Being Second
An Egoshipping Fanfiction
by I Need Sleep

Chapter 14: Daisy Chains

Gary fidgeted with the phone in his hand, leaning against his desk. He took the time to relax after shopping up a whirlwind with his older sister, helping her locate the fabrics and materials she wanted and needed. He had spent the greater part of his morning away from his desk and away from his Eevees. While he went to accompany May he got no research done, which made him antsy. After all the errands he ran that morning, he had one left. He was tasked with ringing up the Waterflower residence to ask Misty and her older sister to dinner. From next to him Umbreon sent a confused look. Eevee, sitting next to Umbreon, merely watched with keen eyes and a slight smile.

He twisted around to turn towards the two Pokemon, starling them. "Should I…?" he asked, before glancing at his watch. "It's around lunchtime, I can't delay it 'til later." He let out a loud sigh. "I'm just inviting them to dinner. Friends do that. Why am I so nervous?"

Umbreon let out a noise, which, to the researcher, sounded like a question. He smiled at the two Pokemon and petted them, letting the phone rest on the table for the time being. "I'm not really used to having human friends. Maybe I should just let Tracey do it."

The little Eevee approached him, walking behind the other to nudge Gary's hand with her head. Making cooing noises, the smaller Pokemon was irresistibly adorable. As he began to scratch the top of Eevee's head, he continued to try to reason with himself and work past his nervousness. He shouldn't really give the task to Tracey – the Pokemon watcher was busy with his grandfather and he didn't want to interrupt them, although he was sure the artist wouldn't mind. He watched the little Eevee's face contort into happiness and satisfaction before he paused his actions and dialled the number Tracey had scribbled on a post-it note.

It took a while for anyone to answer. Gary had almost hung up, suspecting that they were having lunch. Bracing for trouble, he heard Misty's voice come through some ten seconds later with a pleasant and professional tone. "Hello, you've reached Cerulean Gym, this is gym leader Misty speaking."

"Misty?" Gary repeated, before his Eevees nuzzled up to him and pushed themselves towards him for petting. He brushed their coats absentmindedly, trying to organise his thoughts. "Hey, it's Gary. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Gary? She repeated, "oh, hey. You're not interrupting anything, don't worry. Daisy and I just had lunch. You're actually getting me out of cleanup right now."

He raised an eyebrow and let out a laugh. "Don't sound so excited," he teased, before pursing his lips. Maybe he should just bring the topic up now. "How have you been?" he asked instead, starting the conversation with small talk. The Pokemon researcher had to resist the urge to smack his forehead.

"I've been fine, thanks for asking. I assume you've been doing fine as well?"

"Yes," he replied, unsure how to segue to the question. Should he just bring it up now before he dilly-dallies and hangs up without even asking? Anxiously, he scratched the top of Umbreon's head a little more firmly, earning him purrs. Eevee began to gently headbutt his shoulder, earning herself some glares from Umbreon.

"I know we're friends and all," Misty said, cutting through his cluttered thoughts, "but I don't think you're just going to call out of the blue for a check-up." He heard her laughter drift over the phone and couldn't help but laugh along.

At least he doesn't have to worry about how to bring it up now. "Well, you got me. I was calling to see if you guys wanted to come over for dinner tonight."

"Dinner?" Misty repeated, before he heard the clatter of utensils hitting porcelain with a clink. Excited chatter from Daisy also emanated through the phone. "Daisy, shush," the gym leader said in a muffled tone, voice a little softer. She seemed to be addressing her older sibling. "Uh… I guess we can come after the gym closes. What's the occasion?"

"Can't friends just invited friends over to random dinners?" he asked, slyly, before grinning to himself. "We'd really appreciate it if you can both make it; there's no special occasion just…"

A flash of white in his periphery made Gary jump and let go of the phone with a gasp, and he leaned back, narrowly avoiding sitting on Eevee's paw as she continued to nudge him to capture his attention. The phone was wrenched out of his grasp by his older sister, May, who immediately gushed into it.

"Hello? Is this really Misty Waterflower?"

"Yes?" he could hear Misty ask hesitantly, her voice now sounding garbled from his phone. "Who… is this?"

"Hi, I'm May Oak," she introduced smoothly, walking away from Gary as he tried to swipe his phone back. "I'm Gary's older sister." She walked over to the window and looked out into the back field where Pokemon ran freely bathing each other. Her younger brother now had two armsful of Eevees, clamouring for scratches now that both his hands were unoccupied. "Yes, my stupid little brother is a bit of a baby, beating around the bush – I was wondering if I could borrow you and your sisters for one of my fashion projects."

There was a pause as Misty replied, and his sister was far enough that he couldn't make out what she had said. All he heard from his end was his sister's giggling some five seconds later. "Yes, I'll see you guys later. I'm so keen to meet you! Gary and Tracey have said nothing but nice things. What time will the gym shut? I will have little brother pick you up and drive you both over. Yes, yes – bye!"

With a click, Daisy hung up and handed the phone back over to Gary who frowned at her. "I never talked to you about Misty."

"No, you haven't," she said, with a smile and a wink. "Yet. I expect you will." She waltzed out of the room with a wave, ignoring her younger brother's grumbling. His face was bright red and he had his arms crossed over his chest. "Oh, you will."

The afternoon zoomed by Gary quickly as he filed away all of the information he found on the fairy lore of Kalos. He was disappointed to find that there wasn't much and most of the information he had found had come from sources with questionable credibility. Websites which looked like they were made by a five year old with an hour limit didn't really scream "credible". However, the young Oak found himself interested, nevertheless, and keen to add to it somehow. The Pokemon researcher pulled his lab coat off and threw it on the seat next to the door before moving to his room to scour a clean jumper from the mess all over the floor. Really should get to cleaning my room one of these days, he thinks to himself.

"I'm off!" he called out with a quick glance on his watch. He didn't wait for a response, however, and just walked through the door to hop into his convertible. The rest of his housemates knew where he was headed.

