A.N. NOTE: so I rewatched Battle of the Badge and realized that a year actually passed around this time (in the english dub). So I'm gonna change that in the last chappy in a bit but yeah, a year passed so I guess I can make them a year older.

Which means Shigeru and Satoshi are now 16!

Also, I'm not even gonna lie, I completely forgot about Wartortle's crack in his shell. So I'm just gonna make it that when he evolved, it made it harder to see but it's still there like a scar. (BATTLE SCARRRSSSS)

Ok so work is taking a small break as of now and I'm inspired (because of certain people who will not be named XD), but thank you for everyone's reviews and thoughts!

(ALSO, when Shigeru goes into the Gym, you can actually take out an old map of the first Generation's Viridian Gym and follow it like that, just in case it gets confusing or something. I'm literally 100% going by that old map and it will be easier to read and understand if you just give it a good look. But when he reaches Giovanni, it's gonna be like the Viridian Gym in the show, if you can remember. So yeah.)

(ALSO ALSO, I don't remember if I brought this up before but I made Gary's Eevee male instead of female lol honestly it was because I was going with the game so much and his Eevee was male in there. So yeah, sorry for the mix up I guess? It's a fanfic so just roll with it :3)

But ok then, here we Goooooooo

"...Goodbye, Satoshi. Good luck," Gary said.

Ash chose to not look at him as he felt way too frustrated to attempt to understand what was going through that idiot's mind.

He heard his rival leave then looked down to the ground, wondering why this was bothering him so much.

Before he had too much time to think, he noticed Pikachu run into the room, looking up at him in confusion then concern. Ash quickly rubbed his eyes, clearing his throat to make sure his voice wouldn't crack.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I did it though," Ash said as he looked down at his electric Pokémon.

"Satoshi?"

Ash looked up as Misty and Brock stood at the door, both giving him a look of concern; much like Pikachu. With a sigh, Ash allowed them in and leaned against the wall, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I did like you said, Misty. I told him how much he was hurting me...then I told him that I didn't want to see him again."

Misty softly sighed but knew this was for the best. Still, she could see that this made Ash upset.

"How did he take it?" she asked.

Ash lightly laughed, shaking his head and passing his hand down his face.

"He...complimented me! I just don't get him! H-he tells me that he doesn't need me first, then he says he could never hate me, then he acts like a complete jerk again! And then back at Cinnabar he protected me from some guy."

"Some guy?"

"And now, he-" Ash cut off, feeling his throat beginning to choke up. He didn't like crying in front of people, but he couldn't help being so emotional. That's just who he was.

"What?" Misty asked as she took a step forward, cradling her Togepi onto her chest.

Ash looked up at her, seeing the worry and kindness in this Gym Leader's eyes. She wasn't trying to pry into his life or anything. She just wanted to talk to Ash to see what was making him so upset. She had always tried to do that, but Ash had a tendency of simply saying that everything was alright; mainly when it came to problems that were close to his heart.

Ash paused and took off his hat, placing it on his desk then ruffling up his hair out of frustration. That was when he noticed Pikachu pulling at his pant leg, desiring to climb up onto his shoulder. Ash bent down and put his arm down, letting the electric mouse quickly climb up and perch onto him.

Keeping his eyes on Pikachu's foot, which he played with to keep himself from overreacting, he softly replied, "he... said everything I wanted to hear...He said...that I'm great and strong. He even went as far as to call me handsome."

Ash laughed at that and shook his head, knowing that he said that because Ash admitted to him that he didn't like his appearance. But at the same time, that still brought up the main problem.

"I didn't tell him, but when he said that I felt so happy...but I don't get him. Why would he say all those horrible things for a whole damn year and then suddenly be nice? I just don't understand," Ash said as he looked back at his two friends. However, instead of looking sad or pitiful as he expected, they looked surprised.

The two exchanged glances, seeming to converse without saying a word. They had a tendency to do that and labeled it as "something adults do".

"You don't think..." Misty said, finishing the sentence with a glance at Brock.

"For this long? Do you think he'd really...?"

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Ash said, disliking when they did things like this, especially when he was in such a sour mood.

"Satoshi, what else did he say...?" Misty asked, having an odd expression on her face that Ash couldn't describe.

He gave her a confused look then looked down at his carpet, trying to remember his exact words.

"He apologized. He said...that he was a 'compulsive liar' and didn't know what he was doing until he went too far. Apparently being a douche was helping me. I have no idea how that works though."

"Oh my goodness..."

Ash looked up at her again, seeing that she now was covering her mouth as some sort of realization hit her.

"I can't believe that," Brock said, shaking his head and beginning to laugh.

