Summary of previous chapter: After running away from the city and ending up in Saffron, a storm forces Gary and Misty to stay undercover in a Pokémon Center. Gary's old friend Jen helps them sneak in and stay in the nurse's lounge in spite of Nurse Joy's initial disagreement. The duo is forced to spend the night at the Pokémon Center as Gary learns that charges have been placed against the former residents of the Cerulean Gym. Becca and Bryan got arrested by orders of the Pokémon League on charges of aiding outlaws escape.
Outlaw
Chapter 3: Two of a Kind
As soon as Gary entered the Gym, his lungs began hurting and his eyes itched like nothing else ever had. The smoke was thick and the fire was raging. The once state-of-the-art Gym they had both worked for so hard for the past six months was becoming nothing more than a cruel memory. The walls had lost their navy blue color and were now dark or ash gray. The furniture was gone, and the stairs had been consumed by the fire. Parts of the roof were collapsing in front of him. Despite the firefighters' best effort, the Gym would not last much longer under the lack of mercy of the fire.
Gary chose his Blastoise and ordered him to use water gun. He knew the structure of the building would collapse anyway, but he needed more time to find a way to get to Misty. He then called out Misty's Starmie and ordered both Pokémon to continue their water attacks around the area that was closest to the office he had to reach. Gary knew that trying to open the metal door was going to be a waste of time and that attempting to break the roof on the lower room was easier than any other possible task. He ran to the storage room underneath and kicked the door open. The fire was less intense in this room, but his lungs still complained in the form of chest pains and loud coughing.
He called out his Alakazam and asked him to use his psychic powers to find Misty's presence on top of them. Alakazam took a brief moment before finally finding her on the corner opposite to the door. Once his job was done and Gary knew the exact location of Misty's body, he called back Alakazam. He reached for Misty's belt and called out Dragonite. He stepped out and roared at the discomfort that was the smoking room.
"I'm sorry, Dragonite, but I need your help. I need you to make a hole on the roof over there," Gary said as he pointed to the opposite corner where Alakazam had sensed Misty was at.
Dragonite roared in understanding and began charging a small amount of energy to use hyperbeam. Gary's head began spinning a little as oxygen was becoming scarce. He could still hear Blastoise and Starmie working outside but the fire was slowly winning. Dragonite was almost done charging to attack as he became worried about Gary's condition. He kept trying to take deep breaths filtered by his shirt, but the smoke was too thick to avoid.
Dragonite watched as Gary got down to his knees and coughed non-stop. The smoke in the room was going nowhere fast; Gary's lungs could not take much more before he intoxicated himself to death. Dragonite finally released his attack and without even waiting to make sure he had succeeded, he flew towards Gary and grabbed one of Misty's pokeballs.
Dragonite threw the pokeball and after a few seconds, the red flash of light left behind a shiny, huge Gyrados. Gyrados analyzed the situation for a split second before bathing Gary and the room with his own water gun attack. In a matter of seconds Gary was brought back to reality and the room had been emptied of the smoke.
Gary looked up and saw the newly arrived Pokémon. Even though he had just been called out, Gyrados showed signs of having encountered a battle. Gary knew he did not have a Gyrados and the closest Misty had to it been that shiny Magikarp she had found in her room. "When did it evolve?"
Gary shook his head and remembered what he had gone inside the Gym for. He looked at the corner and realized that Dragonite had succeeded. There was a hole on the roof big enough for him to get there. Gary stared at Dragonite before asking him to give him a lift. Dragonite nodded and threw Gary through the hole. Gyrados stayed behind to help Starmie and Blastoise while Dragonite followed Gary.
As soon as Gary allowed his senses to become aware of his new environment, he realized that though there was no fire in the room, the temperature was easily above the 130 degrees. The heat from the fire around the room was building up and concentrating in the room. The temperature continued to increase, giving Gary a headache and a slight feeling of dizziness.
Gary concentrated on analyzing the status of the room. The sprinklers had gone off, but since there was no fire in the room, the humidity only worsened the heat inside of it. The amounts of paperwork in the room were ruined, and some of the office supplies were slowly melting and becoming part of other supplies.
The office was thrashed. The furniture was either flipped over or broken, and the floor was covered in paper, trash and…red stains.
"Blood."
Gary opened his eyes to place an end to his recurring nightmare. It took him a few seconds to realize he was not at the Gym anymore, nor was he home back in Pallet Town. However, his body thanked him for the rest he so desperately needed as he pulled the covers closer to himself and stared at the TV at the end of the couch, near his feet. He heard the news anchors as they talked about the severe weather that had taken place the night before, and showed images of what the citizens of Saffron had woken up to see: chaos and death.
"At least 17 people drowned last night as water rose nonstop for several hours. Businesses downtown are closed indefinitely due to extensive repairs that need to be done thanks to the raging waters that swept over the stores after windows shattered because of the water pressure on the streets. Cars were found piled on top of other cars, and trees fell over some others, as well as over homes. Some of the streets are still flooded and electricity is trying to be restored to hospitals and homes on the north side of the city. Saffron was given not given enough time to prepare."
