Gary, Ash and Leaf
"Catch me if you can, loser!" A younger version of Gary cheerfully laughed as he raced through the streets of Pallet Town. It was a few years before Ash and Gary would be old enough to embark on their Pokemon adventure.
"I'll get you for that, Gary!" Ash growled while speeding after Gary. Gary let out a light laugh and glanced back towards his best friend to see if he was still chasing him.
"You got to be faster than that if you want to catch me, Ashy boy. I-Oof!" Gary fell to the ground upon running face first into another kid.
"Ow!" The younger Leaf rubbed the top of her head while giving Gary a light leer. "Hey watch where you're going!"
"Hey it's not my fault, you weren't there a second ago." Gary waved it off with a cocky smirk as he hopped back to his feet. "I wasn't even aware that there were other kids here, I thought it was just me and Ash."
"Who is that, Gary?" Ash asked upon catching up. Much like Gary he assumed they were the only kids in Pallet Town.
"What are you talking about? I've been living here my whole life!" Leaf pointed towards a house that stood a few feet away from the dirt road. The house being quite similar to the other Pallet Town homes save for Oak's lab in design, there wasn't anything about it that stood out. "The name's Leaf, Leaf Green. My family own the town's general store?"
"Gramps does all the shopping for me!" Gary swiftly retorted.
"My mom goes shopping after she's closed up her diner, I've never been." Delia usually dropped Ash off to play with Gary, the town was relatively small population wise and safe as pretty much everyone knew each other so Ash and Gary were allowed to run about unsupervised so long as they didn't leave the town's borders.
Leaf's eye lightly twitched. "Well I've been here just as long as you guys have and I'll prove it to you!" Leaf shot a quick look around before spotting a large oak tree at the town's center, the tree had several dead branches and several of it's roots were uprooted indicating that it'd likely be cut down soon. "First run to get to the grand oak tree wins!"
"You're on!" Ash was quick to accept her challenge.
Gary let out a light laugh. "That's it? Piece of cake, I've beaten Ashy boy plenty of times!"
"Hey!"
Leaf rolled her eyes. "Alright then we'll leave on my go. Ready, get set, go!" The three kids raced off upon Leaf's mark however as Ash and Gary raced down their usual path, Leaf diverted down a side street and disappeared from view.
"Heh, looks like I'm winning this time!" Ash excitedly exclaimed upon taking the lead as they closed in on the grand oak tree.
"I don't think so, Ashy boy." Gary laughed upon catching up with his best friend, the two gave each other a light glare as they continued racing towards the tree before coming to a halt upon reaching the base. "W-Well... it looks like we tied this time. Good game, Ash."
"I guess we did, that was great but... where did that girl go?" Ash questioned while taking a quick glance behind them however the girl wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Huh, that is odd. I could have sworn she was following us." Gary scratched his head while appearing visibly confused.
The branches above them rustled as Leaf dropped down onto the ground behind them causing the pair to leap up in shock as she spoke up. "What took you so long?" She asked while offering them a playful smirk.
"Huh?" Ash's jaw dropped while Gary began stuttering from shock.
"I-But you were-How?!"
Leaf simply giggled out in response. "I told you that I've been here as long as you have, I merely took a shortcut."
"Shortcut? Where?" Ash eagerly questioned.
"Eh?"
Leaf giggled out. "Perhaps I'll show you two sometime if you promise to hang out with me from now on."
"Sure why not!" Gary grinned.
"Having two friends will be twice as much fun!" Ash grinned.
"Achoo! Sorry Gramps but I don't think I can go to Summer Camp this year." Gary sniffled while laying in bed. The three had aged a bit since they'd met and were now roughly eight years of age.
Professor Oak pulled out a thermometer to check his temperature. "Well that's a shame, you missed out on last year's."
"Wasn't a point of attending if Ash wasn't there, you know that." Gary replied with a smirk. "Ain't fun if there's no competition!"
"Heh, I get that. I used to have a rival when I was your age." Oak revealed with a light chuckle.
"Really? Who was he?" Gary asked.
"It wasn't a boy, it was a girl." Oak revealed while laughing once more. "Agatha."
"The Agatha?!" Gary gasped.
Oak chuckled and nodded in response. "Yep, that's the one! The two of us were rivals since the day we were born much like you and Ash, we fought over everything and made everything a contest. Our rivalry continued well into our teenage years before taking a brief pause as we... er-perhaps I should stop there."