"I never though he would be someone to do something like this..." Misty stated with a sad smile.

"Why did you tell him to leave after he said all those kind things to you?" Misty quickly asked, seeming slightly upset with him.

Ash was taken aback and frowned at her, replying, "did you guys forget everything that he's done all this year? He pisses me off and confuses me! Why should I keep a friend who acts mean but thinks he's being nice?!"

"But he understands what he did was wrong now!"

"What the hell does that matter? So he knows that he's a bastard. That doesn't change the fact that he still is one!"

"He's probably too young to get it," Brock said, looking down on him as if he was a child. Ash truly hated when they did that.

"C'mon, I hate it when you guys do that! What is it? What do you know?"

Misty opened her mouth but shut it, not knowing how to say this. But Ash already felt as if he hit his boiling point and yelled out, "well?!"

"Satoshi, Shigeru loves you."

Out of everything Misty could have said, this was the last thing Ash had expected.

"What?! Loves me?!" he yelled out as his face suddenly began to heat up.

"Before you completely freak out, I want you to think about this, Satoshi! He said he was a compulsive liar. He apologized for everything that he's done and said positive things about you."

Ash stayed quiet, giving Misty a confused look. This didn't add up to him.

Misty roughly sighed and straightened her shoulders, getting easily frustrated at Ash's ignorance.

"He didn't know what he was doing until he went too far! Satoshi! He's been in love with you all of this time!"

"Don't you think that assumption is a little deep? You can't just say that! You have no proof!"

"What's going on up here?"

Everyone abruptly turned to see Delia by the door, cocking an eyebrow at the group.

"I heard people yelling. What's wrong?"

"Ms. Ketchum, you have perfect timing! We need your help explaining something to Satoshi and I don't think we have the ability to really get it through his head," Misty said as she walked up to Ash's mother.

Ash watched the three in confusion then looked over to Pikachu who was looking down in thought. Was he trying to get this as well?

Gary? Loving him? Since when? How could acting the way he did throughout this whole journey be considered loving? ...But he was lying, right? So...did he always mean the opposite? Of course there were those times, like when he tightly hugged him in Lavender Town and back in Cinnabar when he defended him, but although they were kind gestures they still didn't make sense to Ash.

When that rival of his wanted to attack him with words, he sure was great at it. But whenever Ash seemed to have a problem, Gary was instantly there to fight for him. It made him wonder if it was one of those 'only I can mess with him' type of situations. If it was that, he would definitely want to hit him for that.

"Ash,"

Ash broke out of his concentration as his mother called out to him with a soft smile. She walked into his room and sat on his bed, softly patting the blanket next to her.

As he sat down next to his mother, Delia said with her soft and kind voice, "we need to talk, dear. About Gary."

"But mom, I don't think he likes me like that."

"No, I don't mean that. I think you need a good "memory refreshment" about before your journey."

Gary jolted awake as he heard a rumbling sound. He quickly turned to see the doors of the gym slowly opening, revealing nothing but darkness in the inside.

When had he fallen to sleep? Checking his watch, he realized he had only been out for around an hour or so. He assumed the stress of this morning just got to him and he needed a bit of rest.

This was when he realized that he was lying on something furry. It didn't take him much to realize that it was Arcanine, as he grew to remember the dog's scent. Arcanine was looking at the opening doors as well, seeming to be in full alert.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm up," Gary said as he stood up then stretched. He rubbed his eyes, noting how swollen they felt. In a way, he was happy to let those tears out. With an event like that, if he held his emotions in, he was sure that that would truly break him apart.

Patting his cheeks and taking a deep breath, Gary recalled Arcanine and walked into the gym, expecting some sort of light to eventually turn on. He never was really into flashy gyms, but it didn't matter. First he wanted to see this puzzle that was apparently so difficult.

The doors shut on their own and Gary had to squint to try to see anything. At the front were the two usual statues in every gym, but there was no guy there to give you water like he always does. (Gary always found that irrelevant. Why give the Trainer a bottle of water? He's heard the excuse that you could use it during battle, but how would you give it to them and have enough time to jump back into battle? And even if you just give the bottle to the Pokémon, they'd have to find a way to quickly drink some and not get attacked. He tried this once during practice and his Pokémon got a cramp. Potions, however, didn't seem to harm them. Altogether, that guy was only useful when he told you info on the leader. That was about it).

To his left was a long hallway and there was one ahead, past the statues. He could only assume he had to go this way. But as he began walking, he noticed that the hall led to other smaller halls. It was confusing and beginning to creep Gary out as the lighting was quite dim. Not to mention that it was completely silent. Was the gym even open?

