Being Second
an Egoshipping Fanfiction
by I need sleep

Chapter 13: Fashion Present

He knew he probably shouldn't have spoken about her so much. Speak of the devil, and all. So Gary Oak found himself jumping out of his skin when he came out of his room and came face to face with a familiar pair of dark brown eyes and a wide grin one Saturday morning.

"Hello, little brother!"

"Daisy!" he exclaimed, jumping back and away from her. He squeezed her arms with his hands before he poked at her cheek. She swatted his finger away. "You're here!"

She winked. "Yes," she said, mocking him by taking on a surprised tone of voice as well. "I am! And your breath stinks!"

He made a face at her and she merely laughed in reply. Daisy was cheerful as ever. Or maybe just jetlagged and high on coffee. "When did you get here?" he asked, averting his gaze and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He crept past her on the way towards the coffee machine. His grandfather stepped out of the kitchen with a smile and a mug of coffee.

"She got here last night, at around three AM," he said, "surprised me as well!"

Gary turned to his older sister again, who had calmed down considerably, although her eyes still betrayed immense excitement. "How did you get here?" He paused on the way to the kitchen, staring at her and taking in the fact that she really was there, in the living room, standing excitedly amongst the messy couches. It wasn't a common sight – the fashion designer was often away, and very rarely came home.

She shrugged. "Caught a lift with a friend," she replied simply, leading him by the arm towards the couch and sitting down. There was a woollen sweater next to her. "Come sit with me, let's catch up. You've grown so much."

The eighteen year old sighed. "I've got work to do."

"Why don't you spend the day with your sister, Gary?" Professor Oak suggested over his morning paper. Gary brushed away the annoyance in him – it looks like he woke up at the wrong side of bed. "How long are you going to be here for, anyway, Daisy?"

Daisy Oak looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Well," her voice had taken to its more familiar soft tone, "I'm here for four days. Thought I'd come home and take a little break, see what I can do with the designs I thought up while travelling."

"You're here for four days," Gary said simply, "we can hang around for the next three. I have to get to work."

"Gary."

Professor Oak's tone was full of warning. He didn't even glance at his grandson over the paper. Gary merely stopped. Daisy's expression turned into concern – this tension in the room was something she was unfamiliar with, and she was sure she didn't like it. Her grandfather and her younger brother got along well together. She wondered what had happened to make them so tense.

As he brother was getting ready to rear back at the older man, she grabbed his arm and said, "Why don't you and I go out, Gary?" she suggested, pleading at him with her eyes. "I'm jetlagged and I have to stay up until around eight o'clock tonight just to get back to regular sleeping patterns here; why don't you humour me until then?"

He looked into her eyes and challenged her with his stare. This was something Daisy was familiar to. Her brother had a fighting spirit he inherited from their mother – she knew how to handle combative Gary. She didn't want the argument to escalate on her first day back either.

Thankfully, he lowered his tensed arms and said, "Fine."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Take me around Pallet town. I want to see how much this place has changed. As you could probably imagine, I didn't see much at three in the morning." She got up and pulled her sweater over her collared shirt. She fixed the Peter Pan rounded collar over the sweater and ran over to the bathroom as quickly as she could. She didn't want the two males to butt heads while she was gone. Daisy checked her reflection and stepped out, satisfied with her appearance – sweet and effortless. Even her newly washed darker auburn hair, which had been flattened down due to her sitting on a plane for extended hours, decided to cooperate.

She walked around the coffee table and clucked her tongue. "You are not going out in that," she told her younger brother, who merely stared at her. She grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the direction of his room. "Seriously, Gary, you aren't going out in pajamas."

He allowed himself to be dragged off, glad for the opportunity to not be in the same room as his grandfather who remained reading his newspaper as if he didn't fire shots by disregarding his grandson's research. Even though the younger Oak knew, it still hurt to have the semblance of evidence in front of him. She pulled him into the room and stood him by his closet, pulling it open and groaning.

"It's a mess."

"I wear the same clothes every week, Daisy," he said, "it doesn't need to be neat."

She muttered angrily under her breath. "I beg to differ." She bent down to pull a pair of jeans up. "Are these clean?" she asked. He nodded.

"Should be. I haven't spilled anything on them yet," he said, teasing his sister whose eyes widened. "I haven't washed them in a month or two."

Horrified, she looked up at him. "Gary Oak," she enunciated, her voice dismayed. "Are you serious?"

