Disclaimer:- I don't own Pokemon.
Chapter 2- The Legendary Guardian
Ash
The moment Ash Ketchum stepped down the stairs, he was surrounded by a huge cluster of friends, both old and new. He was quite overwhelmed by the multiple faces that were staring at him with love and affection in their eyes, several hands that were readily clasping his hand to greet him and the chorus of birthday wishes that echoed in his ears as all of his friends wished him at almost the same time.
He did a quick count and felt a leap of joy in his heart as he realized who all had came to his birthday party other than the friends he had already met earlier. He saw Max, Iris, Cilan, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Tracey, Drew, Ritchie, Angie, Casey, Paul, Barry, Trip, Bianca, Alain, Sawyer, Tierno and several other familiar faces in the crowd. Most of them were also accompanied by their Pokemon.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Team Rocket hastily gobbling up food at the buffet table. But for once he didn't mind them. They had helped him a few times after all, so as long as they didn't attempt to steal any Pokemon or overstuff themselves he was okay with them. Although he guessed Brock's medicine would help them too in case they also ate too much.
But in spite of being surrounded by a sea of familiar faces, Ash felt a certain unease settle down on him. As though without consciously knowing it, his heart was waiting for someone to show up but that person was nowhere to be seen.
It took Ash some time to untangle himself from the large group of his friends. He saw his mom rush towards the kitchen, probably to bring the cake. His Pokemon were busy arranging some of the gifts that he had received in a neat pile.
"Hey Ash, I needed to talk to you about something," a voice spoke from behind him, and he turned around to see a very blushed up Serena smiling at him awkwardly.
Ash returned her smile but knew that he must have looked awkward too. Their conversation on a certain topic at the end of the Kalos league was still fresh in his mind, and he guessed in hers too.
"What is it Serena?" he asked her kindly. He was really happy and grateful about the fact that she had agreed to remain his friend even though he had told her that he didn't returned her romantic feelings. Now he was determined to make their friendship as comfortable as possible for her.
"I had bumped into a friend of yours on the way in. He looked really upset about something and told me to hand over his present to you, because he thought you might not want to take it from him," she looked really worried as she told this to him.
Ash was momentarily stunned. He couldn't understand why any of his friends would think that.
Before he could say anything to Serena, Professor Oak and Tracey arrived on Ash's side looking a little out of breath.
"Ash, have you seen Gary anywhere? He had came to the party but now it feels as though he disappeared in thin air," Tracey told him.
"We searched everywhere but couldn't find him," Professor Oak put in.
"Wait a minute!" Serena suddenly exclaimed making everyone startle a little. She turned the package in her hand and read aloud, "The label says- To Ashy-Boy from Gary Oak. So the person who handed me the present and left the party must be Gary," she concluded.
"Gary left the party? But why?" Tracey wondered.
Ash suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He saw Professor Oak rub his chin thoughtfully. His eyes met Ash's for a few seconds and Ash knew that both of them were thinking the same thing.
"Tracey, did you saw Gary going up the stairs towards Ash's room when we were treating him?" Professor Oak asked his loyal assistant.
"Yes, he was worried about Ash so he had gone to check on him," Tracey told them.
Ash felt shocked and ashamed as he heard this. If Gary had came up to his room and then left the party in anger than that could only mean that he had heard what Ash had said.
Ash had only said those things because the rerun of their match had reminded him of their old rivalry and Gary's old behavior. He hadn't wanted to hurt Gary's feelings.
He took the package from Serena and gently opened it up, even though his mom had told him to open the presents only after the party got over. Inside was a beautiful assortment of various evolutionary stones. Ash wasn't really the type who used stones to evolve his Pokemon but his eyes filled with tears upon seeing the gift.
"Ash, are you alright?" Serena whispered with concern.
"Yeah, it's just that," his voice choked a little as he replied, "I was saying a bunch of horrible things about him while he was buying a gift for me and was worried about me."