As he moved to go to the hall at the furthest right, Gary felt his foot abruptly pulled forward. He managed to take it back and hold himself against the wall as he tried to see what made him almost trip. That was when he realized that he had seen this type of technology before. It was back in Silph Co. with Team Rocket's hideout. What were they doing here in Viridian?

He decided to concoct a plan on what he should do, but as he was about to begin a thought process, he heard a click that reverberated around him. Then on every wall, a big, red, digital timer suddenly appeared and began counting down from 20 minutes.

Gary gave the timer a confused look but jumped when he heard something moving on the ceiling. Or rather, it sounded like something was coming down from the ceiling, but he had no way to tell as it was too dark to even see it.

That was when the boy quickly called out his Pidgeot, asking her to check what was up there.

"But be careful, alright?" he quickly added.

The large bird gave him a quick nod and flew up into the darkness, taking her time once she was deep in it. Gary watched as she soon went out of sight, but followed the sound of her wings flapping.

After a minute or so, he heard a sudden squawk come from his bird and quick flapping. Before he could ask what was happening, he saw her diving back down to the ground in a panic. Only using her name, Pidgeot tried to describe something that was coming down from the ceiling but Gary had no idea what she was explaining.

"Use your wings or something, c'mon!" he quickly yelled out.

Pidgeot paused and thought for a moment before putting one wing up and the other down, horizontally. As her top wing slowly went down, Gary realized what she meant.

"The ceiling is moving down?"

At that, Pidgeot shook her head and tried to point her feathers downward.

"Like, spikes?!"

Pidgeot quickly nodded.

"Arceus, are you kidding me?!" Gary yelled out as he looked around which hallway to choose.

Not really thinking it through, Gary chose the hall in the furthest right, looking down at the panel that always shot him across rooms and hallways. He took a few steps back and got ready to jump, as he had a tactic to these things. He loathed the way these things liked to spin you around so instead of just walking onto them, Gary found out that it was easier to run and jump because the pull would make it feel as if you are just taking a very large jump to the other side; without all those spins.

So after a quick run, Gary jumped over the panel and felt the odd sensation these things gave to you as it shot him towards the other side of the hall; Pidgeot following from above. He already knew a wall was there so he put out his arms just in time so he wouldn't slam onto it fast first. However, the panel which was going to stop him was right before the wall so instead of hitting the wall, his hands helped him land onto the floor.

But he had no time to think as the panel in front of him was another moving one, which pulled his arms to a hallway to the left. His whole body was eventually pulled in that direction and Gary watched as an enormous statue came towards him.

Quickly keeping his arms outstretched, Gary pressed his hands against the stone and allowed them to bend, managing to slow down the speed. But his head still hit the statue.

Groaning, Gary got up and rubbed his head, looking up at the odd statue. It looked just like a person but its head was hidden in the darkness from above. It blocked that whole side, making it practically impossible to pass by it because directly to his left was a panel on the ground that would send him back. The statue was facing to the left, down another hall.

Remembering he was on a timer, Gary, trying to be slick, pressed his body against the statue and tried to move around it, hopefully being able to just pass this one obstacle. But there simply wasn't enough room as the panel managed to capture his back and pulled him back to where he was. He fell onto his bottom and lightly slid back onto another panel, which shot him all the way back to the beginning.

Cursing loudly, Gary decided to take another corridor, quickly inspecting each one. He also noted that this little mess up wasted about 5 minutes.

The two halls to the farthest left both had different panels on the ground while the one to the left of the first passage he took was empty. He decided to run through that one but paused when he found more statues.

Although it was dark, he could easily see the silhouette of a man. And not the type of artistic statue you'd see in a museum. It was as if they took the figure of an average guy and made a statue of him. Gary couldn't help but get an uneasy feeling from these things. All of their heads were also invisible to him; hidden in the vast darkness up above. It gave him a childish thought of whether they were watching him or not.

Luckily, there was another hall that kept away from the statues glances and Gary quickly ran in that direction as his thoughts couldn't help but to make him feel more nervous than necessary. However, once he looked over into the next hall to his left, another large statue awaited but instead of keeping still, it suddenly began to move toward him.

Gary instantly began to panic and continued to run forward, reaching the wall and turning to see if the statue continued to follow him. However, it only slid forward and stopped at the location Gary stood and stopped.

"Well that's freaky as hell..." he murmured as he ran into the hall that the statue seemed to have guarded.

Before moving forward, Gary noticed a large statue at the opposite end of the hall; inside another hall that intersected with this one. Taking a quick breath, Gary attempted to sprint forward and run around it, but the statue noticed him quickly and managed to get in his way before he could pass.