"But why gramps? It sounds like you were leading up to something good!"
"I-I'll tell you when you're older." Oak sweated while slowly backing out of the room.
"Please gramps?" Gary pleaded.
"Sorry Gary, when you're older you'll understand." Oak chucked lightly. "I'll let Delia know that you're staying back, she'll check in on you and prepare some food for you while I'm away."
"Away? W-Where are you going?" Gary sat up while tilting his head.
"Don't you remember? Summer Camp's being hosted outside of Pallet Town this year, Ash and I will be away for a few days!"
"Aw man!" Gary hung his head. "I'd really liked to have gone!"
Professor Oak walked back over and gave his grandson's shoulder a reassuring pat. "Tell you what, I'll take you to see your uncle Samson during your winter break. I'm sure that a bit of ocean breeze and that nice Alolan sun will cheer you up in no time!" Oak beamed.
"I guess so..." Gary sighed will looking down at the bed.
Professor Oak frowned for a moment before opening his mouth only to quickly close it upon realizing the time. "Oh Arceus, I'm gonna be late!" He gave Gary's hair an affectionate scuffle before racing out the door. A engine could be heard moments after as Oak started up his jeep before racing off to the Ketchum's residence to pick up Ash so they could hit the road. Gary sighed before plopping down against the bed, his eyes closed before opening back up a few hours later upon hearing a door close. The smell of warm soup indicated that it must have been Delia dropping something off for him.
Gary licked his lips and began climbing out of bed to eat before pausing in front of his window upon noticing a large vehicle that didn't belong to Pallet Town. 'Celadon Movers' was written on the side of the truck, Gary's eyes widened upon reading it and noticing whose house it was parked outside of. "Leaf!" Gary hopped out of bed and raced down the hall before bursting from the lab, not caring that the town would see him in his pajamas as he raced down the long hill before finally leaving his yard. Gary breathed heavily as he raced down the street before skidding to a halt in front of Leaf's house.
"Leaf!" Gary called out.
"Gary?" Leaf walked out of the house alongside her mother who carried several loaded suitcases under each arm while appearing to be in a hurry.
"Leaf what's going on? Why is a moving van parked outside of your home?!" Gary anxiously asked while sweat poured down his face. "Why didn't you tell me and Ash that you were moving?"
"Because I didn't know!" Leaf stared at the ground as she began tearing up. "M-My mom and dad are getting divorced."
"Huh? But they love-"
"It was just a facade, Gary. They acted normal around you and Ash as both of you lost parents, they didn't want to leave a bad impression and make you think all parents fought. They started fighting over a year and a half ago after my mother caught my father with... some liquid, I'm not sure what it was called but it sure reeked! Ever since they've been fighting nonstop and only calming when around other people. My mother recently filed for divorce and won custody of me and literally just told me that I was leaving! Believe me I'd have told you if I knew, you're my best friend Gary!"
"Leaf, I..." Gary trailed off as tears formed within his eyes. Leaf rushed forward and threw her arms around Gary, holding him as tears flooded from her eyes.
"I'll miss you Gary, tell Ash that I'm sorry that I couldn't say goodbye."
"I will Leaf, I will..."
"Hold up, you left while I was at Summer Camp?!" Ash gasped out. Ash, Marnie, Leaf and Gary all sat at a dinning room table; Ash and Marnie sat on one side while Leaf and Gary sat on the other, the group were having a double date while Lillie had left to give Gladion a call.
"And I told you as soon as you got back, don't you remember me crying?" Gary questioned with a light snap.
"I-I don't remember that..." Ash faintly sweated.
"Hold up the Summer Camp? The one you met Serena at?" Marnie questioned with a raised eyebrow. "No wonder ya forgot about it, you didn't recognize her right away either. Your memory from that time frame must be wonky."
"Sorry Ash but it's like I said, my mother sprang it on me. I'd never have left without saying goodbye if I had a choice in the matter!" Leaf exclaimed.
"It's fine," Ash waved it off before glancing between Gary and Leaf. "Well if you left Pallet Town and didn't come back before we left on our adventure, then how did you and Gary come across each other again?"
"Oh it was quite simple actually!" Gary remarked with a light smirk. "You see after I was done researching the Pokemon of the Sinnoh region, I left for Kalos in order to research the secrets of Mega Evolution and I got a job under Professor Sycamore!"
"Really? I don't remember seeing you there." Ash muttered.