Pushing the key into ignition and pulling his seatbelt on, he backed out of the driveway and drove off with hardly a care in the world. He drove through and soon found himself in Cerulean City with time to spare. The gym would still be open – Daisy had relayed to him that the gym closed at 5:30, and it was only just after 5PM. Parking in front of a juice shack, he decided to hop out and get himself a drink before picking up the Waterflower siblings.

Sitting on a table outside, Gary pulled out his phone and began to work on looking busy. Taking sips from his drink every once in a while, he avoided making eye contact with anybody and stared at his phone, scanning through emails. He ran through the research procedure in his head, and tried to formulate a sensible thesis he could use to get the idea of "fairies" through the door. Coming up blank, he sighed and leaned back, throwing his head back to look up at the setting sun. How stupid – an adult, a man of science, considering the idea of fairies? He wanted to scoff at himself for even entertaining the thought but he was at his wit's end and could not brush off the feeling that it was a valid area of study. I can't shake this off, he thought, looking down at his phone again. There's something to be found here.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted two females ogling him and he threw them quick smiles. Their eyes widened and they immediately turned away to viciously whisper to one another, gesturing. He took quick note of their appearances – fair brunettes dressed fashionably, with sunglasses resting on their heads. Both beautiful; both of them reminded him of past girlfriends. He observed the two for a while and he noted that one of them began to turn red. Taking this as his cue to stop, he turned back to his phone.

As the heated discussion between the two girls about who should get to approach Gary Oak ended, they both looked up only to find him gone.

The researcher arrived at the Waterflower household and let himself through the back entrance where he had previously parked. Inwardly, he debated on whether or not he should get out of the car. Remembering that he had Misty's number, he quickly composed a quick message.

Hey, I'm here.

He paused. Another internal debate started, this time about whether or not a smiley would be required. Deciding against it, he pressed the button and sent the message. Afterwards, he relaxed in his seat and began to wait for a response. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long – Misty replied two minutes later and his phone buzzed in his hand.

Hey! We'll be right out. :)

Unsure of what to reply he nodded to himself and resumed his reading, crossing his fingers that the siblings wouldn't take long. True to her word, Misty and her older sister walked out not five minutes later, locking the door behind them. They smiled at Gary and Daisy waved, making a beeline for the seat behind Gary's. Misty paused, walked around the car, and hesitantly laid her hand on the door handle of the backdoor. She decided against it and instead reached for the passenger car door, opening it and sliding smoothly in.

"You know I'm not going to eat you," he laughed as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Plugging his phone into his sound system he placed both hands on the wheel and began to reverse. They drove out of the gym parking lot and began their trip to their second home, Pallet Town.

Misty and Daisy both pulled their seatbelts on. "I'm really excited to meet your sister, Gary," Daisy gushed from behind him, and he glanced at her briefly through the rearview mirror. She twirled the ends of her hair in her finger. "I hope I'm dressed well enough."

He smiled reassuringly at her. "You look fine, believe me." He promised, although he hadn't really seen what she chose to wear.

"Misty almost wore her regular outfit," scoffed Daisy, playfully nudging her younger sister who had stayed quiet. "I had to, like, wrestle her into that one."

Gary took the moment to glance over the young woman in his passenger seat, taking in what she was wearing. He didn't really pay much attention to her when she first got in, but now that he looked he had to admit she looked lovelier than usual. Her hair, which was normally tied into a side ponytail, was pinned back slightly but for the most part left to cascade down her neck. She wore a sleeveless cream button-up shirt which surprised Gary immensely – she looked more feminine and elegant than usual, and every bit like a Sensational Sister.

"Eyes on the road," she said, breaking her silence. "And I thought to wear a button-up to make the whole getting in and out of clothes process easy." She wiped her hands on her jeans and pursed her lips. From behind them her older sister let out a disbelieving, "sure!"

"Well, it suits you," said Gary honestly, and Misty blushed. Daisy bit her lip, trying not to smile, but she cast her sister a sideways glance, watching her from her place in the back seat. Phone in hand, the older Waterflower sibling sent off a quick message to Tracey, telling him that they were on their way.

"Thanks," said Misty, blushing at the compliment. "Thought I should look a little less bad in front of a fashion designer."

Gary shrugged. He could tell they were both slightly nervous about meeting May Oak, rising fashion designer, but couldn't understand why. "Don't stress," he said. "My sister's pretty relaxed, she'll be okay with you wearing anything. I mean… You've seen my gramps, right? Those pants? So 1800s."

He was rewarded with laughter. "No, they're not that bad," Daisy said from the backseat, trying to stifle her giggling. "Like… really, not 1800s."

"1900s" offered the younger Oak, pretending to be helpful. One hand was slung over the wheel and the other was raised in a gesture of offering. The Waterflowers began to protest, throwing out random years. A comfortable conversation began on the topic of fashion.

As the two sitting in front continued to chat affably, Daisy fell silent and observed her younger sister and her friend as they talked passionately about the Hoenn Pokémon contests. She looked animated, and happier than she had seen her since her travels came to an end. He was relaxed on the wheel, and was certainly lacking the smugness he once possessed. She leaned back. Pulling her phone out of her coat pocket she began to text Tracey.

So. Misty and Gary. What's the go here?

He was quick to reply. Viability? Why don't you ask him? He said. He is the professor there. ;D

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. Yeah, ha. Fuuuuuunny, she had typed, but another reply had come through before she sent her message.

I'd say it can work with some work.

Inwardly, she grinned mischievously. She deleted the last message she had typed.

Do you want to help me with some work?

Tracey opened the door for them when they arrived in the Oak household. His bandana had been taken off and his hair slicked back slightly, making Daisy swoon. He grinned at them sheepishly as they all stared in surprise. "Uh… thanks," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hope we're not late," Misty said, slipping her shoes off. "Nice to see you, Trace."

Daisy wrapped her arm around him. "You look sooooo…" she paused, casting a quick glance at her younger sister behind them. "You know," she finished, winking at him. He blushed and bit his lip.

"Are they here?" the older Oak sibling's voice echoed through down the hall. "Are they here?"