The statue continued to move forward, practically pushing him back. Gary had no choice except to run back into the last hall. The statue stopped at the end of the hall, making it impossible to get back into. But looking at the statue from this angle, Gary noticed that it was the first one he bumped into earlier. Therefore, the path should be clear now!

Running back to the beginning, the brunette jumped his way across the first moving panels, remembering the way it made an abrupt turn and maneuvering himself to make another leap to the left. Landing on the panel that stopped him, Gary looked forward then ran ahead, looking into the hall to his left and confirming that this was the statue that moved from before. And he had 13 minutes to spare!

Suddenly feeling optimistic, Gary ran down the hall and saw the bright light of another room to his left that he assumed he was going into. But as he was about to run into the hall to continue forward, another statue suddenly got in his way and blocked the path.

Feeling way too desperate, Gary tried to jump onto the statue and climb around it or on top of it, but it was way too smooth to really grab.

Now looking up, Gary felt a chill run down his body as he was finally able to see the points of the spikes from above. Trying to cheat the game, Gary asked Pidgeot to try and fly him over, but the statue was too tall as its head was practically aligned with the tips of the spikes. Even its shoulders were too thick for him by himself to go by. Why did this statue have to be so much bigger than the rest?! It was as if someone knew that this was going to happen and planned this before hand.

Still, Gary managed to get a glimpse of the other side of the statue and noticed another hall that could lead to the exit.

Cursing under his breath, Gary told Pidgeot to take him down, fly back to the beginning by herself and take another corridor to find the exit. She was hesitant at first but flew off, Gary running behind her.

Once he reached the beginning, she was out of sight which inadvertently brought Gary into a larger state of panic. The spikes slowly moving down seriously didn't help either. He impatiently waited for the bird, hoping that she could at least tell him which path wasn't the right way, and after a minute or so, he saw her suddenly appear from the right hallway of the left hand side, flying back over to him in a quicker speed as the panels also affected her.

Before he could ask, Pidgeot grabbed him by his shirt collar and tried to fly him through the leftmost hallway, but the panels on the ground still affected him and he continuously was being pulled to the ground. Pidgeot's only solution was to release him and let him slide over, which was much slower than her simply flying by it all.

"It's fine, I can just follow you. Keep going!" Gary quickly called out as he saw the end of the hall and it turning to the right.

Ignoring another large statue, Gary turned and ran into the hall to the right, jumping over another moving panel and landing perfectly onto the one that stops him. Another large statue came his way and Gary simply moved around it, noticing that he could dodge the next moving panel and simply run in on his own.

Halfway through the hall, he noticed his Pidgeot in an intersecting hall, beckoning him to follow. Gary listened and ran through, noticing a bright light coming from the left hall up ahead. But before he could really get his spirits up, he noticed the timers on the walls begin to flicker and lose its place of 11 minutes. He watched it as it completely disappeared then changed to 4 minutes, causing the spikes to abruptly drop down.

In a panic, Pidgeot dropped over Gary, hoping to protect him, but the spikes stopped right before they could touch her. The boy then ran as fast as he could while bending down, making sure his large bird had enough room to fly over him.

Ramming into the wall, Gary turned to see the last hall that finally led to the exit. However, it looked way too far ahead and Gary had no idea if he had enough stamina to make it.* But the thought was pushed aside as survival mode kicked into him, causing him to sprint into that direction.

Pidgeot followed over head and felt the tips of the spikes brushing over the feathers of her wings, making it harder and harder to flap them. She could tell that he would never make it and pulled back for a moment, flying lower and grabbing onto his collar again.

Flying at full speed, she managed to get close enough to toss him and decided to do a quick spin and throw him out. Gary managed to figure out her plan a few seconds before hand and pulled out his pokeball, looking back and catching her before the spikes could even touch her.

Once he hit the ground, he pulled himself away from the entrance, watching as the spikes continued to move down. It amazed him that they managed to fit in such a small space to begin with.

Taking a quick look around, Gary noticed that he was now in the actual gym to battle the leader. Once making sure that he was completely safe, he fell onto his back and pressed the pokeball tightly against his chest, panting and thankful that they both had enough time to make it out.

After this whole mess, he planned on giving Pidgeot the worst scolding he'd ever given her...then probably hug her after. Stupid bird trying to be heroic. Gary knew that if he lost another Pokémon he wouldn't be able to handle it. He was amazed that he could already handle two.

"I see you passed the maze! Very good job, Shigeru."

The voice made Gary jump and turn towards it, seeing a figure of a man on a high balcony. A bright light was shining behind him, making it impossible to see his face. He did manage to see a Pokémon next to him, and by its figure, he assumed that it was a Persian; a somewhat rare Pokémon in this region.

"But I doubt I will let you make it out of this gym alive..."