"Bad timing is all." Gary remarked with a sly smirk. "Let's just say that Leaf and I were... preoccupied with other things during the times you came around."
"What do you mean?" Ash tilted his head. Gary facepalmed while Leaf's cheeks burned bright red.
"You mean the two of you never...?" Leaf looked towards Marnie who nervously avoided her gaze while lightly blushing. "Wow." "Man I bet they think badly of us now..." Leaf thought to herself, unaware that Ash's other companions were just as active as her and Gary.
"Er-Moving on then." Gary coughed. "Blastoise and I were excavating for Mega Stones near Geosenge Town when..."
"Boy am I beat, let's take a rest." Gary wiped sweat from his forehead before plopping onto the ground, Blastoise plopped down next to him as they began staring off at the sky above. "It won't be long until I'm an official Pokemon Professor, Blastoise and I imagine that it won't be long until Ashy boy is a Pokemon Master!" Gary snickered.
"Toise." Blastoise snickered before flashing a brief look of concern as Gary sighed out.
"But it does make me worry, I mostly work around men all day and the women are all older by such a wide margin that it'd come off as creepy if I tried coming onto them... not too mention immoral." He muttered. "I saw how that blonde girl lusts after Ash, he's lucky to have somebody like her fawning after him. I'd give anything to have a girl fawning over me, Professor Rowan is a great guy and all but I sure don't want to end up like him." But his research made it difficult to get out there and meet people, he didn't have people fawning over him like Ash did with Misty, Macy, Anabel and Angie while he was traveling through those respective regions.
"Anything?" A voice playfully asked.
"Hm? Who said that?" Gary jerked back to his feet only to blush upon finding himself face to face with a rather attractive brunette girl. Her eyes looked so familiar but he was unable to place it. "W-Who are you...?"
"What? You're telling me that you don't recognize me?" Leaf feigned an offended expression before playfully giggling out as she placed her hand against his chest. "Hey Professor Gary Oak, did it never occur to you to read up on your coworkers?"
"Coworkers? What-Y-You don't mean-?" Gary quickly placed it together as Leaf gave a nod of confirmation.
"Mhm! I work for Professor Sycamore as well, I earned some time to enjoy myself and upon finding out both you and Ash were here well how could I resist tracking you down?" Leaf grinned while stepping closer to Gary.
"Wait you know that Ashy boy's here?" Gary asked. "W-Why did you choose me then? You never got to say goodbye to him..."
"Duh, all of Kalos saw him leap off Lumiose Tower." Leaf giggled out while placing her hand against Gary's cheek. "And I'm sure that the smartest man in all of Pallet Town can figure out why I chose to visit him over Ash."
"Eh?" Gary spaced off for a moment before his eyes lightened up. "You uh-like me then?"
"Duh!" Leaf giggled out. "I've been thinking about you everyday since we last saw each other but it was so hard to track you down as you constantly raced off in your sports car, how did you go about driving that anyways?"
"Eh, I bribed somebody." Gary sweated. "Officer Jenny eventually impounded it." He chuckled.
"Then I simply lost track of you after Johto, I didn't find out you were in Sinnoh until I began researching here. I never found time to leave and I didn't want to just up and abandon Sycamore right after Alain did so I've been here ever since!" Leaf beamed, her cheeks burned bright red as she avoided Gary's gaze. "I know it's a longshot and that you probably don't feel the same way but-Mmph!" Leaf was silenced as Gary pressed his lips against hers. Leaf closed her eyes and embraced the kiss as the two wrapped their arms around each other.
"You two really got together? Just like that?" Marnie questioned.
"And we've been together ever since!" Leaf beamed.
"And not a single regret!" Gary laughed.
"Well I'm happy for the two of you!" Ash smiled. "I'm glad the two of you found each other."
"So those two actually got together? Oh boy, Serena would probably be steaming if she ever found out." Miette smirked to herself while sipping a cup of tea at a nearby table.
"So you two run a Battle Facility then?" Ash asked. "And you're Professors?"
"You can be both," Gary remarked with a sly smirk. "Leaf and I simply missed the joy of battling so we opened the Battle Tree up so we'd have a constant pool of opponents to battle."
"Not to mention a way to offload the Mega Stones we have," Leaf giggled out. "Gary and I have about a thousand of them."
"A thousand? Any chance a Lucarionite's in there?"
"Uh..." Gary spaced off for a moment as he mentally went over the list. "No, we're fresh out of those I'm afraid."