"No." He bent down and pulled a collared shirt out of his closet. He might as well match her – for some reason that makes her happy. She grabbed the shirt before he could take it off of the clothes hanger and tossed it back into the closet.

"No." She reached for a different shirt. It was a white shirt, a little tight-fitting and something he hadn't worn in a while. Gary actually tried to remember when he actually wore it, but came up blank. She handed it over to her brother who merely looked at it in confusion. "Try that," she said, before she turned back around and rummaged in his closet. "I think I saw a nice hoodie to match that."

He pulled the shirt on and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He wasn't insecure about his body – he was in pretty good shape, he thought – but the white shirt wasn't really something he would often wear. He stretched his arms out and he saw one of his nicer hoodies land on top of them. "Wow, I forgot I had this," he said, pulling it on. "Thanks."

"Add that to your roster of hoodies," she joked, looking him over. Picking up the black pair of pants, she handed it over to him as well. "That should look somewhat sexy."

He smirked at her, pleased at the compliment. "Thanks." He turned partly and admired the combination. He did look nicer than usual.

"You can pull that look off," she said, shrugging. "You know, I've been thinking of expanding on my style by working on some men's looks. I have four days – I hope you're willing to play test subject."

"Sure," he said, pulling some socks on. "I can wear my sneakers with this, right?" he asked.

"Please do," she said, "every time I see photos of you all I ever see is you wearing the boots, and I think they deserve a break." Clapping at a job well done, she looked over her younger brother as he straightened up and brushed imaginary dirt off his lap. "Let's go."

They stepped out of Gary's room and made their way to the front door after pausing at Daisy's room to grab her messenger bag. Samuel was still at the dining room table, now working on a quiz on the paper. Daisy called out goodbye to her grandfather, while her younger brother merely walked past, giving the older man the cold shoulder. He slipped his shoes on without any issues and just about ran out the door, slamming it shut behind him, leaving his older sister there, tying her sneakers up.

"I haven't seen Gary so angry in a while," her grandfather said from behind her. She turned to look at the worried old man, standing with his mug of coffee. "He's not normally like this."

Daisy sighed. "I know, grandpa. I'm a little disappointed." She stood up and stomped twice to ease into the shoes – an odd habit she picked up when she was younger – before she reached for the door handle. She jerked her shoulder up and adjusted the strap of her bag closer. "We should be home by tonight, grandpa. I'll pick us up something to eat. I'll also talk some sense into this big baby," she said, kindly, pointing a thumb at the door from over her shoulder.

"Have a safe trip," he replied, smiling kindly.

Daisy felt herself begin to simmer. What was up with Gary? With a final wave at her grandfather, she stepped out of the Oak mansion and breathed in the fresher Kanto air. Her brother had already hopped onto his convertible (top down), and sat watching her expectantly. Impatiently. "Well?"

She slid into the car next to him, dumped her bag on the floor, and pulled the seatbelt on. "Since you're so keen to leave," she muttered, "Let's go."

He had pulled some sunglasses on, and smirked. "Thank God." He stepped on the pedal and drove away, out of the grounds of the Oak mansion, and into Pallet town. His older sister sat in silence, looking around at the town she had grown up in. "You know, if you wanted to see Pallet town, you would've preferred to walk."

She shrugged. "I'll see Pallet town later," she said. "The town isn't so big I'm going to put it first. Let's get out of town and see, I don't know, Cerulean City first."

Gary's fist tightened around the wheel. Thankfully, it had gone unnoticed. "Why Cerulean City?"

She merely looked over to him. "I don't care where we go, Gary, but we need to talk."

He kept his gaze forward but nodded. "Okay," he said, "I know where we can do it." She jerked sideways when he turned the car around, going back to Pallet town. He took her to the edge of town and pulled out a Pokéball. She got out of the car behind him, opting to leave her bag behind.

"Blastoise," he called out, summoning the Pokémon. "Can you take us to that little patch of sand, there?"

The large Pokémon nodded, and Gary helped his sister up on his Pokémon, who swam them over to the patch of sand a kilometre or so away from Pallet Town. He returned to his Pokéball with a grateful grunt at the treat Daisy gave him in thanks. The two Oak siblings set themselves down on the sand in silence.

"Tell me," Daisy began, keeping an ear out for the cool breeze and the sound of the water lapping up part of the sand, "why are you upset with grandpa?"

"It's complicated," Gary replied, shrugging. "Tell me how you've been first."