Gary froze, sitting up and staring at the man. Many times he had been threatened to be beaten. Many times he had been in life threatening situations. But this was the first time that someone directly told him that they were planning to take his life.

Silently, Gary stood up, remembering why he was there and what he could do. He managed to pull Pidgeot's pokeball away from his chest and place it on his belt with the rest. He walked forward, getting close enough to the balcony where he could talk to the man yet still be able to see him. With a deep breath, he began to speak.

"I am Shigeru Gary Oak from Pallet Town. I've come for the Earth Badge to enter into the Pokémon League."

The shrouded man pressed his elbow on the armrest of the chair he was sitting in, placing his head onto his hand.

"I know what you're here for, Shigeru. But I'm sure that you knew that it would not be that easy once you realized that Team Rocket owned this Gym."

Gary frowned at the man but kept silent for a moment. After the silence became too thick, he decided to ask some questions before declaring for a bet. Hopefully, he could make it out of here with no one getting harmed.

"Are you...the leader of Team Rocket?"

The man took a moment to answer. He sat up and replied, "yes I am. My name is Giovanni. Make sure you remember that name as it is the last one you will have to memorize."

This death threat lightly frustrated Gary, but he knew in situations like these it was best to stay calm.

"Why do you want to kill me? I'm no one."

"It's a good thing too. It's much easier to get away with someone's death when they are 'no one'."

Gary disliked the way this man spoke so easily about this. As if murdering someone was a daily event.

"Do not misunderstand, I do not kill the innocent unless necessary. You are not innocent. You have done something to me."

"What? ...I haven't done anything to you. This is the first time we've met."

"Don't play dumb. I hate when people lie to me and I especially loathe when people play innocent."

Gary gave no reply but thought back on what he could've done to Team Rocket. The only thing he could remember was fighting some of the grunts over in Silph Co. But it's not like he actually brought the whole place down. He simply...

Gary's eyes widened when he found the answer. Giovanni simply stayed quiet, looking down at him.

"I weakened your team."

"Good."

"...Enough for others to manage to bring you down."

"I'm glad you're not a complete fool!"

"But I barely did anything! All I did was fight some men! If anything, Ash was the one who-" but Gary cut himself off, not wanting to bring him into this.

"Yes, that horrible child who managed to bring me down...I almost killed him you know. But that Pikachu of his managed to stop me before I could shoot him... The point is that because of your assistance, that boy brought me down at a severely important moment... I'm not stupid, Shigeru. I know you are much stronger than that boy, but you were horrible enough to not even fight me and let some second rate Trainer finish me off. And I thought I was the evil one."

Giovanni laughed out loud, not in any way sounding happy about this. It made Gary nervous.

"I'm not evil for wanting to help take down a major corporation that strives to steal Pokémon."

"Of course not, Shigeru. But you are evil for many other things."

Gary gave the man a confused glare and replied, "name them!"

"...Ever since you brought me down in Silph Co., I've looked up everything about your life, from your birth until now. You haven't been the nicest person in the world, you know. From the beginning, you've done nothing but overwork your Pokémon, ride around with older women, and hurt others."

Gary's eyes widened in shock at the way his journey was worded out.

"What? That's not true! You're misunderstanding!"

"You even molested a woman while on the S.S. Anne."

"No, you're wrong!"

"And let's not forget your poor, poor Raticate."

Gary felt his body freeze, still not too comfortable with bringing up this subject.

"The way you abandoned it. I have to admit though, it was smart of you to leave him in the Rock Tunnel before it collapsed. But that was not enough to cover up your crimes."

"It's not...like that," Gary managed to say, knowing that he still felt guilty on the whole situation.

"Then there was the other story of a little girl's Lucario,"

"That's enough."

"Murdering a poor Pokémon who was just trying to help,"

"I said that's enough!"

"All to find your little boyfriend."

Gary paused once again, looking up to Giovanni with shocked eyes. How did he know so much about him? Until only yesterday, he never admitted his feelings about this to anyone.

"And you did find him. It stopped you from staying with those cougars of yours but that didn't stop you from cheating on him with another man...Surely you didn't think I wasn't watching you from that hotel you stayed in over at Cinnabar. You truly are disgustingly evil."

At that, Gary felt his face heat up in embarrassment. He simply had no idea what to say to this man. No comeback could compare to how much dirt he had on him at the moment. Any story could easily be taken into a different perspective and used against him. Just what was Giovanni planning?

Hesitantly, Gary asked, "what do you want?"

This question seemed to please Giovanni as he sat up straight, placing one knee over the other and his hands on his top.

"You have...a few options. You could...join me; as your strength can definitely take you far in this group. Not to mention that you are such an epitome of evil...You remind me of me, as a boy, actually."

