Disclaimer:- I don't own Pokemon


Chapter 9- Arrival of Trouble

Gary:-

Gary Oak was studying a pair of Nidoran when he heard the doorbell ring. Today was the day when his parents were going to arrive. He saw May Oak and his younger-self rush past him to open the door.

Gary stood rooted to the spot for a few minutes, feeling extremely nervous. Then finally making up his mind he went outside, all the while trying to work up some confidence inside him.

He saw Professor Oak, May and his younger-self talking to someone at the door. They were blocking his view but when they finally stepped away, he saw his parents for the first time in many years.

Gary hadn't really cried when he had heard the news of his parents' death. The shock and grief had been beyond tears and he had just gone completely numb for days. He remembered not eating anything properly and not talking to people for weeks after hearing about the incident.

So now when he saw his parents smiling and happily chatting with his younger-self and the rest of his family he felt both happy and sad at the same time.

"And this must be your new assistant," his dad remarked upon noticing Gary, "Are you enjoying your work over here?"

"Wha-" Gary was momentarily startled upon being addressed by his dad, but he quickly regained his composure and replied, "Yes, of course. I am enjoying working over here."

"Glad to hear that! I am Spencer Oak by the way. You must have heard about me, everyone knows me as the soon-to-be greatest Pokemon researcher," he replied with a confident smirk.

Gary almost grinned upon hearing that. He had always known that he had inherited his attitude from his father but it was nice to see more proof in support of that theory.

"And what about me and your father?" his mom asked his dad.

"You two are runner-ups but no one can beat me in Pokemon researching," his dad replied, his smirk growing wider. Gary's mother simply rolled her eyes upon hearing that. Gary knew that she and Professor Oak were by now used to his dad's egoistical behavior.

"Honestly dad , you need to tone down that ego of yours," May spoke with a chuckle and then suggested, "The two of you should go and rest for some time. You have had a long journey."

"That's right, we should take some rest," his mother agreed.

"Castor didn't came with you then?" Professor Oak asked looking hopeful.

"Actually, he and his assistants had some urgent work to do. But they'll be coming soon," his mom told Professor Oak.

"Oh, I was hoping that perhaps he had changed his plans," Professor Oak spoke sounding dejected.

"You'll have to face him father. Not all of us can hide from our rivals forever," Gary's dad said to Professor Oak, who just shook his head upon hearing that.

Gary wondered whatever it meant. Was this Professor Castor a rival of Professor Oak's? And what did his dad meant by saying that not everyone can hide from their rivals forever.

He saw his parents going towards their room and was thinking of following them to find out their exact research location in Johto, but then he noticed May and his younger-self following his parents to their room. It was going to be a tough task to talk to them when no one was watching, because as far as Gary remembered, he and his sister never left their parents alone whenever they came home on little breaks.

Gary saw Professor Oak smile in a contented manner, clearly looking happy about seeing the whole family together again. Gary was glad about that Professor Castor not arriving yet to disrupt his grandfather's mood. Although, he wondered where that Castor person could be.

Just then the doorbell rang again. Gary saw his grandfather tense up and frown. With a sharp glare towards the door he went to open it.

However, when the door was opened Gary saw Ash's friend May standing outside the door. She smiled at Professor Oak and said, "Nice to meet you, Professor Oak. I am Maria Sapphirestone, a Pokemon Coordinator from the Hoenn region. I heard you were looking for a coordinator for your summer camp?"

"Wha-? Oh yes, I was looking for a coordinator. Please come inside," Professor Oak replied looking slightly confused. Gary knew he had been expecting Castor.

Gary glared at May as she passed him inside the living room but she merely smiled back at him. He was sure that this was one of Ash's plans. He didn't knew why Ash and his friends wanted to interrupt when he was going to do something really important.

He angrily returned back to his room not wanting to know whether May got the job or not.

But a few minutes later he heard a loud commotion from the living room. Feeling alarmed he ran outside only to find his father shouting something along the lines of, "A young brat and his Pikachu are attacking Professor Castor! We need to stop them immediately! I saw them just now from my window!"