"Yes!" Tracey yelled back, pulling Daisy along with him. "Come on in, you two."

Gary smirked. "Thanks for the invite, man."

He received laughter in response. "Welcome to my humble home."

May ran down the hall to meet them and the two Waterflowers stopped and straightened up, flattening their clothes. The female Oak smiled welcomingly, excitement in her eyes. "I'm Daisy," she introduced, "but I heard you are also a Daisy, so please, feel free to call me May! It's a pleasure to meet you both!"

Daisy Waterflower gushed. "I love your designs," she immediately burst out saying, grinning and gripping May's hand. "Especially your designs from last season – oh, my God, Violet and I were so, so impressed. Lily followed those magazines like they were gospel truth." She cleared her throat and shook May's hand. "But… yes. Daisy Waterflower, it's nice to meet you, Other Daisy."

Other Daisy laughed. "Thank you!" she said, voice brimming with gratitude. "The pleasure is mine, please – I'm flattered to get to meet one of the Sensational Sisters! I watched one of your shows from a while back, and my goodness. I loved it."

"I can't believe it! I told Violet and Lily about you being in Pallet Town and they nearly died, like, oh my God," Daisy continued to gush, before catching herself. "They almost came up to come with me. Anyway, this is my youngest sister, Misty."

Misty had been worrying as to how to cut into the conversation, feeling slightly awkward that she had no good ways to start a conversation with May. Unlike her older sisters, she wasn't a fan of fashion, and she had only known May existed when Gary mentioned her. "Hello," she greeted nonetheless, bowing and waving awkwardly. "I'm Misty."

"Misty! It's a pleasure to meet you," said May, stepping forward and reaching for the redhead's hand. "Finally." She laughed. "I've heard so much about you from gramps and Delia and Gary. It's great to finally meet you, in person!"

"Thank you," Misty said, shaking May's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you too."

Turning to the two females she locked arms with them and began to drag them deeper into the house. "I'm so glad you guys agreed to come today," prattled May. "I cannot wait to see my designs come to life with you two. But first – dinner. Sorry about the mess around the house, I've kind of set up a base camp at the living room. I think I managed to upset Mr Mime because of all the fabric I've left around."

The group walked towards the dining room through the living room, where, true to her word, fabric was scattered all over the coffee table and a sewing machine was set up in the corner, next to a mannequin. A mouthwatering aroma drifted into the living room from the kitchen and Gary let out a low whistle. It detracted their attention from the pile of fabric cut-outs. "Wow, that smells good," he said. "Is Mrs Ketchum here?"

"Yeah," May answered, "you know if it were me or Gramps we'd burn the house down. Delia's cooking is so good we should really find a way to keep her here."

"I'm sure gramps will be happy to help," snickered the young researcher as he walked down the hall. He shared a knowing look with Tracey. "Just call me when you need me," he called out to them, making a right to enter his room. May nodded and waved, but chose not to say anything.

She continued to keep her focus on their guests. "I hope my little brother didn't bore you on the way here," she said as she led them to the dining room table. From inside the kitchen they heard the muffled noises of Delia and Mr Mime talking to one another, pans banging mutely, and Professor Oak's occasional input. Smiling at the door, she let her guests sit themselves around the kitchen table before she walked back out to the living room. The three of them looked around quietly before Daisy and Tracey began to converse about his hair.

May re-emerged with a sketchbook which she placed on the top of the (as of yet) unset kitchen table with a flourish. "Ta-da," she said, smiling as the four of them crowded around her sketches. Daisy gasped and muttered, "wow," as she tilted her head to get a better look at the soft pastels of May's designs.

"You know when you said 'fairy' I didn't think it would see the light of day outside of a runway," admitted Tracey, marvelling at the designs. Misty, whose eyes were wide in fascination, began turning some of the pages over and the siblings scanned the drawing book like it were a fashion magazine. Tracey paused to look at one of her sketches for her men's line ideas and was inwardly thankful that he didn't have to humiliate himself in front of Daisy too much.

May shook her head. "Psh, what's the use of fashion no one but the snooty people can see?" she asked, before pointing out some details on a sketch that Daisy and Misty spent a minute starting at. "I like making practical stuff that people would actually wear. What's the use of making something that only a few will get to enjoy?"

"These are really good," said Misty, her eyes staying on a creamy green ruffled skirt. While she wasn't a big fan of fashion, she did enjoy dressing up when the planets aligned.

"Thank you," repeated May, smiling at her fiery guest. "I've only actually sewn a few of them together, they're not all sewn up yet and some of them are just proofs of concept for now, but we'll see if they look good."

Daisy began to inch forward, "Oh, I like this," she said, pointing to a design on the page. "The pastel is so lovely, such a nice break from the neon trends around today."

"There is definitely something refreshing about it! What do you think of me adding a pop of neon in between some of the outfits?" asked May, flipping the page over to find another design that had a neon belt and a more brightly coloured popped sleeve. Daisy examined the pages and nodded pensively.

"I think they work well! What about neon accessories with the pastel clothing?"

"Or neon shoes, they'll be a fantastic match!" said May, pulling out a pen from her pocket and making a note. "Damn it, I didn't bring many pairs of shoes this time around. Just essentials."

Daisy shook her head and waved her arm at May. "I have a lot of shoes at home, if you're still up for it tomorrow I can bring some!" she volunteered. "I can also bring my accessories."

Clasping her hands together, May said, "that would be fantastic! Thank you so much!"

The two of them began to huddle together and speak more of fashion trends, leaving Misty and Tracey feeling slightly awkward. They smiled at one another before Tracey got up and declared his intentions to check on the progress on the dinner, leaving Misty on her own at the table, smiling at the two fashion-savvy females excitedly talking. She felt somewhat happy for her older sister – since her other two siblings left and Daisy was left with Misty in the gym, Daisy did not have anyone to talk fashion with and so getting the opportunity to talk with May brightened her up. Misty had vaguely remembered seeing some fashion magazine cut-outs taped to their fridge from ages back but unfortunately had no interest for it at all. She couldn't help but feel a little left out so she got up and excused herself to go to the toilet. The other two females did not make any indication that they heard her so Misty got up and made as little noise as possible, walking out to the living room.

