Chapter 7

Woo! I was able to keep my promise. Okay, okay, not entirely. My clock says 00:34, which means I'm a bit late, but since the majority of my readers are in the US, you still get the update by the 13th! MAGIC! Haha, anyways, this almost wasn't done on time. I, er, got Sims 3 with all of the expansions and stuff, and it was just so fun being somebody I'm not. Actually, it's just me loving to play god and ruin unsuspecting victims' lives! Muhahaha. Then I got bored and switched to Diablo II. Yeah, kill those demons! Between all that, I wrote this, but by all means, don't think this is a Sims and Diablo inspired chapter. Meh. It's somewhat filler, somewhat plot. Like, Dratini plot. I'm hoping I'm getting you think about what's wrong with them, because I have it all planned out, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna serve for an awesome climax. But yeah, I'm just rambling on about stuff you probably don't want to know... so here's chapter 7!

Have you ever thought about how people exaggerate most of the time? Like, their wonderful tropical vacation where they had some steamy summer romance was actually just a trip to an overcrowded, generic beach with wanton whores looking for unsuspecting victims who idealize their lives. Okay, excuse me, but I'm a bit pissed, I guess. 'Your living room is on fire' and 'It might just be the curtain near the socket that spat a spark or two' are two completely different things. Firstly, I expected the room to be razed or something, and secondly, we were rudely interrupted. Of course I'm pissed as hell. Moronic Elite Four wannabe!

Ugh, now he completely put me off from telling Ash how I feel. I just don't know if I can find it in me to work up that amount of strength again. I almost spilled my heart, for God's sake! Whatever, I just need to get over my fear. Or, maybe, the interruption was a good thing. Maybe I was being too hasty – I hadn't really planned the whole thing, and that could've led to disaster.

Damn.

Seriously though, I might have ruined everything back there. After all, Delia only told me she thinks Ash likes me. I'm not the vain type that mistakes friendliness for love. Eh, I guess what I'm about to say should stay in my mind – thanks, Lance. Meh.

"Mom hated these curtains anyway," Ash said as he struggled to contain his laughter. "This might just be the motivation she needs to replace them; they're ancient."

Lance was acting all guilty about it – he explained that the TV displayed only white noise, and thought there might be a problem with the cabling. While looking if he could wiggle the cables into place, he stepped on the cord and a flame came out the wall socket. If you ask me, that had to be a very badly maintained socket to spout a flame like that. Then again, how was Delia supposed to make sure all of the wiring in the house was in proper condition; Ash's father apparently MIA.

"At least let me pay for the new ones, then," Lance offered. I swear, I've never seen an Elite Four so, what's the word, defeated. Haha, that's a memory.

"Relax, it's not as if it'll cost a fortune. Besides, I still have most of the money I won and I haven't gotten Mom anything yet," Ash mused, his mouth slightly inching towards a smile as he probably imagined his mother's reaction to new curtains.

How cute!

"Should we go now?" Lance asked, and when he saw the vacant expression on Ash and my face, he added, "Get the curtains, I mean."

Ash gave me a puzzled look, as if asking if I was okay with it. I think he actually wanted to know if we could talk some other time. Well, sure, I don't mind. They just better hurry if they want to find the store still open – it was nearly closing time this time of the afternoon.

As Ash hurried to his room to put on his shoes, he left me and Lance standing around the living room; quite awkward. I don't know what came over me this morning. I knew that he and Ash would meet up and, well, I didn't know what they would do then. But typical of them – they ended up battling, like things never have changed. I guess that's what made me bite his head off like that. But I dunno, he seems to know something, because he's sure as hell annoying me on purpose. Fucker.

Lance fidgeted with his shirt; his silhouette was quite different with him not wearing his cape. What kind of idiot wears a cape anyway? I was caught looking at him, and he gave me a lop-sided grin. I swear it grew wider when I looked away.

"You seem quite temperamental," he stated, more like mocked. I looked at him again, and sure enough, he was jeering at me.

"So what? I can be moody if I want to," I huffed, and started tapping my foot. Hurry up Ash!

He made a face, "That doesn't make sense. You enjoy having PMS?"

"Please, I'm not a girl. I just don't like you," I said. There, bastard. No use keeping it a secret.

"Oh," he said slowly; knowingly. "You're not moody. You're jealous."

"What's Gary jealous about?" Ash said cheerily as he walked into the room, his well worn sneakers on his feet.

"Nothing," I said quickly.

"Liar," Lance chuckled. "He's jealous of my awesome skills as a trainer. It takes a special kind of savvy to train dragons."

While the two of them laughed at something I didn't find funny, I made my way to the door. Ash and Lance followed me outside, and started walking in the direction of the town center – where all the shops were. After a few steps, they realized I wasn't following and I quickly made an excuse that I had some lab work to do. Actually, it wasn't that much of a lie, but I wasn't going to do the work I had left on a Saturday evening. Though, I might as well – the evening is a waste spent alone. And there's no way I'll have my night spoilt by that deplorable Elite.