"Calm down Spencer," his mom said as she came running behind him.

"What happened?" Gary asked weakly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Ash's friend May was looking pale and terrified.

"A boy was attacking my boss. We need to stop him immediately!," Spencer Oak told him and rushed out of the door. His mother followed him with a Pokeball ready in her hand.

"Let's go and see what the matter is," Professor Oak muttered and went outside. Gary followed him feeling both worried about and angry towards Ash Ketchum.


Ash:-

Earlier that day, Ash and May had been making their way up to Professor Oak's house. Ash obviously was covered in a thick layer of make-up.

"Do you think we are doing the right thing Ash?" May asked him looking doubtful.

"Yes, besides Gary himself had said that we should try out for the trainer and coordinator posts at the summer-camp," Ash replied.

"Not about that one. I meant about spying on this Castor person," May told him.

"Of course that's right, we can't let him hurt any more Pokemon!" Ash answered stubbornly.

"It won't affect Gary's plans though, right?" May asked him.

"No it won't. I don't understand why he felt that we were going to meddle with his plans," Ash wondered aloud.

Just then Ash and May saw a group of five people hurry up towards Professor Oak's house. May peered a little for better look and asked him, "Are his parents in that group?"

Ash had seen Gary's parents only once and that too from a distance, so he replied, "I can't be sure May. I haven't really-" but he stopped in mid-sentence as his eyes caught three faces in the group which he recognized clearly from the night when the shipwreck had happened.

"That's him May. The Castor guy and his assistants," Ash whispered to her. He saw Cleffa trembling in her arms at the sight of them.

"Don't worry Cleffa, they can't hurt you over here," May said and tried to calm down her Pokemon. Suddenly she grabbed Ash's sleeve and said, "Look Ash, they are separating! Three of them are staying behind and only the other two are going towards the house."

"Castor and his assistants have stayed back for some reason. The ones going inside must be Gary's parents. Dunno what's going on," Ash muttered.

"Should we follow them?" May asked him.

Ash looked at her Cleffa. There were chances that Cleffa might get really scared in the presence of Castor and somehow expose them.

"I think you and Cleffa should go and apply for the job May. I'll keep a watch on what Castor and his assistants are doing," Ash told her.

"Okay, but take care and don't do anything silly," May advised him. They exchanged a smile and then May went towards Professor Oak's house.

Ash followed Castor and his group behind Professor Oak's lab. He saw one of the assistants take out a small Pokeball from his pocket while the other assistant scolded him,

"What do you mean he is still not obeying our instructions properly, Keaton?! I thought you were supposed to train him?"

"I was training him," the guy named Keaton replied, "But something went wrong. It was the same thing that had happened with the Cleffa and the Eevees. Our potion is just not working on him!"

"I have already lost three Pokemon, I can't lose another one," Castor spoke in a sinister sounding voice, "I might have to use force on this one," he muttered and took out a Pokeball.

"Go Dusknoir," he spoke in a calm tone.

Ash then saw Keaton release a small Honedge from his Pokeball. The Honedge look scared and traumatized, just the way Cleffa and the Eevees had been looking.

"If the Honedge is not obeying us in spite of administering the potion to him then I think it's time to use some force," Castor muttered darkly and said, "Dusknoir use shadowpunch," he instructed his Pokemon.

The Honedge was too weak and tired to fight back or even dodge. He got badly hurt by Dusknoir's attack.

"Alright Dusknoir, now use-"

But before Castor could issue out his order Ash stepped forward and yelled, "No, you can't hurt him! Pikachu go!"

"Who are you? And why exactly are you interrupting our work?" Keaton asked him angrily.

"I have seen enough of you and your Professor trying to hurt innocent Pokemon. I won't stand any more of it!" Ash told them angrily.

"Boy, do you seriously think you can stop Professor Castor," his other assistant asked him.

"Watch me," Ash replied, and then commanded, "Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"

Pikachu sent a huge jolt of electricity in the direction of the Dusknoir but it didn't affected the Pokemon.