Gary sighed. If he had been as stubborn as he usually is, he and Misty could have been drowned victims of the storm number 18 and 19. "What was I thinking?"
Jen, once again, saved his life. Though not known as Jen in the real world, her street name was something that only strangers and relative new people to her called her. Gary had met her while traveling through Saffron in this exact Pokémon Center. She had stopped by to help Nurse Joy with an overload of trainers trying to defeat Sabrina, and Gary had stopped by because of the bad weather, just like last night. He had just defeated Erika from Celadon, where he had just made a new friend named Becca.
Gary had never accepted that he was jealous of Ash's traveling partners, but the truth was that he wanted real company all that time he was on the road. He had bumped into a few people here and there, but no one had left a considerable mark on him as Becca and Jen had. Becca was a girl who had run away from home when still young, and had sheltered herself in Pokémon training to have a way to make money, and have a place to stay and eat. Jen was a very well known resident of Saffron for her Pokémon copycat expertise, but she had little by little stopped doing what she had been doing in exchange for having a normal life.
It seemed everyone and anyone who had fame did not have it all.
As Gary had traveled through Celadon in search for the Pokémon gym, he had seen Becca staring at a donut place a few blocks away from the Pokémon Center. He would usually not stare at random girls in the street, but Becca's presence was difficult to ignore. He remembered exactly what she was wearing, and how her face was plastered on the glass window of the donut shop. She had the most straight and bright, natural blonde hair, as well as the biggest blue eyes he had ever seen. He admitted she was not bad to look at, even though she was wearing shoes that were older than his own sister, and overalls that hid her slim body in the same way the sideway cap she was wearing hid her pretty face.
He stopped a few feet away from her, smiling at how she was completely unaware of her surroundings as the crispy donuts on display absorbed every bit of her attention. She licked her lips as they could almost taste the creamy inside of the donuts they had once tasted before when she was a little girl. Her hands instinctively reached for her pockets only to pull out the empty inside fabric from them. Becca sighed in sadness. She needed to defeat someone to get some cash to afford eating something tonight.
Gary walked over the blonde and stood right next to her, pretending to stare at the donuts. Becca quickly realized she was not alone anymore and pretended to turn around and leave as she just took a couple of steps away from the glass and relaxed her back on the last concrete pillar of the store. Gary smiled as he walked inside the store and after a few minutes came out with a bag of dozen crispy donuts. He stopped at the entrance of the store and took one out, overly exaggerating its good taste before slowly eating it in front of Becca.
Becca could not help to watch the fate of the donut as it disappeared in Gary's mouth. She watched him as he licked every single one of his fingers before closing the bag and walked in her direction. Becca pretended not to stare at the bag as Gary walked in front of her and stopped to face her.
"This is too much for me. Want to share some?"
As much as Becca's stomach was screaming an affirmative response, her brain would not let her accept charity from strangers, especially a seemingly pretentious guy she had just met. With every little bit of willpower in her body she shook her head and immediately looked the other way. Gary smirked at the generally familiar indication of pride as he spoke again. "Do you really want to toss twelve donuts to waste?"
Becca spoke without turning to face him: "Bought a baker's dozen just for you?"
"I only paid for twelve."
Becca turned around and saw his mischievous little grin. She could not help to smile. "Why do you want me to eat them? Did you stuff them with love poison? Is that how you get girls?"
"You are a girl? I thought you were a dude."
Becca's eyes widened at the daring comment Gary Oak had just made. She knew he was kidding, trying to sound as tough as she wanted to sound, but it did not make the comment less hurtful.
"You are jerk, you know that?"
"I've been told."
"Look, I don't need your charity. Leave me alone."
"Charity? I was just doing the best thing I learned in pre-school: sharing."
"Sharing is a nice way to say charity. Now go."
"Look, I am just trying to help you. Why don't you make it easier for me and take the damn donuts?"
"I don't accept charity from anyone."
"I can see that," Gary said as he stared at her ragged clothes.
Becca began feeling uncomfortable and stared away from him. She began feeling anxious and wanted to leave his presence but her stomach had not tasted anything in the past three days.
Gary saw the uneasiness in her face but he would not give up until the skinny girl got some food in her system. Becca hoped that if she looked away he would eventually leave her alone but after five minutes of constant staring coming from him she decided to switch the topic and perhaps try to annoy the hell out of him until he left.
She looked at him up and down, trying to find something on him to stir up conversation. The sun was slowly disappearing in the horizon. The night would come soon and she would spend one more day without food in her body. Thankfully for her, her eyes caught a glimpse of his Pokémon belt. "He's a trainer!"
Gary smiled at the new sparkle he saw in her eyes and could not help to make another uncomfortably arrogant comment to her. "Why are you starting at my crotch?"
Becca's head snapped up as both of her hands rested on her hips. "What? I am NOT looking at your crotch. You ain't that cute, you know?"
Gary smirked. "So, how do you want to pay for these donuts?"
Becca's anger melted. Paying for stuff was something she could not do and had not been able to do in days.
"I should've never left home," she thought. Though, her wish quickly went away when the memories of fighting parents, long nights of arguments, and countless days of abuse returned to her mind. "Look at me, thinking of going back home because a random guy wants to give me donuts."
