight on the road as Misty went on: "Brock moved up here because he wanted to work in seclusion. He's starting a Vulpix breeding program. He wanted to raise them on The Lake of Rage; he's hoping to breed a line of Vulpix that are strong against water types."
Gary raised an eyebrow with interest. "That's really cool. I'd be interested in checking out his work sometime. Theoretically, that sort of water resistance can be developed over time with careful attention to genetics. Brock must be really dedicated to those Vulpix."
"He is," her voice spilled with pride. "I just miss him. I never see Brock or Ash anymore. We are all still best friends, but our lives are so different now. Here I am: an active gym leader; Brock is breeding Vulpix across the country, and Ash is living at the Indigo Plateau training as Lorelei's apprentice! We are all so busy! Too busy to even see each other most of the time."
"Speaking of Ash, why did he call me to ask for a ride for you?"
Even though it was dark in the car, Gary could sense the smirk on her lips. "I called Ash after my train was canceled. I was hoping that, being a Pokemon big-shot, he could pull a few strings and get a taxi out here for me. But, when he couldn't get a taxi he called you instead. He didn't tell me because he knew that I wouldn't be thrilled about being stuck in a car with you."
Gary grunted with
melodramatic pain. "Hey! Am I that bad?"
"Yes,"
Misty stated bluntly. "Or at least, you were. You were the
most annoying, self-absorbed person I knew when we were kids. I
couldn't stand you. And then, when you came into the hotel and
tried to flirt with me by insulting me . . . ga! I just got so mad at
you!"
"Hey, I knew it was you all along. I was just playing!"
"Like hell you
were!" Misty charged. "You wanted to ask for my phone number
until you realized who I was, and then you looked scared for your
life!"
"No way. I knew it was you."
"No, no you
didn't. Admit it, Oak: you think that I'm attractive and
you don't want to fess-up that you didn't recognize me."
Gary wrinkled his
brow, she was relentless! "Fine, I didn't know it was
you."
"And?" Misty pressed.
"And what?"
"AND you think that I'm attractive."
"Nope," Gary shook his head, determined to match her obstinacy.
They were driving on route forty four now . . . and it still had not been plowed at all. The snow had let up only enough so that he could see out his windshield again. But other than that the conditions had not improved. Gary let off the gas pedal; he was going to take this road slow. "You're nothin' but a scrawny carrot head," he teased, a flirtatious grin playing on his lips.
Misty giggled impishly. "Whatever. You couldn't have me even if you wanted me."
Now it was Gary's turn to laugh. "Ha! Yeah, right. I could seduce your scrawny ass in a second. Haven't you heard: Gary is my name, and seduction is my game," he winked mischievously.
Misty only laughed harder, covering her mouth in her hands. "You are SO cheesy, Oak!"
Gary stuck his tongue out. "Am not, it's just hard to turn on the charm when I'm trying to keep the car on the road."
"Excuses, excuses," Misty taunted. She was either blissfully ignorant of how bad the roads truly were or she was taking extra care to act that way to keep him relaxed behind the wheel.
Gary smiled stiffly. He was trying his best to stay calm. He didn't want to admit it to Misty, but he really was having a hard time staying on the road. He was only moving at about ten miles per hour now and, even at such a dawdling pace, he was barely retaining control of the wheel. On top of that the moon - the only light source on this road - was rapidly dissolving into darkness. The snow clouds were devouring everything! With the moonlight vanquished Gary was going to have to rely on only his headlights and own eyes to penetrate the snow. The glacial powder was enfolding his car like white vest.
"Anyways," Misty went on, still seemingly oblivious to the stress that Gary was under. "When Ash called me back and told me that YOU were picking me up I freaked out at him. But after he explained that you were driving home from Blackthorn University I couldn't really refuse; I mean, I really need to get home and you were only one city away. I have a really important conference early tomorrow morning. I would hate to have to miss it."
"Drama in the Gym Leader world?" Gary asked.
"Not so much, but the Elite Four council is debating whether or not to raise the standards for new Gym Leaders. Many of them seem to be going too easy on young trainers, and thus their badges lose respectability."
"Yeah, as I recall your Cascade badge was a joke to 'earn'," Gary mocked, grinning.
Misty's eyes snapped open as though Gary had just dropped a Caterpie on her lap. "What!"
Gary snickered. "I mean, this was over ten years ago, but I battled one of your hot sisters, the blond, and she was SO easy. Not even a challenge at all. But she sure was good lookin' . . . she single by any chance?"
"NO," Misty shot, "for your information: Daisy is NOT single. She is engaged to a nice, well-mannered gentleman! And even if she wasn't she would never go for a Casanova wannabe like you, Oak!"
"I am not a
wannabe."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not. And you know what else, I- Oh, DAMN!" Gary slammed on the breaks, but his reflexes were far too late.