"Hey," greeted Gary, stepping out of his room. "What's up?"

Shrugging, she replied, "not much." Eevee had sauntered up to her and she bent down to scratch the back of her ears. "Hi, Eevee. How's the research going?"

"Well, I don't know how Eevee's research is going but I can tell you about mine. I found a topic I can poke into a little more," Gary said, "so I think it's… going somewhere."

She rolled her eyes. "That's good," said Misty. "So what do you think of all this?" she asked, gesturing to the clothes around them. While she doesn't follow fashion trends that often she couldn't help but admit that May's designs are quite lovely. A bit too feminine for her personal tastes, perhaps, but nothing she'll be ashamed of wearing.

"It's interesting to see my sister in her element," Gary replied. "I watched her just zero-in on fabric and work up a whirlwind this morning while I was getting some of my stuff done; it was odd. It was like she was in some kind of zone."

Misty nodded, trying to think of examples she could share about her own sister but coming up with nothing. "Must be great seeing her again."

He shrugged in response. "I guess." He watched Eevee purr and rub herself all over Misty's leg. The young researcher walked over to the couch and plopped down before turning the TV on.

A familiar show theme began to play and the redhead turned towards the screen. "Really?" she said incredulously to Gary, raising an eyebrow. Her older sister often watched this, and Misty has found herself sitting through some episodes with her. The familiar male narrator voice talked about the celebrity family making dinner. "I didn't know you actually watch this."

"I don't," Gary said defensively, leaning forward. "Seriously, no, I don't. Do you?" He handed her the remote, jokingly. "Want to channel surf?"

Misty got up, hoisted Eevee in her arms, and walked over towards the couch, setting herself on it. Refusing the remote, she shook her head and poked her tongue out at him. "You know what?" she began, "let's watch this. For some reason I feel like sitting through it today." She didn't want to lean back, so she stayed perched at the edge of her seat.

Gary rolled his eyes and sent her an incredulous look. "Serious?"

She laughed, cherishing the tortured look in his eyes. "Yes," she said, teasing but firmly. "I feel like watching this today."

"I don't understand why you would want to subject yourself to this drivel," he said, shaking his head at her. "I expected better of you, Misty," he chastised, clucking his tongue. "It detracts from the attractiveness."

She ignored his statement and merely laughed. "I'm so sorry for disappointing you," she said, "you still have time to retract your friendship."

They continued to tease one another for a while until they fell into a comfortable silence and Gary actually began to pay attention to the show they were watching. Misty remained silent and started to relax in his company, leaning back into the soft couch. Eevee contentedly sat warmly on her lap. Occasionally the silence would be broken by Gary pointing out details about the show and the people in it ("why would they even stay with one another? I don't get it," or "How would you even begin to – no. I refuse to believe anyone is that stupid"). Misty would occasionally explain the dynamics between each character and tried to answer Gary's questions whenever possible, cracking up at the look of disbelief he would shoot her way, especially when she would drop tidbits of information at random.

From the kitchen their two older siblings paused to watch them converse, their attentions having been piqued by the raucous laughter. Daisy, who had intended to get up and move to the living room to watch the show, sat back and watched from afar for fear of interrupting the two, while May grinned slyly as she watched her younger brother flirt with the younger Waterflower. "So cute," she commented.

"I know, right?"

The two turned to one another and discussions of fashion were forgotten. Both had mirrored, twin expressions. "I have never seen Misty that lively since she came back from her travel," confessed Daisy and May nodded along.

"I haven't seen Gary that happy, ever," she said. "He always just looked so stressed, and so worried about something, even when he tries to play it off as nothing. And he thinks I don't see and I can't tell," she scoffed at his foolishness.

"I think they work really well together."

"What does? Is it a fashion thing?" asked Tracey, walking into the dining room with a stack of plates and some cutlery. "What does?" he repeated.

The two females motioned over to the couches where Tracey saw two heads peek out. "Misty and Gary?" He said questioningly, before turning to his girlfriend. "Didn't you say you wanted to ask me something about them?" He began to set the table, asking May to move her sketchbook aside. The clicking of cutlery did not interrupt the fresh wave of discussion that the two couch potatoes began about the fashion choices of the actors on the show.

"Yes," said Daisy, rising and helping him out. "I wanted to try and get them together… I mean, you said they could work out with some pushing," she trailed off, looking over to May for approval. The older Oak's gaze continued to be set on her sibling and his friend, before she grinned and conspiratorially nodded.

"Sure," she began to help the two set the table, placing her sketchbook down on her chair. "I'll be happy to help."

After dinner the fitting session passed with barely any fanfare. May took a couple of photos of Misty and Daisy as well as Tracey and Gary after she made some adjustments on their outfits, and Daisy had gushed about them and sent them out to the other Waterflower sisters. Misty had awkwardly posed for some photos, blushing bright red. The atmosphere in the room was relaxed and friendly, with the boys shamelessly striking sultry poses and making eyes at the camera. Gary and Tracey had teased the both of them about how nice they had looked modelling for May, making Misty more self-conscious. Her sister was fully comfortable under the spotlight; she, however, was not. She poked her tongue out at the two males, her face still a bright tomato red.

"Aw, come on, Misty," Gary said, "the pastel suits you."

The two older siblings shared looks and raised eyebrows at one another but said nothing, smiling. "So, tomorrow," Daisy began, as the two siblings packed up their clothes, "did you want me to bring over some accessories?"

"That would be fantastic," replied May through the pin she held between her teeth. "Anything you think will suit the outfits."

"I will come early," said Daisy, throwing her shoulder bag back on. She smiled at her new friend and waved her phone about. "I'll message you!"

May waved her off. "Alright, I'll message you tomorrow morning with more details. Can you send me photos?"

Nodding, the older Waterflower began to make her way towards the front door to slip her sandals back on. She was stopped by Tracey who paused to discuss something with her.