"I'll never go back to that hell."
"I beg you pardon?"
Becca realized her whisper had been heard by the arrogant boy. "I said I know how I can pay."
"Really?"
"Yeah, you're a trainer, aren't you?"
"Gary Oak, at your service."
"Becca Gall."
"Becca Gall…at my service?"
"Nope, just Becca Gall."
The two youngsters shook hands and stared at each other for a few seconds. The deep eyes Gary was giving her made her uncomfortable for a second time and she turned away.
"So, how are you paying for these?"
"Pokémon battle."
"You're a trainer too?"
Becca nodded. "Best two out of three gets all the donuts. How's it sound?"
"Like a deal."
They both nodded at each other before realizing they were still in front of the donut shop. "We need to find another place to battle," Gary said.
"I know a place," Becca began, "there is a park a few blocks down from here. It's almost dark; people should be leaving it by now."
"Ok, lead the way, I am not from here," Gary said.
Becca nodded and began heading south. Gary followed her without saying another word. Celadon had always been a very busy city, and even at night there were still plenty of cars and people in the streets. Gary stared at the busy and hurried up pedestrians as they made their way home.
"So, where you from?"
Gary returned his gaze to the back of the blonde's hair before he replied. "Pallet Town."
"Middle-of-nowhere Pallet Town?"
"Yeah, boring place if you ask me."
"I bet."
"How about you?"
"I'm from Saffron."
"I am heading to Saffron," Gary stated. "Defeating Erika was a breeze."
"I know; Sabrina too."
Gary furrowed. He had defeated Erika a few days ago but had refrained from taking on Sabrina yet. He had seen the battles on the most recent televised Pokémon tournament, and very few even had a chance against her.
"I find it hard to believe a person like you defeated Sabrina so easily."
"I don't live to make believers out of people like you."
Fair enough.
In a matter of seconds, Gary and Becca had arrived to the mentioned park, and as Becca had said, the families that were hanging around there were wrapping it up. "Want to start the battle? A nice comfortable bed in the Pokémon Center is waiting for me."
"Sure, and your donuts are mine."
"We'll see about that."
The trainers stood on opposite sides as each took out their first pokeball. Gary wanted Becca to have something to eat as soon as possible, so he wasted no time in calling out his first Pokémon: Squirtle.
"That's a cute Squirtle!"
"Thanks."
Becca nodded to express her honesty as she called out her Pokémon. The red light of the pokeball left a Haunter floating in the air. "Ready?"
Gary nodded in agreement.
"Squirtle, water gun, go!"
Squirtle nodded and began running towards Haunter. Haunter stared at the blue turtle as it evaded attacks that were not there and used random water gun attacks towards Haunter. Haunter received the attacks that did nothing more than refresh him. Haunter laughed. "Thank you, we've walking under the sun for days. Haunter, confusion!"
"Squirtle, use your defensive maneuvers!"
Squirtle quickly did as told and disappeared inside its own shell. Haunter's eyes glowed yellow as everything around him began to slow down and look fuzzy and distorted. Even Gary felt a little bit of the attack Haunter was releasing. The attack lasted about five seconds, and at the end of it Gary had to blink several times to regain control of his eyes. Pokémon attacks usually don't affect humans unless the attacks are directly aimed to them. Gary knew that the Pokémon had only aimed at his Squirtle, but the intensity of the attack has spread out of the battlefield. Gary looked at Becca to see if she had been affected by the confusion attack, but she looked as secure and composed as she had when the battle started.
Gary looked at his Pokémon and called it to come out and continue battling. Squirtle did not respond.
"Squirtle, stop goofing around! Come out!"
Becca smiled at Gary's exasperation. She knew Squirtle was out for the count. "My Pokémon are strong, Gary. I've got nothing else to do but train them."
Gary smirked. "I'm just getting started, baby."
"Me too."
Gary called Squirtle a couple of times more before finally giving up and calling him back. Becca had won the first battle. "Did you get this lucky when you battled Sabrina?"
"Are you always this hateful when you're losing?"
Gary growled. He would never judge a girl by her hunger ever again.
"Pokeball, go!"
Gary released his second Pokémon: Fearrow."
Becca furrowed. Did he know what he was doing? Was he playing nice with her?
"Fearrow, swift!"
"Haunter, Hypnosis!"
"Shit," Gary muttered.
In moments, Gary's Fearrow was catching some z's on the ground.
"I think that makes it your two out of three."
"I guess it does."
Gary called back his Pokémon as Haunter flew towards Becca to hug her. "Great job, Haunter!"
Haunter smiled at Becca before returning to his pokeball all by himself.
"It was a quick but good battle. That Haunter is pretty strong."
"Thank you. You gave up too fast, though."
Gary wanted to say he had, but as much as he had planned to let her win so she could eat, the truth was that he was good, and that Haunter was one heck of a Pokémon. Gary had battled many times, and no Pokémon had ever had such a strong range of an attack to affect him until now.
"So, ready for your prize?"