The curtains were perfect. At least, I thought they were, but in the end it was up to mom to decide. Actually, I knew she would be elated, no matter what I got her. I tried to get something that was in line with the colors in the living room, and now that they were up, they seemed like they were made for our house. We had quietly thrown the old, slightly burnt ones out, and hung the new ones as fast as we could.

Mom had gone to visit a friend of her, and told me she would only be back after dark. Initially I was hopeful that it might be a date, but she told me the friend was a woman.

Lance looked particularly pleased with the curtains, and he all to soon 'forgot' that he set the old ones on fire. Without anything to do, we sat down and watched television. How boring. I would rather battle Lance again, as I'm sure he's dying for vengeance, but it was too dark to really see anything outside. We had to feed all the Pokemon in the garage; all those dragons were huge! It was also odd to see Pikachu and Dragonite playing together, when they had a heated battle just that morning. Guess they really pour their heart and soul into the fight.

"So, how long are you planning on staying?" I asked Lance as we watched our Pokemon socialize and play.

Lance chuckled, "Already tired of me?"

"No, no! That's not what I meant," I laughed. "I'm just curious. There isn't much to do around here, you know. I have to work on Monday again, so you'll be bored all day. Aside from that, there's only me to battle. Maybe Gary, but I don't know if he will."

"Gary can battle?" Lance asked, surprise in his voice. And I guess anticipation too.

"Yeah, he was pretty good in the day. We were kind of rivals, and he always seemed a step ahead of me," I explained; more like reminisced.

"Why'd he stop?"

"I don't really know. He just told me that research is his passion, and that he'll still be around Pokemon, his other passion. I guess it makes sense. It's just odd that he stopped even though he was so good. He could've been Master if he tried."

"Really?" Lance asked rhetorically. I saw him processing the info, and I knew he was going to try and coerce Gary into battling him.

I didn't really know how actively Gary trained his Pokemon these days, but I do remember he had a pretty stringent regime way back then. It would be quite interesting to see Gary battle again. He has some great Pokemon, and I'm sure he'll be able to give Lance some kind of challenge. Hmm, who knows, maybe I could battle Gary. I know my current team is the win team, but I could use some of my other Pokemon that I haven't used for a while. Kind of like a handicap.

"If only Lorelei was here, we could have a nice battle. You know, two on two. You and Gary against me and Lorelei," Lance said.

"Please, I beat her without having any of my Pokemon whiting out," I laughed.

"Maybe, but she and I make a pretty mean team. Ice and dragons are one tough combination," he defended.

We continued joking with each other and just talked about people we've battled. We must sound like two incredibly obsessed guys, but really, there wasn't anything else to talk about. After the Pokemon had finished eating, we let them return to their Pokeballs, and Lance, me and Pikachu started playing a board game.

Just as the little guy was about to win the first round, my mom came to our rescue and arrived home. We tried not to act guilty and made as if we thought the old curtains were just boring. As predicted, she was absolutely elated. I think the fact that they matched the furniture was especially remarkable, and she told us she had felt like burning the old ones at times. We merely giggled.

The evening went along without anything spectacular happening, except that Pikachu was unbeatable. I swear, he was some secret board game champion freak! Before we knew it, it was late and time for bed.

When I found myself, I was in bed and staring at the ceiling. The room was quite, apart from Pikachu's steady breathing and occasional grunt. My thoughts wandered towards Gary and what he wanted to say that morning. I had kind of forgotten about it, and I'm sure Gary was mad at me for not trying to get back to him. I could at least have phoned him and arranged when to meet him again. Tomorrow was Sunday, and a perfect time to see Gary. I felt that I needed to tell him that everything is okay and that I just overreacted.

But I wonder what he wanted to tell me that would make him sound like an idiot. Sure, hearing Gary Oak apologize is rare occasion, but I wouldn't say it made him sound stupid. No, it seemed as if he wanted to say something else. After all, he had told me that he had been confused and I only made things worse – God knows how, but I guess he would've explained if he could finish.

I wonder if it had to do with me seeing him crying the other day, and his awful mood swings. If it was really me, why would me being here make him so moody? I wasn't being mean or anything, and I thought we had gotten over the rivalry and stuff years ago. Damn, I hate questions. I never seem to have any kind of answer.

Grandpa woke me up early with him making some noise downstairs. Seriously, it sounded like he was moving furniture around, but when I got there, nothing seemed different. Meh, old people. I found him in the kitchen, leaning over some contraption, fiddling with the wires. I took a bowl from the cupboard and poured me some cereal. While I ate, I tried to figure out what Grandpa was working on. It looked as if it could be some kind of pump – for what I don't know.

I washed up, and headed to the lab. The Dratini looked sick and tired, but not more than usual, which was a good thing, I guess. This whole thing was just so weird. It shouldn't be so difficult in locating the virus that was causing them be so sick, and we're running out of ideas on how to look for it. My mind pondered to the sores I had found in their mouths and the disappearance of them in the mouth of the Dratini that bit me. Maybe they were vampire Dratini that needed some blood? Hah, too much vampire-crap these days.