"They certainly got along well, didn't they?"

The redhead turned to Gary and merely nodded. "Yes, they did. That's good. At least my sister got her quota of fashion talk filled or the month and I don't have to suffer for it," she joked, before letting out a small yawn. "I'm totally tired though."

The younger researcher smiled at his friend, feeling empathy. He was also tired, and would probably fall asleep if not for the cup of coffee he had after dinner. "Not long, now," he teased. "I'll try to get you back to Cerulean Gym as fast as legally possible."

"Thanks, Gary."

After successfully slipping her shoes back on, Daisy Waterflower turned to Professor Oak and Delia Ketchum. "Thank you for having us."

Misty, who had already slipped her sneakers back on, stood beside Gary at the door. She bowed towards the two adults in thanks. "Thank you for having us," she repeated. "The dinner was delicious, Mrs Ketchum; thank you."

The older of the two researchers nodded at the two siblings. "Please, don't worry about it," he said. "Thank you for taking the time to help my granddaughter out." They followed the teenagers towards the door, watching them pile into Gary's convertible. They began to wave goodbye to their guests as they drove away.

Within the red convertible loud music began to blare. "Sorry, ladies," Gary said, glancing at the rearview mirror towards Daisy. Misty had taken her initial spot on the passenger seat next to Gary. "I hope you don't mind my choice in music."

"Anything to help you stay awake!" Daisy said from the backseat, far from tired. Her day was filled with excitement, and the in-depth fashion discussions she had with May fuelled her energy levels. "Your sister is pretty cool, Gary."

Stifling a yawn, he rested his elbow on the window and covered his mouth as a new yawn came through. "I guess," he said. "Not cooler than me, I hope."

Misty watched him from the corner of her eye. In the back of her mind, she shuffled through potential topics she could bring up to start a conversations and avoid him falling asleep. Coming up blank, she hoped that her sister would steer the conversation towards something they could all talk about.

A familiar song began to play over the stereo and Misty's ears perked up. "Oh," she exclaimed. "I love this song."

Gary's face burned red. The pop tunes that filtered through were opposite of the songs he had on before. "I guess this one just slipped the radar," he said in response to Daisy's sniggers from the back seat. Her phone was out, and he knew she had probably informed Tracey of his guilty pleasure.

"It's a good song," Misty said, jumping into his defence. "Maybe a little out of character for you," she addressed, "but it's really catchy!"

Daisy began to hum along as her fingers flew over the keypad of her phone screen. "It is," she said in a sing-song manner. "I guess."

"I didn't think you'd like something like this too, Misty," said Gary, eager to turn the limelight from him to her. "I'm learning so much about you today."

Daisy leaned forward, abandoning her phone on her lap when her sister was brought into the conversation. Eagerly, she revealed, "it may not seem like it but I've caught Misty rocking out to this while cleaning the gym." She ignored the searing glare sent her way by the younger Waterflower. "Like, complete with dancing and some Pokémon choreography. We really need to consider making it a new show."

Slyly, Gary smiled at his friend who seemed to blush bright red even under the weak light. "Shut up," Misty hissed, before turning her attention to Gary who began to laugh at the discomforted face she was making. "I had your back, Gary Oak." The reminder planted some guilt into the back of his head.

"No, no," he said, "I mean, yes. Thank you. It's definitely a very catchy song."

Not appeased, Misty crossed her arms. "Daisy, please."

Leaning back into her seat and retrieving her phone again, Daisy smiled. "Okay, okay." She turned her attention back to her screen, tapping away once more. "I won't tell him about how I caught you totally wailing along to her album when Ash left."

With clenched fists and gritted teeth, Misty remained quiet and kept her arms crossed in front of her. "Shut up," she muttered again.

Gary sensed that it would probably be best for him to turn the limelight back onto himself to avoid his friend from getting embarrassed further. "It's okay," he said, "I like singing her songs when cleaning, too."

Misty smiled tightly at him, obviously still a bit tense, and said, "Thanks." He nodded in response, wanting to take the conversation elsewhere. It seemed like Daisy was clueless that her younger sister was extremely embarrassed, and Gary did not want to dwell on what was obviously a very private memory, so he began to ask about the Pokémon at the gym.

The conversation began to flow more freely into topics that were more open for discussion and they reached Cerulean Gym without any other embarrassing instances. Though it wasn't very late, Gary was quite tired from running around and so he was keen to just get home. When the two sisters filed out with twin "thank you's" he decided to check on his phone.

'Can you pick Daisy up tomorrow?' his sister had texted. 'I owe you a heap, thanks a bunch!'

He sighed. It wasn't like he had a choice. He had hoped to get some research done so he could get started on writing a proposal, but… that could wait.

"Wait," he called out as he rolled his window down. Misty turned to look, and from the door Daisy did, too. "I'll pick you up tomorrow."

The redheaded gym leader looked at him in confusion, eyebrows furrowing as a giveaway. She began to mouth 'what?' but was interrupted by her older sister. Throwing Gary a thumbs up, Daisy grinned. "Thanks, Gary; I owe you one."

With a mock salute, he said, "Don't worry about it. As a slave of fashion, it's part of my duties."

With pursed lips and feeling slight embarrassment Misty waved goodbye with a small smile. "Thanks, again, Gary." Unsure of what to say, she began to make her way to the door. Internally she berated herself for forgetting that Daisy and May had agreed to meet up again the day after. She paused and wondered if she was also needed.

"Hey, Misty," Gary called out as he began to drive away, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow, too."

"That would just make my day," she replied sarcastically. She threw her arms out and waved goodbye enthusiastically. "Drive safe!"

From within the gym Daisy smiled to herself. It looks like they don't need much pushing after all.

The sun rose over Kanto. Gary felt as if it rose much earlier than he would have liked but he rose with it nonetheless, yawning and stretching. He gave his phone a cursory glance to check the time. He ran his hands through his hair as he walked out the door, announcing his entry into the hallway with another loud yawn that echoed back at him in the seemingly empty household. If he strained his ears, he could almost make out Tracey's snoring.