"Yup, and I'm going to enjoy them with hot cocoa!"
"Ok."
Gary walked towards Becca and handed her the bag of donuts. She grabbed them took one before closing the bag again and stared at Gary. "Where are you going now?"
"I think I will camp out tonight and head for Saffron tomorrow."
"I see."
Becca stared at Gary, not knowing how to ask him to stay. It had been a long time since she had had someone her age to speak to or learn from. She had not had friends in a very long, long time. Gary stared at her, also wanting to stay and have a friend for a night, but he was too ashamed to ask her to camp with him.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around. With those skills, I'm sure I'll see you at the Pokémon Tournament in Indigo."
"With your skills, I don't know if I would!"
Gary smirked. She had her moments too.
Gary nodded and turned around. He placed his hands in his pockets as he began walking towards the outskirts of the city. He replayed in his head what had just happened and realized that he had a lot to learn still. He had been so focused in defeating Ash in everything he had forgotten there were trainers stronger than Ash and himself.
"I need to stop wasting time."
Besides all the commotion and defeat, he felt like he had helped someone tonight. He did not know when had been the last time Becca had something to eat or a place to stay. Regardless of his lost battle, he wanted to believe he had made a difference in someone's life for one day.
"Gary, wait."
Or maybe longer.
"The Pokémon Center is closer than the forest, and it's probably safer anyway. Want to share these donuts with me at the Center?"
Gary stopped and turned around, staring at her now friendly blue eyes. "I guess that's a smarter idea. Don't mind if I do."
With that, Gary Oak walked with the newly met friend to Celadon's Pokémon Center and spent the next five days with someone who wanted what he wanted: a friend.
Gary came back to reality from his daydreaming and realized he was still lying on the couch. He stood up and walked to the still resting Misty on the other side of the room. He caressed her forehead and the image of Becca being taken to jail came to his mind. Becca was the second woman who had gotten in trouble for him. "First Misty, now Becca. Who's next, Jen?"
Jen.
Jen and Gary had met just a couple of days after he and Becca had parted ways. He had learned a lot from Becca about ghost Pokémon and about Sabrina's techniques. He had also learned about her past and her dreams; and he had exchanged a few of his own with her. Looking at Misty and thinking about Becca made him remember how he had met Jen.
Gary Oak had been walking around in circles in Saffron city for a whole day now. The city was much, much, much bigger than the map showed. He had once heard of a city on the other side of the world on which people never slept. He could only imagine that Saffron was the equivalent of that city for Kanto. He had arrived to the city last night, but had been walking around it for about four hours, and he could swear he had walked by this same street at least ten times already. He had no clue where he was making the wrong turn.
The sun was up high in the sky, making Gary wonder if it was lunch time. He had not eaten anything since two days ago when he and Becca had gone their separate ways. He had to find a place to eat and take a break before trying to take on Sabrina today as he had stayed on the outskirts of the city before finally joining civilization this morning. He continued to walk towards the north side of the city, where he had been told several times was the host of the Pokémon Gym and Pokémon Center. He had tried to continue walking north, but some streets were only for cars and he did not have the card required to travel by the speed train.
He arrived at the train station, hoping someone would lend him or sell him a card. Apparently, he had to be 18 years of age or had an adult buy him the card for him. Some kids had have accidents in the train before, and the city had limited the age for buying a card for it for this reason. Gary was determined to have someone buy it for him. He was not just any kid. He was a Pokémon trainer; a serious one at it too. A stupid train card was not going to stop him from defeating Sabrina.
He arrived at the train station again, but this time he did not stop outside and continued his path like the other 20 million times he got there before. He decided to go inside and ask around for a way to get to the Pokémon Center. He knew that if he made it to the Center, the Center would take him to the Pokémon Gym.
He hurried up inside as dozens of people around him pushed him around. People in Saffron had proven to be somewhat rude and always in a rush. Saffron was the most important city in Kanto, and one of the most known cities around the world. Some people said that in a few years, Saffron would be the center of most, if not all, the major companies in Kanto. Gary did not think the city deserved such honor or that it would ever be the host of anything that significant.
He finally made it inside, and to his surprise, the building was more complex and larger than what he saw from the outside. There wasn't only one train, but dozens of them. Dozens of underground trains and on-the-street trains that made horrible humming and honking sounds surrounded him. People in suits and carrying briefcases walked around without minding the tiny kid standing next to them. Other people were sitting on the benches, probably waiting for their train, as they read the Saffron Herald. Some others were walking and talking on their cell phones, or sitting on a random corner staring attentively to their laptop screens.
Gary looked around and saw huge screens on the top of the walls that displayed the times trains arrived and departed, as well as destinations, the stock market results, and the current weather. In fact, there was a thunderstorm alert for Saffron. Gary had no idea where a thunderstorm would come from if the sun outside was as bright as he had ever seen it before in his short life. Gary slowly skimmed the entire place looking for the ticket booth. Becca had told him that he had to take the train to get to the north side of the city for the gym and center. She had failed to mention, though, the difficult task it would be to get on the actual train. As a native of Saffron, she had been born around trains and train cards, so the ideas seemed natural to her. He could not blame her for leaving this minor detail out of the travel advice. Besides, the time he had spent with her had been worthwhile to him.
