"Raichu, Mega Punch!"
"Geodude, go underground and hurry!"
The Geodude obeyed it's trainer and quickly slammed it's body into the metal ground, being strong enough to actually rip through it with ease. Gym Leader Surge's eyes widened at the power of his opponent, but he waited to see where it would be coming out of.
Gary, on the other hand, slipped his shoe off and placed his foot firmly on the ground, his eyes shut. After a few weeks of training Geodude with his move Dig, Gary was finally able to understand and feel where the pokémon was just by feeling the vibrations on the ground.
In his mind, he followed Geodude as he moved around the floor then stopped only inches away from Raichu. The electric pokémon seemed to notice this as well and Gary knew it fell for the bait.
"Now, Geodude!"
"Mega Punch to your left now!"
As Raichu slammed down to where it believed Geodude was, Gary smirked as he watched the pieces of the floor push up of where it hit. The Raichu's eyes widened and in that split second of confusion, Geodude shot up from behind Raichu and tackled it with full-throttle force.
The Raichu fainted before it could hit the ground.
"Very slick trick Shigeru! I can truly say you deserve this ThunderBadge!"
As Gary was about to properly thank him, he heard a voice that he could not label as a good or bad thing for him. Raw sienna eyes abruptly clicked to the small audience that was made for the battle. Looking past his fan club, he saw his rival having a small argument with the Cerulean Gym Leader. Then burnt sienna eyes met with his and Gary had to look away; back to the Gym Leader holding the ThunderBadge towards him.
"U-uhm, heh! Well it was a piece of cake! Thanks!"
Gary took the badge and showed it off to his cheerleaders who cheered louder and ran towards him.
Surge curiously watched The Trainer that was so kind earlier and was now acting so cocky.
"Shigeru, you sure have become...confident."
"Well, there wasn't any doubt. But thanks anyway!" Gary stated all too confidently, disliking himself for showing such disrespect to an elder.
Surge could tell Shigeru was acting this way because someone important was here. It couldn't be his group because he came with them and was very respectful. So it must be someone in the audience.
"Well... Good luck on your journey. I wish you the best!"
"Please, it's not about luck! Just pure skill."
Before leaving, Gary turned to the crowd again and glanced over to Ash. making sure to keep him riled up, he winked at Ash and laughed, making the boy angry.
With that, Gary left the Gym and went straight to the car, not talking to anyone along the way. His cheerleaders were right behind him and jumped in, continuing to congratulate him on his win.
Once they were settled, Fuela drove towards Route 11 and was ordered to not stop.
He knew he was getting strange feelings towards Ash; he clearly understood that. He wanted to stay back there and be close to Ash and, if necessary, argue, just to be able to talk to him.
But as much as he wanted this, at the same time he wanted to stay away from him. Although he didn't understand this feeling, he knew it was positive and loving towards the boy and that would ruin Ash's future as a Pokémon Trainer and a Champion.
Gary had to remind himself why he was even on this journey and why Ash had done it as well: Gary did it so Ash would not feel worthless. It was something he promised himself to do ever since they were children and he wasn't planning on breaking that promise. And for Ash, it was to be better than Gary. If there was another reason, Gary didn't know about it yet.
So to make sure this would all go accordingly, he had to keep Ash infuriated. And the way Ash was worrying about his injuries didn't help at all.
Sliding his hands through his bright, brunette hair and lightly slapped his cheeks, mentally focusing himself on the task at hand. He had to get away from Vermilion City.
To Diglett's Cave.
(A.N.- This might confuse some people because I changed it up a bit. Remember that house that was right next to The Viridian Forest on Route 2? The one you can't reach unless you have Cut? The other way to get there is through Diglett's Cave and it just has some dude who trades Mr. Mime for a Clefairy. That moment isn't too significant but I decided to change that because I NEED to bring in an important character [to me he is])
Liana quickly ran out of the exit to the cave, holding her arms out to the welcoming sun.
"Finally, we're out! Ugh! I never wanna see another Diglett ever again!"
"It's not our fault you're only carrying electric types!" Teres said with a big smile.
"Nuh uh! I got other types..."
"Yeah, and they all have electric type moves."
Teres absolutely adored ground and rock types and caught a few Diglett and Dugtrio along the way.
"We're lucky Shigeru was with us. Without that Wartortle of his, we would've been toast," Fuela stated, smirking at the pun of her own preferred type.
"Hey, you guys are with me as a fan club. Don't put me into your group," Gary said as he looked around for a place to rest.
Fuela smiled at the retort and simply replied, "Yes, almighty one."
Gary ignored the comment and noticed a house up ahead.
"Look. Let's see if we can heal up over there."
The group of 6 walked towards the house, seeing the backyard first. After walking around it, they reached the front porch and Gary knocked on it, shoving his hands in his pockets afterwards.
Everyone then heard many noises from inside the house. Although most were too difficult to describe, most were loud bangs as if someone was falling down the stairs.
The group took a step back as the door quickly opened but still had the chain so only some of the person was seen, revealing a very tall man with short, black hair. His eyes were underlined by multiple bags underneath, giving the impression that this man has never heard of sleeping.
He was quickly whispering many things and eventually he became loud enough to hear.
"Bulbasaur, Jigglypuff, Persian, Abra, Tentacool, Dewgong, Audino, Kangaskhan, Pinsir, Electabuzz, Dratini, Typhlosion, Deerling, Turtwig, Igglybuff, Umbreon, Gligar, Chimchar, Donphan-"
"The guys' nuts," whispered Liana as she took another step back.