He went through his regular morning routine, splashing his face with cold water in an attempt to shake the tiredness and sleepiness away. Afterwards, he shuffled towards the kitchen to make coffee for himself. In his head, he ran through the errands he would have to run for May – he would need to drop by Cerulean gym to pick up Daisy, and he thought of bringing Tracey with him if the artist wasn't busy to make the ride a little less awkward. He wasn't sure of what to discuss with Misty's older sister.

Perhaps he would need to run out to grab more material for his older sister. It depends on what she wants when she wakes.

"Good morning," greeted his grandfather, watching him with mirth filled eyes over his cup of coffee. The sun streamed through the kitchen windows and flowed in to reveal the good Professor sitting at the round table with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. "There's coffee in the coffeemaker."

"Morning," Gary corrected, half-jokingly. "You know it's not a good morning until I get my coffee, gramps," he said. With his back to his grandfather, he began to pour himself a new cup of coffee, breathing in the aroma. He hadn't spoken with his grandfather since the day May came back to town, and they didn't exactly have a pleasant conversation then. He tried not to fidget – Gary Oak does not fidget – as he prepared his coffee to his desires.

There was silence. It felt slightly tense. He couldn't tell. He wanted to ignore it, and wished things were back to the way they were before things happened. Knowing his grandfather was reading the paper, he decided to break the silence with a question.

"So… Anything interesting in the news?"

"Not really," Professor Samuel Oak said in reply after some deliberation. "Seems like a slow news day." He waved the paper in his hand. "Unless you would like for me to tell you about the Jamesons?"

Gary rolled his eyes. "Last night was the first time I watched that show, I swear." He took a sip of his coffee and sighed in happiness. He felt a little more alive than he did half an hour ago. "I only watched it because Misty insisted I sit through it."

"She's a lovely girl; both her and her sister. Sweet young ladies," said Samuel when the young gym leader was brought into the conversation. "I'm really grateful they'd both been so willing to help May." He looked at his grandson with a searching smile. "I would also like for you to know that I appreciate you playing chauffeur for the past couple of days."

Gary said nothing. The time he spent chauffeuring was time he could have spent on research, but it wasn't like anyone was looking. "It's okay," he lied. "It's no problem at all."

Samuel could tell his grandson was lying, but decided not to bring it up. He didn't want another argument to ruin his morning like the last one had done so. Unfortunately for the senior Oak those arguments started coming up more and more. The topic of Pokémon research was something he found he needed to avoid bringing up with his grandson. Gary's stubbornness is an Oak factor, and he couldn't fault the boy on it.

He decided against addressing the lie. "Would you like to help me with my rounds today?" he offered, standing from his seat and rolling the paper up before he shoved it into his pockets. "I think Tracey deserves a little break today since he ran around to chase some of the babies yesterday."

He didn't know what answer he expected, or what answer he wanted to hear from his grandson – the truth was that the old man missed spending time with the younger ex-trainer, and wanted nothing more than to get rid of the rift that had formed between them. Walking around in the early morning used to be an activity he and his grandson shared when Gary was much younger. Nowadays, it was mostly done by him and Tracey, while his grandson burrowed himself in his room, looking at dead ends and grumbling in frustration.

Gary downed the rest of his coffee. "Sure," he said, smiling at his grandfather. They can talk about Pokémon without straying towards research, right?

In Cerulean City, the day started out the same for Misty. She woke to the sound of her alarm clock ringing up a storm on her bedside table a little after the sun had fully risen. She ran downstairs, pulling on a sweater and saying "hello" and "good morning" to her Pokémon as she went by. The aquariums looked a little less clean than she would have liked, and she made the mental note to make the time to clean them. She prepared a quick slice of toast for breakfast ("How can you burn toast, Misty, really?" asked Daisy as she skipped past), greeted her older sister, and consulted the battle schedule that sat by the phone. Realising that she had an early appointment that morning, she prepared her Pokeballs and made her way to the pool out the front of the gym.

Her sister was not a morning person but she seemed quite chipper. Misty said nothing about it, eyeing Daisy as she hummed her way around the pool, vacuuming. Misty was preoccupied.

The first battle of the day went by quickly – guiltily, Misty handed a Cascade Badge over to the excited twelve year old who thanked her immensely for the tough battle. The child had a fire-type starter and no other Pokémon that was super-effective against hers. By all means, Misty should have been able to beat them and force them to train up some more before coming back, but she was distracted. During the battle, she had been operating at a less than optimal rate. A win was a win, however, and the kid seemed grateful and deserving of the badge. Despite the disadvantage, he fought valiantly, shouting words of encouragement to his Pokémon during the battle.

The kid was basically the opposite of Gary must have been when he got his Cascade Badge.

She jerked back physically, but it was thankfully overlooked by the child who continued to gush at his Pokémon, flashing them the shiny new badge they had helped him get. Misty wondered why her smug friend suddenly popped up in the back of her head, but she was quick to brush it off. Smiling at the boy who had just defeated her, she shook his hand and congratulated him again before throwing in a TM that he could use. She wished him well and led him and his Pokémon out the gym, feeling genuine happiness as she watched the child celebrate the victory.

How very unlike Gary, but very much like Ash.

Reminded of her other friend, she let the door of the gym slide shut behind her. She let her Pokémon stay out of their Pokeballs so that they could relax in the pool. The cheerful Pokémon noises reminded Misty that today was a good day, but for some reason she couldn't concentrate.

Moving back into the living quarters in the gym, she checked the match schedules and saw she had no scheduled matches until later in the day. It was still fairly early – there was no need to make lunch yet. She opened the fridge door and had a quick look. They had enough ingredients to make chicken wraps.

"Hey, Misty," she heard Daisy call out from behind her. Having finished her cleaning duties, Daisy retreated to the back to feed the rest of the Pokémon in the gym. "What do you think of these?" she asked, holding up a batch of bracelets.

"They're nice," she said, unsure. She didn't know what Daisy expected to hear as a reply, so she added a shrug. "I think."