Ash cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes as he turned to Professor Oak and said, "I think I should go and apologize to him. He must be feeling really bad and it's all my fault."
Professor Oak put a hand on Ash's shoulder in a consoling manner and said, "Ash look..."
But just then his mom's voice came from the other side of the room, "Sweetie, the cake is ready! Hurry up, your friends are also waiting!"
"Ash, you need to go and cut the cake. As it is, everyone had to do a lot of waiting when you and May had fallen sick," Professor Oak told him.
"But what about Gary?" Ash asked. He couldn't really enjoy a reunion with the knowledge that he had made his very first friend upset.
"Me and Tracey will leave the party early and talk to him once we reach home. You can come over tomorrow and say sorry to him," Professor Oak suggested.
Ash didn't really liked the idea but it seemed like they had no other choice. Serena gave him a comforting smile while Tracey looked confused about the conversation as they made their way over to the other part of the room where Ash's mom and friends were waiting.
Ash noticed that his birthday cake was in the shape of a Pokeball. As he cut a slice of the cake and his friends burst into a chorus of Happy Birthday, Ash's mind went back to another Pokeball which had gotten sliced in half and whose pieces were treasured by him and Gary.
Gary
Gary was busy splashing his face with cold water to remove any and all traces of the fact that he had been crying a couple of hours ago. Umbreon stood beside him on the cold and hard tiles of the bathroom floor, making soft soothing sounds to calm him down.
She and Blastoise had almost immediately came out of their Pokeballs when they had heard him crying. He had managed to convince Blastoise to get inside his Pokeball, or maybe the huge Pokemon returned after he realized he wouldn't fit properly in Gary's room, but Umbreon was adamant about not leaving him until he stopped crying. Gary had simply held her close and let the tears flow freely for a long time until he finally felt that it was enough and he needed to get a grip.
As Gary returned from the bathroom, drying his face with a towel, he heard the doorbell ring. He was a little surprised because he hadn't been expecting his grandfather and Tracey to return for at least another few hours.
As he went to open the door, he saw a faint shadow glide towards his room out of the corner of his eye.
'There's surely a ghost-type Pokemon over here,' he thought to himself.
He decided to find out more about it later and opened the door only to find Professor Oak and Tracey standing in front of him.
"What happened gramps? Why did you two came early from the party?" he asked them curiously.
"We can ask you the same question Gary. Why did you left the party so quickly and that too without telling anyone? Do you have any idea how much we all were worried?" Professor Oak asked him a little sternly.
Gary glared at his grandfather and turned away from the door. He then asked in an accusatory tone, "When you say 'we', are you also including a certain Ash Ketchum who happens to hate me?"
"Gary..." his grandfather's voice was much gentler now but it seemed like he didn't knew what to say.
"Ash doesn't hate you Gary," Tracey spoke in a low voice.
"Yes he does. I heard everything that gramps and others were talking about. They were having a nice little discussion about how I used to behave in the past. Talking behind my back," Gary muttered. His sadness had been replaced by anger now. He couldn't understand why he hadn't just entered Ash's room and said something in his defense.
"Ash was just upset because he was reminded of your old rivalry. He didn't actually meant any of it," Professor Oak tried to explain.
"I saw the look in his eyes when he was speaking. He definitely meant those things," Gary replied angrily and continued, "I can't believe he and his friends said all that. And you agreed with them too! You said I used to be immature!"
"It's the truth Gary," Professor Oak said calmly, "I never said anything to you but you were really immature back then, and so was Ash. Both of you were little kids. And you used to tease him in front of everyone, obviously he would be upset about it."
Gary let out a cry of anguish and frustration and stomped off in his room, slamming the door behind him. He couldn't understand why his grandfather wasn't able to see things his way. He had no other option but to push Ash away from himself back then.
He remembered Ash saying how Gary had never apologized to him. Gary knew if he ever decided to apologize he would have to explain to Ash why he was being rude in the first place. Why he had became so mean and arrogant. There were too many reasons and he was sure that Ash wouldn't find even one of them satisfactory.
