Gary led the way through the gym, explaining the changes he had made since the last inspection. Brock followed behind him, nodding and trying to look serious but really trying hard to keep a straight face.

"Can you cut that out?" Gary asked, turning suddenly.

Brock let out the laugh he had been holding in and said, "I'm sorry. You just look so… not like Gary."

Gary snarled and finished up the tour. He grabbed a towel from his office at the end, running it through his hair quickly to try and dry it as much as possible as they walked back to the main gym. Blastoise and Umbreon had gotten into a fight just before Brock had arrived, eventually starting a battle and catching Gary in the middle of it. Gary was drenched and had to show Brock around while trying not to drip all over the floor.

"How've you been?" Brock asked politely.

Gary rolled his eyes. "Don't pretend that we're friends, Brock. The only thing we ever had in common was Ash, and even that was a long time ago."

"Not true," Brock corrected. "We're both gym leaders."

Gary rolled his eyes again. "So are a lot of people. Go hang out with them. I recall your friend Misty was only a town over from you, why not go see her?"

"To tell you the truth my beloved Nurse Joy is here," Brock sighed, looking love-struck as he gazed off into the distance. "I am waiting for her break in a few hours so we can go have dinner together."

Gary laughed. Gary couldn't believe that the idiot had actually gotten one of the many Nurse Joys to actually date him, he was hitting on too many of them for his love for one to be genuine. They also all looked alike, so how Brock could date one without getting her confused with the others was quite a feat.

"They get breaks?" Gary asked.

Brock nodded. "Yeah. She's taking off a few hours so we can go on a date and meet up with Ash."

Gary perked up, but didn't show it to the older man. "Ash is coming here? How? The ferry is in Vermillion City."

"Professor Oak sent him his old pidgeot to fly in," Brock said. "He's planning to fly here and meet up with everyone before returning home. After all, everyone is staying in Viridian for the wedding."

Gary didn't say anything. He hadn't planned on meeting up with any of them before the rehearsal. He didn't have his reaction planned for when Ash came. Was he supposed to act happy, uncaring, overjoyed, what?

"I think you should go to where you planned to meet him in case he's early," Gary said easily. "I need to get out of these clothes and into something dry. Tell him to drop by sometime while he's here." Gary mentally scolded himself for that last sentence. He still had no idea how to act around Ash and if he stopped by suddenly then Gary wouldn't even have time to prepare.

Brock nodded and headed for the door. Just as Gary pulled his drenched shirt over his head Brock opened the door to reveal a young man about to knock.

"Brock!" a cheery voice called.

"Ash!" Brock cheered. They embraced, laughing idiotically and greeting each other like only men did.

Gary glanced at them and managed to not blush as he realized that the newcomer was indeed Ash. Taller and more muscular, though not much, it was easy to recognize the boy turned man. He dressed similarly to the way he always did when Gary knew him best. He still had his usual stupid-looking hat and his huge grin that was enough to melt Gary's heart.

"Gary!" Ash called after he and Brock separated. "Sorry for dropping in so suddenly, but I wanted to say hi before I headed back to see Mom."

Gary nodded and smiled. "You never change Ashy-boy. It's been a while!"

Gary saw Ash's eyes drift to his chest and then up to his hair. "Um, yeah! How have you been?"

Gary walked over to him and Brock and shrugged. "The usual. Trainers whining that I'm not battling fair. Blastoise and Umbreon got in a fight earlier as you can see, and that's pretty much been the most exciting thing since I heard about Gramps and your mom."

Ash laughed nervously. "Yeah. I was surprised myself."

"Oh I wasn't surprised, Ashy-boy. Anyone around them could see what was going on. Honestly it creeped me out at first, but it makes sense now that I think about it."

Ash nodded and Brock, who was looking outside, called, "Joy! Hold on! We're coming. Come on Ash, I want you to meet someone." He directed the last sentence at his shorter friend before darting outside to meet up with his date.

Ash laughed and waved at Gary. "See you in a few days then."

Gary nodded and waved a farewell as Ash left to join his older friend.