Gary's eyes took a while to adjust to the constant movement of people and tried to slowly walk around them to find the ticket booths. He knew he could just ask someone but he did not want to attract attention to himself. If someone was in a bad mood and saw a kid walking around the train station on his own, he would probably be sent outside and have the police being called on him. His eyes finally caught a glimpse of long lines made on the wall to his left, and he hurried his pace to see if that was the place he was looking for. He read the signs that said TICKET BOOTH on the top side of the wall, and saw several lines of people waiting to buy their own ticket or pass for the trains. There were about ten different booths, and each one had a range of numbers on the top of the windows. The numbers read R1-R10, R11-R20, and so forth until the last one read R91-R100. Gary could only assume that the R's stood for routes. "What kind of city has 100 routes?"
He had found the place, and the place to buy the ticket from. All he needed now was to find some kind soul who would buy him the ticket, and someone who would tell him which route to buy. He had seen a big screen TV that displayed the routes, but neither of them said anything about the center or the gym. Gary sighed.
"I'm going nowhere so very fast."
Gary growled at his current luck and thought about calling his grandfather to ask for help. Yet, how could he? He had said to his entire family, so many times, that he was all grown-up and did not need any help from anyone. He only needed three more badges to be able to compete in the League, not counting Sabrina's. How could he show weakness now?
Gary decided to sit down until he could think of something else. He could not find any decent seat, so he found an unused spot on the opposite wall where the booths were, and rested his back against it as he sat on the floor. He took out his Pokédex and killed some time as he went through the list of Pokémon he had and the ones he had seen. He knew several of the Pokémon he was still missing were native of the Cinnabar Islands, Seafoam Islands, the Safari in Fuchsia, and the mysterious cave in Cerulean where no one could have access unless you had defeated the Elite Four.
He also knew that if he left Kanto to go to the Orange Islands he would find more and different Pokémon, but going to the Orange Islands was something so far away from reach for him still. He did not want to take the name of Pallet Town and Kanto with him out of the country until he had defeated his own local gyms.
"Step right up, see what you think you see!"
Gary's planning and daydreaming were interrupted when a female voice, a kid's voice nonetheless, spoke in a high tone to the people present in the station. "Step right up and see what you want to see!"
Gary looked up and searched for the source of the voice. It came from a few feet to his right, where a tiny, blue-haired girl with a Ditto stood, trying to catch the attention of the people passing by. "The Amazing Copycat and her friendly Pokémon Ditto can show you the unseen. It's free to watch! It's free to stay!"
Gary stood up as he saw some people looking at the girl and her tiny, pink, dancing Pokémon. He took a few steps towards her and stayed a considerable distance away from the both of them, but close enough to see what the girl advertised. He was surprised to see the girl did not care to call attention to herself. She had to be around Gary's age, so she was probably not allowed in there either. "Yes, everyone, come and see what only your eyes wish to see."
When a handful of people had stopped to see what she was doing, she smiled and grabbed what seemed like a long piece of fabric. She and the Pokémon got underneath it, and in a matter of seconds, she was dressed, and looked like Sabrina. The people around her were in awe.
Ditto had transformed himself into Kadabra. He was almost an exact copy of it, but his eyes remained Ditto's eyes. Some people walked away when they saw that. "Wait up! You haven't seen the next act!"
The Pokémon and the girl got under the blanket again, and this time they came out and looked like Erica from Celadon, and the Pokémon looked like Vileplume. However, its eyes were still Ditto's eyes. The rest of the people left. The girl tried to call them back, but they kept walking away from her. She sighed, put her stuff away in her backpack at began walking towards the entrance of the train. Ditto followed close behind.
It took Gary's brain a few seconds to register that she was his way into the train. She looked very confident and did not stop her path to the train entrance. She knew where she was going and seemed like nothing would stop her. How was she going to get away with it?
Gary ran after her, but the people kept getting on his way. She was disappearing behind the crowd even more and more, until all he saw was her colorful backpack in between a couple of men. He was losing her. If she disappeared, he would be stuck in this train station for the rest of his life! He did not want to call attention to himself. He did not want to get in trouble, but if he did not do something to get her attention, he would have no clue how to get out of this place. He tried to remember what name she had used for herself, but he could not recall any actual name but the nickname she used for herself. He hoped she responded to that name, because he could not see her backpack anymore.
"Copycat! Copycat, wait for me!"
No response.
"Copycat, please! Stop!"
Gary continued to run against the crowd, bumping into people, almost tripping on himself. Copycat was long gone. "Dammit!"
Gary stood in the middle of the crowd. He looked around, hoping she had stopped somewhere. All he could see were the backs of people who could not care less if he stayed there until he died. Gary sighed as he turned around and took one step back to the corner where he had once sat just a few minutes ago. He took a second step – and the floor whimpered.
Gary took a step back.
"What the hell?"
He looked down and realized he had stepped on a Pokémon: Ditto. The poor Pokémon had small tears on his eyes and had a terrified look on his face. Gary picked him up and cleaned him up before speaking to him. "Where's your trainer, buddy?"