She shook her head vigorously. "Tell me why you're upset with grandpa first, because I asked first." Her tone of voice posed no opening for argument. She frowned at him. "Gary, I am seriously disappointed with your attitude. I expected better from you, you're an adult! What were you doing throwing a tantrum?"

He sighed and laid down on the sand, covering his face with his arm. "We should've brought an umbrella," he said, before muttering, "why is everyone asking me that lately?"

"Asking you what?"

"Why I'm upset with gramps." He pulled his sunglasses off and squinted at his older sister, who scooted over to block the sun with her shadow. "Thanks." He smirked. "You're lucky, Daisy," he started. "No one compares you to gramps, because you've carved your path out in an industry he's not involved in."

"Is that what this is about?" she asked sadly.

"Partly." He closed his eyes. "The other part is that he doesn't believe I'll find anything."

Daisy turned to watch her brother, continuing to block him with her shadow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm upset with gramps because I'm frustrated. My research isn't going well, the rest of the research community thinks I'm living off of the Oak name, and gramps is completely disregarding all my theories. I think I'm allowed to snap every once in a while, Daisy, don't you?" He chuckled. "Plus, I was pretty humiliated by him disregarding work like he did this morning."

She sighed and pulled her legs towards her. Understandable. "I'm sorry to hear that." Feeling horrible, she said, "I'm sorry I'm not here often enough to be of much help."

"Don't be." He waved her off. "Why don't you tell me how you've been? Since I already answered your question."

She looked unsure about changing the topic, but she pushed on anyway. "Well… I've been living in Kalos for the past couple of weeks. I was thinking of working on a new design line. Did I tell you the people in Kalos have this fascinating story about fairies, and the creation of Pokémon?"

A softy for stories, he pulled himself upright. "Really?" he asked. "Fairies?" It sounded so absurd to him.

"Yes," she said, "Fairies." She stood up and looked around them. "How about we discuss this elsewhere, I'm burning." He nodded and pulled Blastoise's Pokéball out, summoning the Pokémon and asking it to ferry them over to Pallet town again. His long-time companion was happy to oblige, and soon they were back to the convertible. "Can you pull the top up?"

He did so and they settled back into the car. "Why don't we go have lunch?"

She nodded. "Sure," cheerfully she faced forward. "I haven't had lunch with you in a while, and I have stories about Kalos!" She clasped her hands together in front of her excitedly. "I'm going to use you to make a men's fairy-inspired line!"

"The challenge is to make 'fairy' manly, Daisy," he said, driving them towards a quaint café in Pewter City.

"You know I love challenges," she replied with a wink. "I'm sure I can make it work, somehow."

He shook his head fondly. "I'm sure you can make it work. If you do, I'll model for you or something."

"Thanks, Gary," she said, before she looked wistfully out the window. "I need some female models as well." She looked over to him and watched as his face transformed from slightly pleased to thoughtful.

"Tracey and I might be able to help you with that."

"Sweet."

They hopped out of the convertible some half an hour later, and sat themselves down the homey café. Daisy looked over the menu with interest and pointed at things she liked the sound of. "Try the caramel slices," he recommended, when she leaned back with a defeated sigh of indecision. Gary shrugged at her choices and pulled his wallet out from his back pocket. Daisy's eyes widened, and she leaned forward and shook her hand at him.

"I think I'll have a club sandwich. Wait, no, no," she said, motioning to dig her wallet out of her bag. "I'll pay."

"No, I'll do it," he said, getting up from his seat. "I'll be right back."

She nodded and watched him leave, resisting the urge to yawn. She was getting tired, and sleepy, and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep and obey Kalos time. She folded her hands together and placed her chin over them, looking around the café.

Her younger brother returned to their table some four minutes later, carrying with him a tray of food and drinks. He handed her the cup of tea, placed the tea pot next to her, and took the delicious smelling coffee for himself, taking a deep breath and smiling – "I never did get my coffee this morning," he said – before giving her the caramel slices she ordered. She licked her lips and cut herself a small piece of the caramel slice. "This looks fantastic."

He hummed over his coffee. "I've had them before. They taste as good as they look."

She hummed in appreciation as she finished of the piece on her fork, reminded of the cafés she would frequent in Kalos. "It's good," she said in confirmation. "What did you get?"

"Club sandwich." He watched her finish off the rest of her dessert. "You know, I probably should have asked them to give the caramel slice later, but," he shrugged. "You looked like you need caffeine and sugar."