The boy glared at Giovanni, faintly able to see that this reaction was pleasing the man.

"Then there are are a few other options, all that lead to death. But we can get to those in a moment. Let's discuss the arrangements of you joining Team Rocket."

"Why the hell would I do that? No matter what, you have a grudge against me." Gary spat back.

"I never said I wouldn't take my revenge. No matter the choice, you will be harmed. Joining me will simply assure your survival. Join me, and you can leave behind all this mess you created! I've come up with a plan that can have the whole world at my command...and I'd gladly accept you as a member; even as my successor in the far future."

Gary's eyes widened at this, slowly replying, "the whole world...?"

"You've already ruined so many relationships in your life, Shigeru. Your grandfather even knows of the many things you've done. He most definitely lost interest in you as well."

"What? What did you tell him?!"

"Only the truth, Shigeru! The truth of the many, horrible things you've done in this journey. And he expected so much from you...The look on his face was simply devastated, knowing that his own grandson turned out so bad. Trust me, Shigeru. You will find happiness in Team Rocket. Find your own kind who have gone through the exact same things...Join me."

The brunette looked down onto the ground, contemplating on that option. Giovanni had already gone so far to ruin his life. Even his grandfather, who was like a father to him, now thought of him as a horrible person. Slowly, everyone was leaving him behind...

No. He left them behind. And because of all the mess he got himself into, he had no idea if there really was a way back.

Was there a way out? Would it be better to just leave it all behind? He was good at running away...

Shutting his eyes, Gary took a deep breath and looked up at the man, knowing what option was for the best. Giovanni was leading this conversation for too long. It was time for him to take command.

"I know the truth. And I know that with time, I can convince the ones close to me that everything you've told them has been nothing but lies...I am nothing like you. I've learned from my mistakes and I know that I can't just run from them. So..."

Gary took a few steps back, taking out one of his pokeballs and pointing it towards Giovanni.

"Giovanni from Viridian. I challenge you to a Pokémon battle. If I win, you let me go. If you win you can...do whatever you want with me."

Gary knew that this was a stretch, as he didn't know if he could handle this gym leader. He also didn't know whether he was one to keep his word, once given. All he could do was hope for the best.

Giovanni thought this over for a moment before nodding and replying, "very well, Shigeru. Let us see how you fare against my Pokémon."

The brunette nodded and made his way to the other side of the gym, thinking about which Pokémon he would choose.

"We'll use the typical rules; three Pokémon each, no time limit," Giovanni called out.

Gary nodded and called out Blastoise. Giovanni, responded by choosing Golem, which made Gary a little more confident. Water against Rock was usually always a quick battle. But that confidence only began to fade as he saw the look in the opposing team's Pokémon. The best way he could describe it would be...heartless.

"Golem, use Tackle Attack!" Giovanni called out with a raised arm. His Pokémon followed his order and came rushing forward.

"Blastoise, Hydro Cannon!" Gary yelled out, Blastoise quickly retaliating.

But the move missed as Blastoise shot ahead and did not notice that Golem was actually running around him. Gary's eyes widened as he finally realized that it was coming to get him.

"Remember Shigeru, leave that box you're in and you lose! I'd recommend keeping your place!" Giovanni quickly called out from a distance.

But Gary's eyes were glued to the Golem that was getting closer, amazed that it's instinct was to head straight for the Trainer.

Taking a few steps back but making sure to stay in the white box he was in, Gary could only watch in a state of shock. But the feeling was abruptly pulled away as water suddenly slammed onto the Golem, making him trip and fall right in front of the brunette. This forced Gary's eyes to follow Blastoise who was running over to help. He could only watch as Blastoise grabbed onto the enemy Pokémon's leg, sliding him away from his Trainer so he could guard him. His usually kind and carefree Pokémon was in a state that he had never seen him before as the Blastoise let out a deep cry, expressing his dominance. The Golem screeched back and ran in for another Tackle, but Blastoise kept his footing and grabbed onto the Pokémon, knowing that another Hydro Cannon would simply allow him to go for Gary again. Blastoise struggled, but managed to stop Golem and go down for a Toxic Bite, biting down as hard as he could onto the opponents skull. As some point, Golem couldn't take the pain and moved back, rolling away from the large turtle.

Finally out of his stupor, Gary called out to his Pokémon to see if he was alright and cringed when Blastoise turned his head to reveal blood on his teeth.

"Giovanni, I thought you said that this was going to be a typical battle!" Gary yelled out, giving Golem a quick glance to make sure he wasn't coming for him again.

"I said we would use typical rules, Shigeru. I never said anything about a normal battle," Giovanni replied.