Misty's frantic shriek shred his eardrums, but Gary was helpless to aid her. The car was spinning around at sickening speeds, twisting Gary's insides like pipe-cleaners. Gary had no idea where they were headed! He couldn't tell if they were going up, down, or both! They were consumed within a whiteout . . . time seemed to actually freeze along with the snow outside as Gary waited – wondering if the car would fling them to their deaths? All he could see was white. Swirling colorless blusters . . . would his life end on this blank pallet of snow? Since he could see nothing Gary would never even know what killed him.
Suddenly his body jolted forward; Gary's head scraped against the steering wheel . . . the car stopped moving . . . it had crashed into something!
"Goddammit!" Gary reached over to Misty and touched her shoulder. "You okay?" She glanced up, trembling, but nodded. "Stay here," Gary ordered. He pushed open his door and raced outside to assess the cars damage.
Misty followed him so she must have been feeling okay.
The inside of a tomb was probably a brighter and cheerier place than the one where Gary stood now. And to make matters worse: one of Gary's headlights had been shattered . . . the car had smashed into a huge tree trunk, the right front tire was flat and the whole front end was buried under snow.
Aside from a few bruises they were not seriously harmed, it was a miracle. Gary suddenly felt lightheaded . . . he couldn't believe what had just happened!
"Oh my god!" Misty wailed. "What are we going to do?" Gary couldn't see her well through the darkness, but he vaguely made out her shape several feet to his left.
Gary rubbed his throbbing temples. His heart was hammering painfully against his ribs; sweat was pouring down his back . . . he had never had a near death experience before. He felt as though an Arbok was coiling around his windpipe, constricting his natural ability to breathe. He had to force himself to slowly suck air back into his lungs. "Well," he began carefully, "there's no getting the car back on the road. But don't worry, I'll call for help." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He punched in the number for emergency services . . .
. . .the phone call refused to send. "What the . . .?" Gary stared hard at the blinking display before him. "Ah, crap! No signal."
Misty stepped in close enough for Gary to witness the color bleaching from her face. She reached into her own pocket to retrieve her cell phone. "Oh no!" Misty cried. "I don't have any signal either . . . but, that's okay I have an idea."
"What is it?" Gary was up for any suggestions, even hers.
"We obviously can't
walk back to the hotel, it's too far and neither of us is dressed
for snow-trekking. So why don't you send one of your Pokemon out
for help? Like maybe a flying type! The Pokemon can let someone know
that we're stranded."
Gary winced, scratching his head. "Um,
well that's a great idea, Misty, but I didn't bring any of my
Pokemon with me."
Her face fell. "Why
not?"
"I transferred them all to my granddad's before I
left. I knew that the drive would take hours and I figured I'd send
them ahead so they wouldn't have to wait it out. Granddad was
really anxious to see them all," he shrugged sheepishly. "At the
time I-"
"I know, I know: you thought that you would be driving away from the snow storm, not into it," Misty interrupted, finishing for him. "I've heard that excuse before!"
Gary's brow furrowed with annoyance, was she daring to blast him NOW!
"And I take it that you don't have any Pokemon either, Misty?"
". . . No, not handy."
The two of them stood there, snow climbing up to their knees, glaring at one another and solving absolutely nothing.
Gary's adrenaline had been rushing through his system at first and he hadn't notice how bitterly cold it was outside of the car -- he noticed now.
The frozen wind scrapped across his face like the talons of a Sneasel, and if that wasn't bad enough: it carried with it brittle pellets of frost. The snow had rapidly soaked through his sneakers and his socks, Gary felt like he'd stuck his bare feet in a bucket of ice cubes. His legs were drenched. His entire body was shivering. He cursed himself again for his poor choice in attire this morning; he did not even have the foresight to bring a coat or gloves with him.
He flinched, shielding his eyes against the strikes of crippling cold pain. Gary glanced at Misty; she was also noticeably trembling now. She was hugging herself in a vain attempt to keep warm. Gary stifled the instinct to wrap his arms around her – he decided that trying to touch her might be far worse for his health than the cold.
"Now what?" she squeaked, perceiving the concern on his face.
". . .Let's get back in the car. I'll turn on the heat and we'll wait. A plow truck is going to come this way sooner or later."
Misty nodded, not even trying to mask the dread on her face. "How long do you think we'll be stuck here?"
Gary shrugged
honestly. "I don't know, but not for more than a few hours. The
blizzard is still pounding now, but it's bound to let up
eventually. When it does someone will find us."
Misty's
face fell, but she nodded; having no other choice but to trust that
Gary was right.
Once back inside the car Gary turned on the dome light, then fumbled with his keys and stuck them into the ignition and turned . . .
. . . nothing happened.
"Crap."
". .
. What?" Misty's question was extremely hesitant.
"It won't start."
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Authors Note: Thank you SO much to EVERYONE who took the time to read and review the last chapter. I hope that you all have enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed reading your thoughtful, encouraging reviews! I look forward to reading your comments on this chapter! I will update again later this week. Maia