"If only I could go back in time and change the past Umbreon, things would be so much different and better," Gary spoke to his beautiful sleek black Pokemon, his eyes closed tightly.
'Do you really want to go back in time and change things?' a voice asked out of nowhere, and Gary snapped his eyes open with a shock.
For a moment he wondered whether Umbreon had spoken to him in human language, but then he saw a bright light in front of him.
The light was radiated by a cute green Pokemon who had bright blue eyes and was hovering in the air a few feet above the floor so that he was at eye-level with Gary.
"Celebi!" Gary gasped. So it wasn't some ghost Pokemon which had been watching their house all day. It was the psychic/grass Pokemon Celebi. The legendary Pokemon who was a guardian of the Ilex forest and who had the power to travel through time. He also realized that Celebi had probably just spoken to him using a psychic link which was a common thing among psychic types.
'I saw that you were really angry and upset baby Oak,' the Pokemon once again spoke through a psychic link.
"Don't call me a baby," Gary said, feeling his pride get a little hurt.
He saw Umbreon looking in confusion from him to Celebi as she couldn't hear what the other Pokemon was saying to Gary.
'You are the grandson of my old friend Samuel Oak, so a baby in my eyes,' Celebi replied with a smile and continued, 'Ever since Sammy and his friends helped me, I have made it a point to visit Pallet town secretly for a few days every year and check whether everyone is fine. I was about to leave today but then I saw you crying and couldn't help revealing my presence,' the Pokemon explained.
"Yeah, I was crying," Gary admitted, "It was because someone I care about a lot hates me because of how I treated them in the past." He was careful not to give away too much of information.
'I heard your conversation with your grandfather. This is about your friend Ash, right? I have met him in the past too. He is a very nice and helpful person. Do you really want to restore your friendship with him?' the legendary Pokemon asked.
"Yes!" Gary exclaimed with as much emphasis as he could put on that word. He could never stress it enough just how important his friendship with Ash was for him.
'Well, then I might be able to help you. By sending you to the past,' Celebi told him.
"Wait, what? Sending me to the past?" Gary had always been curious about time-travel but he couldn't understand how it would help him in this situation, "How will it help to solve my problem?"
The Pokemon looked a little confused upon hearing this question, 'You were talking about going back in time and changing the past, so I thought your problem is something that can be fixed by time-travel.'
Gary remembered that and almost laughed. As much as he would have loved it to be true, his problem wasn't one which could be solved by time-travel. At least, he didn't think so.
"Sorry Celebi, but I really don't think my problem can actually be solved by time-travel. But thanks for the offer," he said to the legendary who now looked slightly disappointed.
'Alright baby Oak, but if you ever change your mind, just remember that I am going to be in the woods surrounding Pallet town for the next few days because I think the trees here still need a lot more work to be done on them. And after that I'll return to the Ilex forest,' Celebi told him.
"I'll remember that," Gary replied.
'It was nice talking to you baby Oak, don't forget to plant trees in your spare time,' with that the legendary Pokemon vanished, giving Umbreon a cheerful smile before disappearing.
Gary continued to stare at the spot from where Celebi had disappeared for the next few seconds. The researcher inside him wanted to quickly make notes of as much information as he could remember about this little encounter. After all, you don't get to meet a legendary Pokemon every day.
He still couldn't believe that Celebi had offered to send him to the past. Gary's curiosity was aroused by the thought of how time-travel would feel and what would be the experience of seeing the past again? He still didn't understood how someone can actually change the past. But after Celebi's proposal the thought refused to leave his mind.
Later when he went to sleep, his dreams became a mixture of Celebi and time-travels and Ash Ketchum shoving birthday cake into his face and yelling 'I hate you!'
Author Note:- So that was the second chapter. Hope you guys liked it! And thanks for those lovely reviews and follow/favs. They are really encouraging. :)