Gary frowned, glaring at such a horrible Trainer. How did he even manage to become a Gym Leader? And was this really his Gym to begin with?

Those questions were pushed away as Golem came running forward again. But his movements were slowing down as the poison was quickly getting to him. Blastoise found this as his chance and shot his Hydro Cannon but only using one cannon. Golem managed to roll away but, as Blastoise planned, he used his other cannon and hit the Pokémon; the force of the water so strong that it pushed Golem away and out of the field. He fainted right after.

"I'm shocked Shigeru! Allowing your Pokémon to move without your say! How untalented!" Giovanni mocked.

"What about you?!"

"I'm a villain, my dear boy. Do not mistake me for anything else. Kingler!"

At that moment, a Kingler came out of its pokeball from Giovanni's hand, expressing the exact same glare Golem had only minutes ago. Although Gary knew about the Pokémon, he reflexively brought up his pokédex to get the information stored into the machine. He barely paid attention to it, however, as Giovanni already commanded his Kingler to use Crabhammer on Gary.

Blastoise still guarded his Trainer, however, and was able to catch its attention. The Crabhammer was now directed to him but Blastoise managed to dodge it by only so much.

Finally, Gary's head was in the game and he recalled Blastoise, sending out Arcanine at the same time. Arcanine had no time to show his respect to his opponent as Gary quickly gave out a command.

"Arcanine, Take Down then Fire Spin!" Gary called out, watching as Arcanine launched forward. Out of all of his Pokémon's speed stat, he was proud to say that Arcanine surpassed all of them. Not only because of the rough training, but because of this Pokémon's spirit to simply strive to be better.

Arcanine slammed onto the Kingler, taking only minimal backlash damage and jumping back to use Fire Spin on it. The Kingler could not even keep his glance on Arcanine as his speed was much lower than the fire dog. It never even noticed Gary command Arcanine to use Fire Blast, oddly finishing off the Water type Pokémon quite quickly. It made Gary wonder what level this Pokémon was really in. Many people never cared to pay attention to that number as personal experiences tended to make their team stronger. However, Gary also knew that this numerical statistic could also affect the outcome of a battle.

Giovanni sighed at the second defeat, recalling the Pokémon and finally standing up, moving forward enough for Gary to finally see his face. His face was just like any other person, but that was what frightened Gary most of all. This man had no feeling behind that smile and, although he was far off, the brunette still was able to see the dead look in his eyes.

"Two down. You truly are a powerful opponent... Are you sure you won't change your mind? We could end this now and you could join me. I'll even hold back on the revenge."

"Just send out your last Pokémon," Gary replied, feeling as if he was ready for anything. He was already planning a strategy as he only assumed that his final choice would be the Persian next to him.

Giovanni let out another sigh and shook his head.

"Little Shigeru. I am not beaten yet. Isn't it only natural to save the best for last? I'll use this battle to test my most powerful Pokémon."

After his small speech, Giovanni snapped his fingers and the area below his balcony was revealed to actually be a door; slowly opening to reveal a dark room. Yet, it was bright enough to reveal a Pokémon (or what looked to be one) that was covered in machinery. Before he could bring out his pokédex, the Pokémon's eyes shined brightly and Arcanine was suddenly surrounded in a blue aura. Gary called out Arcanine's name and could only watch as the fire dog was abruptly thrown into the right wall. Luckily, Arcanine was still able to get up, giving Gary enough time to grab his pokédex to try and find information on the Pokémon. However, his pokédex began to short circuit, not finding any available data on the new Pokémon. This frightened Gary as he looked up at the being in fear.

"You look frightened, Shigeru. Out of the kindness in my heart, I'll allow you to use more than one Pokémon if you are that afraid of losing," Giovanni said as his smirk deepened.

His stubborn personality suddenly appeared, causing him to exclaim, "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Everyone is afraid of something, Shigeru. Even I have a fear."

After a moment to think this through, Gary finally concluded that now was not the time to be so childish. He needed his Pokémon right now; most likely more than one.

Although it upset him, Gary also brought out Blastoise and beckoned for Arcanine to come back. Arcanine came running back over, standing next to Blastoise to protect his Trainer.

Gary commanded the two, trying to strategically use the two polar elements against the opponent, but it easily dodged the attacks; practically playing with the two.

"Enough of this nonsense, use Psychic again!"

The Pokémon froze and began to shake, almost as if it was fighting Giovanni's command.

"Now!" Giovanni yelled out, which in turn, caused the Pokémon to pick up Gary's two Pokémon again and send them flying to the walls behind the Trainer.