"Huh, I guess Zach really is cursed then." Marnie muttered.
Ash meanwhile was flashbacking to the earlier events of the day where he saw Leaf's Wigglytuff pounding Grimsley's Hydreigon into submission. A smirk was quick to form across Ash's face as he faced Leaf. "In that case, I'd like to challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"
Gary and Leaf glanced towards each other and shared a brief smirk while silently shaking their heads. Ash may be getting close to accomplishing his dream but was still just as eager to battle as he was when they were kids. Leaf then offered Ash a genuine smile while nodding her head. "Alright Ash, I accept your challenge!"
"Pew!"
"Nebby, get back in the bag! Somebody might see you!" Lillie hissed out as Nebby flew from her bag. The nebula cloud cheerfully flew through the air above Lillie's head while she constantly leaped up and down in an attempt to grab hold of the Cosmog.
"This is ridiculous, somebody said that this here island was swarmin' in Alolan Dragon types but I ain't seen hide nor tail of them!" Leroy snarled as he and his brother walked down the street while having had yet another unsuccessful attempt at finding their ma rare and powerful Pokemon.
"We'll get them next time, bro." Cletus patted his brother's shoulder before freezing up upon spotting Cosmog. "Uh bro, you'll want to take a look at this!"
"Wail!" A Wailord leaped from the water and splashed back down not far off the coast.
"Are ya trying to success that we steal a Wailord?! Ain't no way we'd get that back home!" Leroy snapped.
"No bro, look!"
"Naga..." A large yellow and black wasp buzzed past them as Dulse and Zossie raced onto the scene.
"There's Cosmog!" Zossie exclaimed.
"At last, we can steal it back from that vile human and use it to take back our home from the tyrant Beast King!" Dulse exclaimed. "Naganadel use Dragon Rush and bring her home!"
"Naga!" A blue dragon shaped aura surrounded the yellow/black Naganadel as he shot across the sky.
"Hey look, it's an Alolan Bee-Hey it's goin' after that nebula cloud! Oh we ain't losing that cloud this time!" Leroy growled while whipping out a Pokeball. "Beartic let's rumble!"
Beartic roared as he burst from his ball. The loud roar alerted Lillie causing her to turn and spot the incoming Ultra Beast.
"It's after Nebby!" She shrieked out. "Snowy use Blizzard!"
"Nine!" A fierce flurry of snow and ice whipped up and flew towards Naganadel.
"Fire Blast!" Dulse swiftly countered.
"Naga!" A powerful geyser of fire erupted from Naganadel's mouth, melting the snow as it shot through the air before eventually making contact with Snowy.
"Nine!" Snowy uttered out a pained cry as the flames razed across her body. The Alolan Ninetals shivered before swiftly going limp as swirls formed within her eyes.
"Snowy, no!" Lillie gasped out before hastily recalling her to the safety of her Pokeball. "Return!"
"Naga!"
"Pew?" Nebby turned to Cosmog and cheerfully cried out upon spotting him.
"Naga!" Naganadel's cry sounded rather pleasant as well as the Ultra Beast tried motioning for Nebby to follow him.
"Huh?" Lillie tilted her head upon noticing the unusual behavior. Naganadel didn't appear to be as aggressive as the other Ultra Beasts, perhaps there was a logical explanation to all of this.
"Halt human, surrender that Cosmog at once or face the consequences!" Dulse threatened as he and Zossie raced before Lillie, Dulse took a combat stance while Zossie appeared more relaxed and even offered Lillie a silent wave of greeting. "It belongs to the people of Megalopolis and we need it to save them from our tyrant king!"
Lillie took a combat stance before quickly calming upon picking up on Dulse's words. Naganadel and Nebby's unusual friendly attitude towards one another along with the strange spaceman claiming it to be his property? Things were starting to make sense.
"Hold up, maybe we can talk about this." Lillie held up her hands to show that she meant no harm.
"You want to talk..?" Zossie tilted her head before gleefully laughing out as she beamed up at her partner. "See Dulse? I told you that not all humans are awful!"
"Yeah but we sure are! Sheer Cold!" Leroy shouted out.
"ROAR!" Beartic roared out as a powerful blizzard shot across the area, instantly freezing Dulse, Zossie, Lillie, Naganadel and Nebby in a block of ice.
"Trevenant, get that cloud out of there!" Cletus grinned as the large ghost tree appeared.