"Ditto!"
A female voice calling the Pokémon rang on Gary's ears. He knew who the voice belonged to, and never in his life had he been so glad to step on a Pokémon. "What are you doing to my Ditto?"
Gary held the Pokémon and played with him as if it were a baby. "I didn't do anything to your Ditto; you're the one who left it behind."
"I didn't leave it behind! The crowd got in the way."
"Pokémon should be kept in their pokeballs. What kinda trainer are you?"
"Just give me my Ditto back!"
"Ok."
Gary handed the Ditto back to Copycat. She grabbed him and made sure he was not hurt. She then took out a pokeball and called him back. "Thank you. Ditto is very scared of being alone."
"Aren't we all?"
Copycat nodded at Gary's response. "You alone too?"
"I've got my Pokémon."
"Ah! Trainer. Heading to see Sabrina, I guess."
"You guess right. Though we've got no clue how to get there."
"You take the train, route 57 north, and exit when the train makes the last stop."
"How do you get on the train?"
"You walk into it?"
"I know that much. How do you buy a ticket? I read that tickets are not sold to kids."
"They are not, but trainers ride for free."
Gary could not help to smile.
"Look," Copycat started, "I am on my way to the Pokémon Center to help my friend with the overload of trainers. The Center is just a few blocks away from the Gym. We can go together if you want."
"Sounds great! Lead the way, Copycat."
"It's Jen."
"Ok, lead the way, Jen!"
Jen nodded before turning around and guiding Gary inside the proper train.
To Gary, being inside the train felt more like an alternative compound of mobile offices with people that worked in different places that came together to do part of their job during the commute. The two trainers were surrounded by adults who wore suits and ties, and did not acknowledge the youngsters' existence at all. The trains were very fancy, though. There were seats that had tables that appeared out of nowhere, possibly to provide a better temporary workspace for the executives riding the train. There were also comfortable seats with cushions for those who choose to catch up with their rest rather than working more during the long commute. Some seats provided electricity to charge up laptops or cell phones at a small fee.
Gary and Jen had sat next to each other, and avoided the adults as much as possible. While Gary's future was uncertain to him, he did not think he would be the kind of person who would work day- in and day-out for a big company or industry. Having a desk job did not appeal to him.
"So, where you from?"
"Pallet Town."
"I'm from here."
"This is a huge city. Bet you never get bored."
"It might be a huge city, but most people don't appreciate the simple things anymore."
Gary furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"My dream, ya'know. I love imitating people and Pokémon. My Ditto still requires more training to overcome the eye issue, but in any other town, kids would love to see my show."
"You were performing for adults, not kids."
"I've tried to perform for kids, but they are not interested in a circus show."
"I was."
"Most kids aren't. All I want is to have my own show and perform in front of dozens of people at a time. I'm not the best trainer, but that's not a big deal for me."
"Well, I want to be the best trainer…but I couldn't find my way around a train station."
Jen giggled. "We all have obstacles in life."
Both trainers laughed.
"Are you ready for Sabrina? I'm heading to the center to help Nurse Joy. There are plenty of trainers that can't defeat Sabrina and the center's packed."
"I won't be here long. I'll defeat Sabrina in one try."
"Are you that good?"
"I'm one of the best."
"Always this modest?"
"Only saying it as it is."
The train came to a stop right in front of a small porch. It was the exit for the gym and the center. Gary rolled his eyes when he saw the downpour right outside.
"I'm gonna get soaked!"
"Didn't bring an umbrella?"
Gary shook his head. Jen smiled and took out her pokeball. She called out her only Pokémon and asked it to mold into an umbrella. Gary's eyes widened.
"How in the world did you teach him how to do that?"
"I'm one of the best, too."
Gary nodded and smiled in agreement. The two trainers left the station and ran down the streets as they made their way to Saffron's Pokémon Center, and to quite some days of fun and friendship that would stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Gary had stayed in Saffron a few more days than he had planned even though he defeated Sabrina the very next day. He had stayed to tour Saffron, and to let Jen tour him around the city. Jen and Gary decided to leave Saffron together and then go their separate ways when needed. Gary was heading to Fuchsia; Jen was heading to Vermillion City. Their traveling days were something very special for the both of them, and Gary had considered staying with her. Yet, the old Gary Oak nagged at him that he could not get distracted and had to remain focused on what his goal was. After two weeks of being close "traveling partners," Jen and Gary parted ways in Vermillion City.
They kept in touch by email and occasional phone calls, but their busy lives always got in the way of becoming something more than long-distance friends. Gary became involved in the research business, and Jen decided to have a life. Becca found someone to share her weirdness with, and while Gary kept contact with the both of them, his own busy schedule kept him from pursing anything more with either of them.
"But with Misty it's different," Gary thought as he touched her cheek.
This time he was not going to make the same mistakes he had made when he met Becca and Jen. Granted they were both awesome girls, he believed that the reason he had not initiated any romantic relationship with them was because neither of them was meant to be with him. Deep inside him he knew that things happened for a reason, and that his heart was waiting for someone like the beaten up girl resting on the couch in front of him to be the one to stay with him.