The door slammed shut and the chain was heard as it was quickly taken off. It then abruptly opened, revealing what seemed like a completely different person. Although he looked the same, he now seemed cheerful and welcoming.
"Hello there! Are you all Trainers?! Tropius, Absol, Luvdisc."
Gary blinked and could only nod. The man's eyes suddenly seemed to glimmer as his smile widened.
"Ah, perfect perfect! Metagross, Chingling, Starly. You came from Diglett's Cave, right? Luxray, Shieldon, Combee. Would you like to heal your pokémon here? A-and possibly trade? Ambipom, Gastrodon, Cherrim."
"Uhm..." Gary looked around at the girls who stared back at him, waiting for his decision.
Well...they did need to heal...
"Uhm, we need a Pokémon Center. Any close by?"
"Nope, nope! Shellos, Dugtrio, Drifloon, Mesprit. If you need to heal, I have a healing machine! Hopefully the injuries aren't too bad? Sandslash, Oddish, Meowth."
Gary shook his head then asked, "sir? Are you alright?"
The man blinked, obviously confused by the question.
"Why do so many people ask me that question? I'm perfectly fine! Poliwag, Poliwrath."
"Well...you're naming Pokémon. Some that might not even be real..." Gary continued, feeling a little nervous. He wasn't fond of crazy people. You never knew what they would do next.
"Oh, they're all real. I've made a list! See, I have a bunch of friends worldwide and they send me different types of Pokémon and explain about the many different types! Machamp, Trubbish, Rapidash."
Everyone stayed quiet as the older man simply smiled, staring at Gary. This was when Gary thought that it might be better to risk more Pokémon attacks rather than walking into the house of a psycho.
The man stretched out his hand, quickly saying, "My James's Brad. Bagon, Banette, Bayleef, Blaziken. And you?"
After odd introductions, Brad led the group to the healing machine and allowed each one to use it. The entire time, he was murmuring the names of many Pokémon from many different regions. He then sped walked into the kitchen without another word.
"He even said some from Sinnoh and Hoenn," Fuela whispered as she finished healing her team.
"I don't know that many," Gary honestly stated as he leaned against the wall next to the machine.
"Well, you've just started your journey so that's fine," Niel said as she played with her pink tufts of hair.
"We've been around so we know a good amount."
"But then there were some that he seemed to make up," Liana added, letting her Abra sit on her shoulders.
"They were real." Gary turned to Kuron, the black haired cheerleader that didn't speak too much.
"They were from the Unova region. That's pretty far from here so you guys wouldn't know about those."
"How do you?" Liana asked.
"I'm from there."
"Ooh~!" all the girls said in unison.
"You guys are a group and didn't even know where she came from?" Gary asked.
"I don't talk much. Don't blame them," Kuron added.
"I'm back with snacks and drinks! Venonat, Paras, Illumise," Brad said as he walked in with a large plate full of many...well, snacks and drinks.
"Don't worry, everything is packaged and sealed up so I didn't poison anything."
Placing it down n the coffee table, Brad continued to brightly smile, asking if they would like to sit on the couches surrounding the small table.
Gary decided to sit and rest for a moment, which made the girls follow suit. Brad was right.
Everything was indeed encased and popular food items, which made them quite safe.
"So, do any of you have a C-Clefairy?"
Niel and Gary stated that they did as they looked up at the man whose expression now seemed anxious.
"Oh! Well, uhm, forgive my sudden question. Dragonite, Elekid. I just adore trading Pokémon! Would any of you two like to trade it for a Growlithe?"
"Oh," Gary looked at his cheer leading squad again, who were now munching on snacks.
Fuela nodded and said, "what's the harm? And it's a fire type!"
Thanking Brad, Gary and his groupies left the house with many snacks and a knowledge of some other types of Pokémon from around the world. Not to mention a new Pokémon to add into this pokedex of his.
While walking through the empty field, Gary's curiosity bested him and made him release the fire dog from its pokeball.
The Growlithe silently appeared, looked for an opponent and when there was one, he turned to Gary. The brunette's eyes widened at the little animal's eyes. The first thing he compared it to was the color of the sky on a bright, clear day.
The wind blew past the two as they simply stared at each other.
'What...is up with this Pokémon?' Gary thought.
The boy roughly shook his head, forcing himself back into reality.
"So, Growlithe, huh? You look pretty weak."
Gary expected the little guy to become angry or sad, but it simply continued looking at him, as if it was analyzing it's Trainer.
"Oh, just make it stronger Shigeru. Plus, he's a cutie!" Fuela said as she softly petted him.
This broke Growlithe's stare as it looked up at the redhead.
Gary frowned. The dog wasn't looking at her the way it was looking at him.
'Well, I did get it from that weirdo, Brad...' Gary thought.
"I don't care if something is cute. It better become strong. Return, Growlithe," Gary sternly said.
As the red beam of light shot to the Pokémon, Growlithe gave Gary one final glance.
Gary cringed at his eyes and wondered how long he would keep this Pokémon.
(A.N. I originally wasn't gonna put this in but I wanted to give a little teaser to the next chapter. :) so here it is!)
...Only one word could explain today. Just one.
Gary emotionlessly looked at the people who sat on the pews, watching the man who spoke for the deceased.
Tears. Too many today...No. Not enough.
Gary hadn't shed one.
Only one word could explain today. And that one word pertained to Gary more than anyone else: Unforgivable.
R&R please! Tell me if I made any major or silly mistakes. And just REVIEW. It gives me brain juices! Like...slushies...