"Trev!" He phased his arm through the block of ice and snatched Nebby right up while Leroy and Cletus held out a special containment unit.
"We read about you on the Pokewebs, you ain't teleportin' out of this!" Leroy laughed while slamming the unit shut.
"Yeah, you're going back with us!" Cletus laughed. "Ma is goin' to be so proud of us!" A tear fell from Lillie's eye as she could only watch as Leroy and Cletus walked off with their prize.
Lenny uttered out a soothing sigh as he leaned back against his yacht's hot tub. He was anchored not far off from Akala Island's coast and taking in some much needed rest, he'd just finished off his payments on the third yacht and prayed that he wouldn't have to buy a fourth. "I wonder what those neanderthals are up to now, coming up with another scheme that ends with me getting blown up? I ought to just put them down next time, it'll sure save me a lot of-"
"Oh brother!"
Lenny's cucumber patches flew from his eyes as he screamed out in horror. "Not again!" Lenny quickly rose from the hot tub, fortunately wearing swimming trunks, in order to confront his brothers. "What in the Distortion World do you two want from me this time?!"
"We got a present for you, bro!" Leroy carelessly threw the containment unit to Lenny, Lenny wasn't ready to catch it so it struck him upside the head and knocked him down against the yacht's floor.
"Oof!" Lenny grunted while cursing beneath his breath as he rose back to his feet. "It better be something good..."
"Oh it is, it's one of those alien beasties that terrorized Alola two years ago!" Cletus exclaimed.
"...surely not a Guzzlord?" Lenny muttered pausing in place, eyes widening upon spotting Nebby levitating within the containment unit. "A Cosmog!" 'How in the Distortion World did they manage to capture a legendary?!' "G-Good work you two."
Leroy and Cletus gleefully shouted out and gave each other a tight hug before holding out their arms to pull Lenny in. "Come here bro!"
"Ugh..." Lenny held his nose as Leroy and Cletus hugged him. "Where have you guys been?! It smells like you've been living in a sewer!"
"We have..." Cletus frowned.
"So can we go home now? You'll put in a good word for us?" Leroy eagerly questioned.
"Yes, I'll get on that right away." 'Anything to get you out of my sight!' He thought while grabbing out a black and red Rotom Phone that sat by the hot tub, rapidly texting away before putting it aside. "Done, you two are welcomed back to the Unova branch of Team Rocket. You'll report directly to cousin Becky from now on."
"Thanks bro!" Cletus beamed.
"You're the best!" Leroy grinned before taking a quick glance around. "So uh.. how do we get home?"
Lenny facepalmed while uttering out a long drawn out sigh. "You're still broke, aren't you?"
Leroy and Cletus slowly nodded as Lenny reached for a set of keys. "Take the jet ski, just take it and get out of here before something blows up..."
"Thanks bro!"
"You're the best!" Leroy and Cletus gave Lenny one final hug causing him to shiver with discomfort before the pair raced for the jet ski.
Lenny watched the pair race off into the sunset before turning to Nebby with a sinister smirk. "Those fools don't realize that I simply cashed in a favor to get them back, once I gift you to ma and take the credit I'll be her number one and get written into her inheritance! Then after we awaken Kyurem and take over the entire region, I'll discreetly ice her and take over the whole operation! I will be the true Unova king, me!" Lenny threw his head back as he broke out in maniac laughter.
Nebby's eyes shifted towards the ocean as large bubbles began rising around the ship.
"And then I might pay that Iris chick a visit and make her my-AHHHHHH!" Lenny screamed out as black demonic tentacles rose from the sea and crunched into the yacht. "My yacht! Hey get lost whoever you are!" Lenny activated a remote switch causing lasers to fire off the sides of the yacht and towards the large tentacles. A demonic screech could be heard as the creature cried out. "Hahaha, that'll teach you for messing with-"
Lenny went silent as a Guzzlord fully emerged from the depths before sinking it's teeth directly into the ship. One of it's fangs pierced through Nebby's containment unit, just missing the nebula cloud by a mere inch! Nebby gasped out and whisked back to the mainland while Guzzlord continued it's work, chomping away at the boat.
"Nonono!" Lenny pulled at his hat as the yacht's remains began sinking into the ocean, Lenny sliding in along with it. Guzzlord opened his mouth and dived in after the yacht's remains before chomping down. Guzzlord reemerged soon after and began making his way towards the mainland while a half eaten cowboy hat slowly rose up to the ocean's surface.