"Damn right, I do," she stifled a yawn and dabbed at her watery eyes with her sleeve. "It's so difficult to adjust."

He raised an eyebrow at her, before he glanced down at his watch. "You have a while to go before eight. Are you sure you don't want me to take you home and let you sleep?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No," he said. "Seriously, no."

Daisy playfully glared at him and took a sip of her tea before pouring herself another cup. "It's been a while since I told you a fairy tale, right? This brings back such fond memories." She smiled at him, and stirred sugar into her tea. "Well, the fairy story from Kalos really enchanted me.

"They say, in Kalos, that the world was crafted by Pokémon. Powerful Pokemon they referred to as Creator Pokémon. These powerful Pokémon lived amongst the rest, and they all lived in harmony. Humans came and coexisted with the Pokémon. There was peace, until they realised that, in controlling the Creators, they can manipulate the world and bend it to suit their wants. So the greedy humans tried to capture the Creators and take their abilities, use the knowledge to update their technologies, and use it for their own personal good. The greedy humans used their Pokémon to fight against the Creators, but the Creator Pokémon knew that their comrades fought them only because they were forced to, and to avoid hurting them, the Creators hid from the humans.

"Among the Creator Pokémon was Xerneas, who minded the woods. Xerneas, a fairy, created other fairy Pokemon – powerful, but passive. Fairy Pokemon were so non-belligerent, they were easy to catch. They are rumoured to be trusting, and the greedy humans took advantage of this. They hunted down Fairy Pokemon in an attempt to bribe Xerneas into joining them."

Gary merely nodded at the waitress that delivered their club sandwiches, not even looking at her. His gaze was focused on his older sister, whose eyes were directed up, towards the ceiling.

"But Xerneas did not want the peace-loving Fairy Pokemon to feel conflicted, so it decided to hide away and remove traces of fairies in the world. The Fairy Pokemon lost their fairy abilities, and in frustration, the humans killed them in droves – they were no longer effective against dragons, and dark types, and fighting types. The humans thought of them as weak and useless without their fairy abilities.

"Xerneas, granter of eternal life, granted the frightened Pokemon protection deep in a hidden garden. In this hidden garden, It slept. They claim Xerneas continues to sleep, to this day. The Pokemon, some curious about the world beyond the garden, ventured out and began to exist again once most of the world forgot about the existence of fairy-types. The few who remembered the existence of fairies were mocked and ignored, but they believed that coaxing Xerneas out and convicing Xerneas that it is safe for Fairy Pokemon to exist again will prove that they were right."

"So what now?" Gary asked, taking a bite from his now cool Club Sandwich.

She shrugged. "Some researchers are convinced and believe that the story is more than just a fairy tale." She eyed him curiously as he chewed on his sandwich absently. "What do you think?"

"The stories exist for a reason," he said, entertaining the idea.

She grinned. "I actually met a research student who believed. He was an odd one. Very enthusiastic, though." She sipped her now cold tea. "So that's that." She pulled a sketchpad out of her messenger bag.

Gary leaned back, deep in thought. "That's interesting." In his head, gears were turning. Maybe he should look deeper into this fairy phenomenon. "Do you have any contact details for this… odd research student?"

Daisy's eyebrows rose at the question, and her lips puckered to form an 'O'. She looked into her bag and shuffled through her things. "I left my phone charging at home," she said, pouting in apology. "Sorry. I'll give you Augustine's details later, though."

"That's all I can really ask for," Gary said in reply, before leaning in to watch her sketch a base. "So, what's the fairy plan?"

Author's Notes: Tension! Oak v Oak! Damn.

Wow, this took me a lot longer than expected to get out. Sorry for making you guys wait! I hope the fairy-story (fairy-tale, ehe) wasn't too twisted and convoluted; I promise I'm going somewhere with it! I think. I hope it works out. Again, from this point forward, the Pokemon universe as we know it from the games is going to be twisted to suit the narrative I want to share. I hope that's okay!

Yes, we will see Professor Sycamore in the future. I can't wait to get us to Kalos.

Take a shot for every time I say "Pokémon" in the story. On second thoughts, don't.

Hopefully the next update won't take three weeks - but I think I should just give you guys a warning anyway. My last year of university is about to begin! I hope it doesn't monopolize my time. I really want to finish this. Thank you for everyone who took the time to review! You guys push me to work hard.