Gary took a few moments to dress up and made sure Misty was ok. Regardless of how bad Saffron had gotten hit, he knew that neither of them could stay much longer in the city. He walked around and gathered his and her belongings before peaking outside and making sure his ride was still there. Luckily for him, the car only suffered some minor dents from hail. The waters had begun to recede around the center, and getting out of the parking lot would be a much easier task than getting there last night.
"We need to leave, Red."
Gary carried all of their belongings and carefully placed them inside the car. He was unsure if the search for the two outlaws was still up in the city since they had better things to worry about, but he did not want to take any chances. They had made it this far; yet they still had a long way to go. He closed the passenger's seat and headed to the driver's seat. He started the engine and slowly drove to the front of the lounge's door, making sure the passenger's seat had easy access to the door.
He turned off the engine and walked around the car. He walked inside the room. Locked the door behind him, turned around and froze on the spot.
A regular civilian was in front of him. He had a mischievous grin on his face. He looked everything but friendly to him. "I knew I had not seen things. I saw you come in last night. You and the Cerulean gym over there," the trainer said as he pointed at Misty.
"There's a lot of money out there in exchange for you."
Gary swallowed hard.
"I can give you money right now if you stay quiet and let us leave."
"Are you kidding? There is a load of cash waiting for me. I don't think you've got that much cash on you right now. The League is gonna thank me for this."
"Look, you don't know what happened, we are being wrongfully accused. If you let them catch us, we will never find the truth.
"What the hell makes you think I care about it?"
"Please, you're a trainer, just like us."
"No, you're not! You guys have it easy. You knew people in high places and got an easy way up. You've got no clue what it is to struggle your way up."
Gary knew this was not entirely true. Yes, his grandfather was a well-known Pokémon researcher, and Misty's parents were Gym Leaders. However, these two advantages had not made their lives easier at all.
"Ryan! Did you find them?"
A male voice was heard coming from the front of the Center. Gary could only assume Ryan was the guy in front of him. "You can't go back there!" Nurse Joy yelled as she followed the second male heading to the back lounge.
"Sir, you cannot be back here!"
The second trainer stood behind Ryan and the same face appeared on his face: a face that showed that both trainers looked like sacks of money for them. Nurse Joy froze. "Gary, I tried to stop them…"
"Grant, take the girl, I'll deal with this guy here."
"Do not move, Grant. You touch her and you're gonna regret it."
Grant stared at Gary who was shooting daggers at the trainer. Ryan did not move either, and Grant made no effort to reach over for Misty's body.
A moment of silence fell on them as the back door opened and an unfamiliar face dropped by. Everyone turned around and Gary found himself surrounded by a third trainer that had just come in through the back door.
The trainer had long and unruly blond hair and blue eyes. He looked at Gary's back and then at the two other trainers before staring at Joy.
"Did I come at a bad time? Is Jen here?"
Gary turned around at the mention of Jen's name. What kind of connection did he have with her?
As if on cue, Jen appeared from the front door and gave Nurse Joy a confused look before locking the door behind her.
"There is one too many people in here."
"Look, all we want is the girl and the trainer. We won't make a big deal; we'll just drop them off at the police and get our reward," Grant said.
"You are not taking her anywhere."
"Look, dude, you can't do shit about it," Ryan said as he approached Misty. Gary could not take it anymore.
"I said no!"
Gary ran behind Ryan and pushed him to the ground. Grant ran behind Gary and tried to lock his neck from behind but Nurse Joy tripped him out of the way, falling on the already hit Ryan. Gary took this opportunity to walk over both fallen trainers and grab Misty. He jumped from the couch where she had been to the coffee table and then on the couch he had been sleeping on last night before running out of the room. Jen ran towards the back door and pulled the blond trainer out of the way before locking the door behind her.
Nurse Joy stood behind the two trainers on the floor. "You are not allowed to be back here. I won't have you arrested if you get out of my Center at this moment."
Both trainers stood up and stared at Nurse Joy, Ryan giving her a defiant look. "You have us arrested and we'll tell the police you were hiding Gary and Misty."
"I don't know what you are talking about," said Joy knowing that a couple of well-known brats like them would not get easily believed.
"Look, lady. Get outta our way before we make you."
"You want to add assault to your charges?"
Ryan growled before pushing Nurse Joy out of the way and running towards the back door. Grant looked down at the Nurse and thought about helping her, but Ryan yelled at him asking for help to open the back door. "You just pushed the nurse, dude."
"So, what? She's going to jail anyway! Just like that people from Celadon did."
Nurse Joy stood up and walked outside the lounge. Neither trainer made an effort to stop her as their main concern was to open the door and following the outlaws. She knew there was no way they could open the back door and that they had to come through the front door to get out of the center. Nurse Joy stared at the two trainers and realized what she had to do. She sighed as she stepped out to the counter and took a few steps to the front floor. She held her head with her right hand as she used the left hand to aid herself to walk around the place. She pretended to be hurt and confused as she collapsed on the floor.
"Nurse Joy!"