Daisy looked at her sister oddly – are those miniscule amounts of pity in her eyes? – and held the bracelets back up against her skin more firmly this time. "I was thinking of giving these to May." She slipped the accessories on and held her arm out to have a look. "They might suit her better, I think they will look good with her semi-tan skin. The Oaks are so lucky – their complexions are so perfect. I mean, have you seen Gary's skin? I don't know what kind of skincare routine he has but I want it."

Misty nodded mutely. "I guess." I guess Gary does have nice skin? What does she want me to say? She wondered to herself, before suddenly realising that her older sister was going out. She exclaimed, "Oh! I'm guessing you're not having lunch with me?"

The blonde looked surprised. "Did you forget?" she asked jokingly, lowering her arms. "May texted me, she said that Gary and Tracey were coming by before lunch – I think we're having lunch at the Oaks' again." The two of them looked at the round clock that hung over the fridge. "So in about two hours."

Nodding to herself again, Misty said, "cool." She turned on her heel. "I don't need to come with, do I?"

"It's okay," she heard her sister say from behind her. The younger woman poured herself a glass of water and turned to watch her older sibling. She pulled herself up on to the counter. "I don't think it'll take long."

She grinned in reply. "Good luck."

"Aw, was yesterday too torturous for you?" teased Daisy. Misty paused to think about it, her face twisting into an expression of deep thought. "Surely it wasn't that bad!"

"No, no," she said. "It was okay, it wasn't as torturous as I thought it would be. May is really nice."

Daisy slumped, "I know, right?" she said, her arms reaching out for a glass and the water pitcher. "I'm so happy I got to see her designs before they hit the runway, I think they will just explode." She placed the glass against her lip and began to drink. Misty watched her older sister. "I told Violet and Lily about it, they are, like, so jealous of you."

"I guess they would be," she said.

"You were, like, rocking those looks really great yesterday," Daisy complemented, pouring herself another glass of water. "I don't know why you're so embarrassed; own it, sis!"

"Own what?"

"How you look!" her sister said. "You are a Waterflower. The beauty runs deep. Of course you probably can't beat me just yet," she winked playfully, "but you have potential."

She said nothing. Beauty runs deep but obviously not modesty. She lifted her glass to her lips to take another sip, but she kept her eyes trailed on the floor. For a split second she wondered if the woman in front of her really is her older sister or if it was just a stranger who was posing as her. The words that came out of her mouth were as good as alien language.

"Even Gary thought you were cute."

Her cheeks burned bright red, and her head snapped upwards to look around the room. How stupid – Gary's not here! Or is he? Daisy snickered at her reaction, which made Misty's face turn into an even deeper shade of red. "Shut up."

The alien continued to speak.

"It's true!" the blonde said, nudging her youngest sister. Despite the age gap between them, and the fact that they possessed quite different personalities and personal tastes, she adored her youngest sister and felt very protective of her (even though she knew Misty is the most independent and the strongest out of the four of them). "Why don't you… you know, like, give him a chance?" She was teasing but she was definitely dropping a hint.

Pfft. The water sprayed out of Misty's mouth in a misty display. "What?" she cried after catching herself and wiping her mouth. She turned her attention to her guffawing older sister. The blush has yet to fade from her face. "What are you on about?"

"You know?" Daisy repeated, looking at her sister expectantly. "Like… go out with him?"

She received a twisted face in reply. "What gave you that idea?" she asked, her lips upturned and her brows furrowed. "Wha-? Okay, okay. First off, what gave you the idea that he even likes me, you know, like that?"

Daisy rolled her eyes. She may be mature but there are still things she was clueless about. "It doesn't take a Pokémon researcher to see he likes you, you both flirt a lot." With a hand gesture, she motioned, "like… a lot."

Immediately paranoid, Misty's frown remained. "What?" she asked again. "What do you mean by that?" She was concerned. Does Gary know? Does he think I'm flirting with him? Am I flirting with him? "Anyway," she said, shaking the thoughts away, "I'm… not interested."

"Misty," Daisy began slowly, shooting her younger sister a disbelieving look, "Don't lie; I know you. Gary is a good match for you. I really think you should consider giving him a chance if he asks." Her tone continued to be teasing, but there was a slight edge of apprehension in her eyes.

"That's the thing, right? He's not going to ask," Misty said sardonically, her ears burning. "Who cares, anyway? Let's pretend, okay, that he wants to ask me out. That's just ridiculous," she began to ramble, words spilling out of her mouth like an uncontrollable river. "I mean, I have nothing to offer, I'm just… Me."

The blonde looked pityingly at her younger sister and Misty began to bristle. "Don't be stupid," she said sadly. "I don't know why you keep putting yourself down. You're a great person, Misty. You're really funny, you're independent, and you can take care of yourself."

"Yes. Exactly why I don't need anybody. I don't know what drove that idea into your head, Daisy."

"I don't like seeing you lonely, Misty." Her sister stared at her glass. It was too early in the morning for an impromptu heart-to-heart, but something in Misty's chest tightened at her sister's words. "And seeing you with Gary, the happiest you've been in a long time, is really great."

The gym leader opened her mouth to say something, but her sister continued. "I don't know why you're still hung up on Ash. He just… he doesn't appreciate you like that. It's just stupid to still keep waiting for him, I mean… He's bent on his mission to become greatest Pokémon master, right? He's not going to sit in one place because of his goal. He's got a one-track mind. He's not going to wait for you while you're here."

Anger began to bubble within Misty and she didn't know why. Even though she just articulated things that Misty had already thought of, she still couldn't not believe that her older sister was saying them. "What are you talking about?" she angrily demanded, jumping off the counter. Misty had a million questions she wanted to ask, but her temper was beginning to worsen. Oblivious, her sister took this as a sign to continue.

"I can see he's hurt you and he's continuing to hurt you. I'm saying you deserve better! And that's what Gary is. Like… you know, he watches out for you and checks up on you and asks you how you've been. He seems to care for you. He's a cool guy! I mean, he's cute, too, so that's a plus. Also, he lives nearby."