But there had to be some kind of explanation to why that specific Dratini showed some kind of improvement. Was it when it bit my hand, or from something else? The logical thing would be is to let another Dratini bite me and see how it reacts. Vampiric Dratini seemed like a crazy idea, but I guess we were too hopeless to even discount that. We had to give it a try. And, it would be interesting. Imagine the press; the shock.

Without realizing it, I took some Pokemon food and moved to the edge of the tank. I held my hand to one of the Dratini floating around, and sensing food, it seemed a bit more alive. We've been careful when giving them food – they're essentially wild Dratini and had rather sharp teeth, and we don't hand feed them. Just as I had hoped, it snapped at my hand, and took the food – but not without digging it's teeth into my skin. I winced, and pulled my hand away quickly. If they were indeed vampiric, blood would only worsen the situation. A towel lay nearby, and I wrapped it around my hand. It wasn't bleeding badly, and would be fine when the bleeding stopped. It would still treat it for infection – who knows what kind of bacteria lives inside those mouths.

Now came the next question: how long before whatever happened to the other Dratini takes effect, and even if it will take effect? One thing that is certain, is that the sores don't disappear permanently. I remember seeing them return in the mouth of the other Dratini, but at least if I know why disappear it could help a bit.

I took the Dratini that just bit me from the tank and took him to a table near the window that looked out over the fields that belong to Grandpa. The poor thing lifted his head and peeked outside, his eyes heavy and sad. It must be craving its freedom, but I just hope it knows we're keeping them here so we can make them healthy. Our actions could easily be interpreted as experimentation – which essentially it was. But our intentions were pure, and thankfully, Ash was able to convey that to them. If only I knew what was in his touch, in his eyes, so I could comfort these Pokemon too. Damn, it's as if I need Ash everywhere.

I tried my best to tell the Pokemon I'm trying to help, and it seemed to calm down and let me examine it without protest. It was reluctant to open its mouth, and when I did, I still found sores. My hopes weren't crushed, it would be foolish to expect them to heal that fast.

It was then when Grandpa came inside, probably bored tinkering or whatever. His interest immediately shifted to me and the Pokemon, and he gave me a smile. We always managed to work more efficiently without the aides, oddly enough, and it looked as if we might end up spending the entire day in the lab. Such workaholics we are.

I explained my silly theory to Grandpa, but he agreed that there might be something to the sores disappearing after I was bitten. We checked on the Dratini regularly as we went about other ongoing research. We had concocted a new batch of potential vaccines, but we weren't really hopeful. All they ever did was get the Pokemon really doped for a while, before leaving in the exact state they were a few hours earlier. There was also some new brainwave data we collected – a professor from an university in Sinnoh suggested a new technique that apparently yielded better accuracy without the need of new equipment. So far the results weren't really helpful at all.

"You know, perhaps there was some kind of stimulation when the Dratini bit you that made it feel better," Grandpa said as we took a break to get some lunch.

"What do you mean?"

"Like when a Pikachu has a cold, it gets overcharged, and the best way for it to get better is to have it battle to dispel all that electricity," Grandpa explained.

"Yeah, but that's to get rid of excess electricity. These Dratini isn't overcharged or anything," I mused.

"Perhaps, but maybe it's a psychological thing."

"I dunno, Grandpa. Wouldn't we have heard about it, then? And after all, we believe it's viral. I can't see how biting people would stimulate them."

Grandpa sighed heavily, then said, "You're right. It doesn't make sense. I'm just so frustrated."

I walked over to where he stood and put my hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, Gramps. We'll beat this thing."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. I told Grandpa I would get it, and went out of the kitchen and into the foyer.

Finding Ash, alone, was a surprise – one I didn't know was pleasant or not. He gave me a slight smile, before letting himself in. He struggled for a moment to find his words, but then he finally spoke, "I'd like to hear what you wanted to say yesterday."

Damn it! I hadn't really given that thought further than I had yesterday; and yesterday I had decided NOT to tell Ash. I really didn't expect him to show up and asking me to finish. Damn. Shit. Why am I always unprepared when it comes to Ash? I just couldn't get in charge, and worst of all, he was always so oblivious of how nervous I was. And that's just me being stupid, because Ash had this uncanny way of making me feel relaxed. He made me feel comfortable and content. And if it was up to me, he could make me feel that way forever…

And ever, and ever, and ever.

A\N: Yay, a mostly Gary chapter. I compared this instance to the Gary POV I did in a previous chapter, and it seems as if my style differs. If that's just me or me adjusting my style subconsciously to fit the Gary moodswing thing, I dunno, but I kind of like. I'm not sold yet, but perhaps you can tell if I went wrong. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and I hope your as happy as I am that I made my promise. See you again on the 23rd!

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