Everyone in the center stood around the fallen nurse. Chansey ran to her coworker and trainer as she checked her vital signs and ordered the rest of the bystanders to step aside. One of the trainers slowly walked towards Nurse Joy in spite of Chansey's warning to stay away. "Nurse Joy, what happened to you?"
"Help…me…please…two trainers attacked me…"
"What?"
All the trainers around the Pokémon and the nurse stared at each other, wondering who the culprit among them was. "They're in the back lounge…they went in there without authorization."
Chansey carried Nurse Joy to one of the couches in the front of the center as other trainers plotted against the supposed attackers. "We should call the police first. Maybe they're gone by now."
"Who was it? Did anyone see?"
As the confusion of the current events dawned on the trainers and onlookers alike, Grant and Ryan had finally given up on trying opening the back door. Both trainers ran out of the back lounge only to find a crowd standing in their way. Grant and Ryan were both unaware of the situation and attempted to walk by the crowd as if nothing had happened. Yet, the trainers stared at them with upset eyes and were quick to let them know they were not going anywhere.
"I just called the police! They're gonna come and arrest you, you bastards!"
"Yeah! How could you hurt Nurse Joy?"
"She got in the way; now get out of our way before we do the same to you!"
The crowd's moods just worsened at Ryan's words.
"Get him!"
Nurse Joy felt her head truly ache as she witnessed what was happening in her center. Grant and Ryan tried to defy the crowd of trainers but were unable to take one more step. The trainers held Grant and Ryan on opposite side of the room. Meanwhile, a couple of police officers stood outside the Pokémon Center as they watched the commotion and decided to walk inside. Nurse Joy found this to be a good moment to pass out.
The two officers stared at the crowd before taking out their guns and asking everyone to raise their hands. "Ok, what the hell is going on here? Where are Misty and Gary Oak?"
The trainers stared at each other and wondered what the officer was talking about. "Misty and Gary are not here, officer. We called you to tell you these two guys beat up Nurse Joy."
"Wait a minute," the officer began "I got a call from here saying that Gary and Misty were spotted hiding in this Pokémon Center. Prank calls of that type are against the law, kids."
"But officer," another trainer intervened "We didn't call for that! Look, Nurse Joy is unconscious on that couch over there!"
The two officers looked behind them and saw the poor Pokémon holding Nurse Joy's hands. One of the officers took out his radio and called an ambulance to the scene. "Let's arrest these kids."
"No, wait!" Ryan screamed.
"Shut up, man! You get what you deserved!"
"No one lied, Misty and Gary were here! We're the ones who made the call. We had to push Nurse Joy out of the way because she was allowing them to escape!" Ryan said.
The two officers looked at each other, not sure what to do. "We're not lying! You gotta believe us! Gary was wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes, a black shirt and a black jacket. Misty was unconscious and beat up, but she was wearing blue pants, tennis shoes, a white turtleneck shirt and a blue coat. They went through the back door but they were on foot. They couldn't go far!"
"You guys are full of it! You are just trying to get out of going to jail," One trainer said.
"Yeah, just turn yourselves in!" Another trainer said.
The crowd began booing and screaming at the two trainers for a few seconds before the two officers got tired of the noise and yelled at everyone to stop.
"Look everyone, let them go, we'll take them to the station. Go back to what you were doing and we'll take care of…"
"Officer Tanner, please report. We need reinforcements on your area. Misty Waterflower and Gary Oak are being chased down the street from where you are."
Silence engulfed the room. The officers stared at each other, then at the passed out Nurse Joy, and then at Ryan and Grant. They could not believe Nurse Joy would put her job on the line to help the two most wanted people at the moment escape. Then again, Becca had.
"Officer Tanner, we are awaiting notification."
The officer slowly grabbed his radio as he stared at the trainers who had made the call. "Roger that; we're on our way."
The trainers let go of Ryan and Grant and they quickly made their way out to follow Gary and Misty. The two officers told the rest of the trainers to stay behind as they disappeared behind the glass doors. The silence remained inside the Pokémon Center as every trainer inside stared at Nurse Joy.
Outside, the police officers had spotted Gary and Misty. To the officer's surprise, Misty had woken up and was seen running next to Gary Oak.
"Stop right there!"
Neither of them stopped.
"Stop or we will shoot!"
The streets around the center were still full of debris; a car chase seemed out of the question at the moment. The officers had run behind the two former League members for ten blocks now. The chase was getting repetitive and annoying for the police.
"This is Officer Tanner; we have a chance to surround the suspects. They are going inside the station. The station is closed down for now."
"Roger that, we are rearranging the reinforcements as we speak. Waterflower and Oak will be locked up inside."
"We're going in."
"10-4"
The next five hours were spent trying to find Gary and Misty inside the station. The officers had seen them going in, but no one had gone out. However, their whereabouts were still unknown. An extensive and exhaustive search of the train station and the surrounding buildings had gone on for quite some time. At the end of this search, all the officers had found was the tired up bodies of a blond Pokémon trainer named Britt, along with his girlfriend, formerly known as Copycat of Saffron dressed as Misty Waterflower and Gary Oak.