"Why are you bringing Ash into this? And why are you even bringing this up?" Misty continued, ignoring her sister's addendum. She felt the need to defend her ambitious friend, knowing how he also hated being compared to his rival. Her ears began to ring. The rising tone of her voice made her older sister frown, unappreciative of the response. "What… what-?" the redhead was dumbfounded. "I want you to know that Ash is a very talented trainer, and I think he can become the best Pokémon trainer in the world; and he's very kind, he's funny, he's a fantastic friend and he cares completely! I don't know what you're talking about. Ash is just a friend. Gary is just a friend. I don't know if you know, but it's completely possible to have male friends without wanting to progress the relationship."

"I'm well aware," Daisy snapped back. "And I don't doubt Ash's battling skills and his Pokemon training skills and whatever else it is you brought up. I'm just saying, it's time for you to stop being stupid and missing out on the opportunities in front of you because you still hold a boy in your heart – a boy who has no intention of coming back for you, a boy who has probably replaced you, and a boy who doesn't deserve you! It's not healthy for you to still be pining for Ash!"

The warmth that was in her heart began to fade, and the warmth began to rise to her face. She hit a sore spot, and Misty began to get increasingly frustrated. She was confused and she didn't know what to say. "Who says I'm still pining for Ash? And who are you to say who deserves to be with me or not?"

"I'm your older sister, Misty! I may be flaky, but I'm not a moron. I can see it in you!" Daisy yelled, frustrated. Another bad case of the foot-in-mouth disease that runs in the Waterflower veins. This is not going well. Then again, she wasn't really the best at slowly and gently injecting a topic of conversation in. "I have not seen you this happy in a long time, and you haven't been happy since you had to come back and stay! Gary is good for you!"

Misty was reminded of being a child, being told by her parents that vegetables were good for her, and why won't you give them a chance, Misty, they're good for you. "I don't-" she was speechless, and felt confronted. Like an animal backed into a corner, she felt trapped, and began to snap back. "I don't understand! I don't know what in the world brought this on – I don't know what the hell you want from me." She began to stomp out of the kitchen, fuming. "But know this, Daisy; I don't meddle with your life, so stop meddling with mine."

They hadn't had a screaming match in a long time. It left a horrible taste in Daisy's mouth. With a sigh, she leaned against the counter and watched the clock tick.

When ten thirty rolled around Misty found her sister gone.

The next battle of the day occurred when Misty was still in a fairly foul mood. She had taken on a smarmy young lady who confidently took out a grass-type Pokemon. While she barely spoke, the look in her eyes and the expression on her face made Misty even more annoyed than she already was. What the young girl seemed to forget was that Misty had taken on other grass-type Pokemon handled by stronger, more capable trainers. It was obvious that the Pokemon was barely trained – it was less powerful than it should have been. Misty crushed the girl with ease and the challenger began to complain about type differences, whining at her Pokemon.

"Maybe you should try training up your Pokemon some more," Misty suggested, trying to keep the ice from her voice. "A Pokemon is only as good as their trainer. A type advantage is useless if you don't know how to take full advantage of it."

The girl said nothing. She recalled her Pokemon over – a Chikorita, perhaps traded from someone else – and nodded mutely. "I'll be back," she said. The girl's long, black hair swished behind her when she turned on her heel and stomped out.

"Yes," Misty said into thin air, "the gym doors are always open for you."

She slumped onto one of the bleacher seats in the gym area, feeling emotionally and physically exhausted. After her sister had left, Misty had taken out her anger on the floors and the windows when she cleaned them sparkling. Her arms were sore from the scrubbing motions she had to do. No one had come until twenty minutes ago, and now she was back to being alone and lonely. She had no other scheduled battles for the day but it was too early to close the gym down. She bit her lip. Misty kicked the seat in front of her lightly, trying to keep her thoughts out of her argument with her sister.

What Daisy had said was scathing but not untrue. Even though she refused to acknowledge it, she knew that it was true. As much as she loved to imagine Ash coming back for her and taking her along with him and Brock, just like old times, around different regions, it was not going to happen. Ash's tenacity was a quality of his that Misty admired. The rational part of her mind concluded that Ash's stubbornness is not something that can be removed – he is not coming back to stay until his goal is reached, and after that he'll probably have a new dream to work for.

Her heart continued to yearn for Ash. She took the time to think about her relationship with him and tried to rationalise the emotions she felt for him. She felt warm thinking about the things she loved about him. He was funny, he was stubborn, he fought for what he believed in, and he was a good friend. Despite his immature streak, Ash displayed immense bravery and selflessness for the sake of protecting those he loved.

Misty heard her sister's voice in her head, and she had fallen into the trap she had been trying to avoid again. "I'm saying you deserve better! And that's what Gary is," she had said. Misty scoffed.

But it's true, her brain thought. Gary is funny. Gary is stubborn. Gary continues to push towards following his instincts despite the fact that everyone else is waiting for him to fail. He's brave and headstrong.

Gary is better than Ash.

Shaking her head, she tried to fend the thoughts away. Maybe there was something else in the house that needed cleaning.

Author's Note: Happy holidays, lovely people! I hope your holidays had no drama – unlike what seems to be brewing in the Oak and Waterflower households. Apologies for the long wait – I hope the long chapter made up for it. 10,000 words! It's a Christmas miracle. Guess who's done with university, by the way? Yep.

So many horizontal line breaks - doesn't like me spacing out my sections. Tell me if you guys would like me to go back to shorter chapters – I was going to cut this chapter and take part of it to save for the next one, but it wouldn't have flowed as nicely if I'd taken it out. At the same time, I don't know if I can stretch my other plans out as long as I did this one! Should I try to keep my chapters shorter or just let it flow?

Aside from the obvious shift in writing style, the tone of this story has changed since when I started. I'm seriously considering revising the first couple of chapters once this is all over and done with. I've planned for about 5 to 6 more chapters after this one!

Thank you for all the support, and see you guys next time (hopefully next time won't be a year from now)!

- i need sleep