Gary looked back at the two Pokémon, watching as they still had some fight in them and were forcing themselves up. But when he continued to watch them, he saw them suddenly calling out, a look of fear in their eyes. Gary gave them confused glances then turned back around, only to find the machine covered Pokémon standing right in front of him.

Before he could yelp, the Pokémon brought its hand up to Gary's face and used Psychic, bringing Gary up into the air with him. Both of Gary's Pokémon had a sudden boost of morale as they watched their Trainer pulled up into the air, wincing as the Pokémon kept him completely still. Arcanine was the first to move, sprinting towards them and attempting a Take Down on the opponent, but it easily moved away, taking Gary along with it. Blastoise in turn, aimed to use Hydro Cannon while its back was turned, but relented as it suddenly turned around using Gary as its shield.

The brunette Trainer could only watch his Pokémon as they seemed to yell at the one holding him, almost as if they were beckoning him to let their Trainer go. But it made no effect as its other hand came up and used its abilities to slam the two into walls again, this time picking them up once they fell and slamming them onto each other.

Once it was sure that they were wounded enough, the Pokémon levitated to the center of the field, rotating Gary so they were face to face. It pushed the brunette away, giving him enough distance to see Giovanni as well as the Pokémon. It disgusted him that Giovanni was watching, looking practically jolly at what was occurring.

That was when Gary heard a phone ringing, making him jump in fear. He watched as Giovanni sighed and pulled out a black cellphone, pulling up the antennae on the small device and flipping it open.

"Play with him for a while," Giovanni told his Pokémon before placing the phone to his ear and turning away.

Gary looked back at the Pokémon and gasped as he felt his muscles clenching tightly. His body was quivering as the Pokémon practically played with his limbs, stretching them in painful angles then bringing him back to a standing position. All the while, Giovanni talked on the phone, Gary becoming violently angry at the answers he was giving.

"No, no do not worry, I'm not busy at all. Just torturing someone. How is the situation?"

Gary could only pay attention to so much as the Pokémon brought one of his arms up horizontally, bending the elbow back. With as much strength as he could muster, Gary managed to talk, stuttering through most of it.

"Please...Stop! It hurts!" But his words seemed to have flown over the Pokémon's head as it continued to bend his forearm back, slightly cocking its head to the side as if curious about the human's body.

Feeling the pain growing more and more in his arm, Gary finally managed to cry out, his voice cracking at first but a yell following right after. This caused the Pokémon to bring his arm back into position and Giovanni to cover his other ear to hear his caller.

The brunette panted and yelped as tears involuntarily streamed down his eyes, the stress in his muscles becoming so powerful that they began to numb. Although his vision was blurred due to the tears, Gary still managed to look at the Pokémon attacking him, vaguely noticing that its hand had begun to quiver and twitch. Its head was also slowly bowing down, almost as if it was trying to look away from the Trainer.

Somehow, Gary found himself speaking to the Pokémon, feeling as if this had to be asked.

"You...can't stop. Can you?"

Although his words were practically inaudible, the Pokémon instantly looked back up at him, its piercing white eyes staring directly into raw sienna. It shut its hand for a moment then quickly opened it, giving Gary a sudden pain in the left side his head. His head now felt like a complete mess as his vision began to fade in and out of reality. He could see the Pokémon, once again, shaking for control and Giovanni now turned to them. He seemed to be yelling but Gary lost interest in it as he fought to keep his eyes opened.

Too suddenly, his muscles relaxed themselves and he felt himself falling. He could vaguely see the Pokémon as it flew up. Or was he falling down?

Either way, the brunette's mind could not take this much and shut off before he could feel the brunt force of the ground.

A.N. Ok don't hate me lol I just felt like this was a good place to stop the chapter. I'm already working on the next one anyway as I was planning on keeping all together but was like nah. Lol I have school tomorrow and I really shouldn't be staying up til like 2 to finish this chapter lol

So uhm, yeah I made Giovanni much worse because when I have a villain, I have a damn villain, ok? :)

But ok questions! Gary lost the bet didn't he? I wonder what Giovanni is gonna do with him... Lol just a hint, he won't kill him. I don't ever wanna kill Gary because I love him too much. But what do you think he'll do to him? And do you think Ash is next? Ahhhhh the evil is too much to bear!

btw the story with Mewtwo will change up a bit from the anime and movie and such. If you remember, he was also in the Cerulean Cave so I'm adding that in, in it's own way.

Lol but yeah, R&R, tell me what you think, what you like, what you hated. Oh! And did the beginning help some people understand a bit more as to Ashy boy's choices? I hope it did. Lol things might be interesting between the two after this. Especially if Gary is forced into Team Rocket omg imagine that... Lol that (might) not be a spoiler but you know whatever :)

Hope you enjoyed!