"Dusknoir, use Shadow Ball," Castor commanded his Pokemon.

"Dodge it, Pikachu!" Ash yelled at him. Pikachu barely managed to dodge the shadow ball.

"Now, use electro ball!" Ash instructed Pikachu.

"Dogde it and use Shadow ball!" Castor ordered his Dusknoir. This time Dusknoir's attack slightly hurt Pikachu but not enough to deal major damage.

"Are you alright, Pikachu?" Ash asked his trusted and loyal companion.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied confidently.

"Alright then, use Iron tail!" Ash told him.

Pikachu got ready to use the iron-tail move. His tail glowed and he was in mid-jump when they all heard a noise from above them.

"What's going on?" a man with spiky auburn hair that greatly resembled Gary's had stuck his head out of a window and was shouting at them.

"Ah, nice to see you Spencer. This young man over here was giving me some difficulties," Castor told him in a smooth tone.

"No I wasn't! You were the one who were attacking Honedge!" Ash replied back angrily.

"Be careful young man. You are accusing our Professor when he is completely innocent," Professor Castor's other assistant glared at Ash with her sharp grey eyes.

"Wait a minute, was this young man attacking you Professor Castor?" the man named Spencer asked Castor in a worried tone.

"Yes he was attacking me and falsely accusing me of attacking my own Pokemon," Castor spoke in a feigned innocent tone.

"Just wait a minute Professor, me and Beth are coming down immediately," with that the man disappeared from the window.

"You have no idea how much trouble you are about to face boy," Castor growled at him.

"Oh shut up, I know everything! How you had tried to drown the Cleffa and the Eevees. And I saw what you were doing to the Honedge too," Ash replied feeling stubborn and indignant. He was not going to be intimidated by a guy like Professor Castor. He had seen much worse.

"Wait, how does he know about the Eevees and the Cleffa? I thought no one was watching us at that time," his other assistant spoke.

"It doesn't matter Kara. He doesn't have any proof. I would love to see how he convinces everyone else. No one will ever believe him," Castor spoke, eyeing Ash with a look of pure loathing.

"You can't be so sure that I don't have any proof-" Ash began but stopped when he saw the man named Spencer hurrying towards them. He was followed by a woman who had dark green eyes that reminded him of Gary. He realized with a jolt that they were Gary's parents.

He then saw a slightly younger looking Professor Oak follow them. Behind him was a nervous looking May Maple who glanced at Ash, her eyes filled with worry. The last one to come outside was Gary himself, who glared at Ash the moment their eyes met. Ash felt a deep hollowness within him, something inside him broke the moment Gary looked away from him.


Gary:-

Gary couldn't believe this. He had no idea why Ash had to interrupt and ruin everything. What if his parents decided to immediately leave for Johto now? He wouldn't be able to stop them and it would be Ash's fault if anything happened to them.

He heard Professor Oak ask in a cold tone, "What's going on Jason? I didn't knew you would start problems the moment you arrived over here." Gary didn't knew that his grandfather was on first-name terms with Professor Castor.

"It's not Professor Castor's fault father. This boy had been attacking him with his Pikachu," Gary's dad immediately told Professor Oak.

"That's not true! I saw Professor Castor attacking Honedge so I stepped in to save him," Ash explained.

Gary turned to look at Honedge and noticed that it was indeed looking injured and scared. There was also a noticeable terror in its eyes similar to the terror which he had seen in Cleffa's eyes.

Apparently Professor Oak noticed Honedge's condition too. For he asked Castor, "This Honedge is looking really injured Jason. What were you doing to him?"

"He is my Pokemon, I was only giving him some extra training. This boy misunderstood my intentions," Castor spoke.

"Sometimes Professor Castor has to give extra training to some of his Pokemon. But they are completely healed later on," Gary's mother spoke.

"Yes, he never hurts the Pokemon to the point that it would get serious," Gary's father told them.

One look at the Honedge told Gary that this was clearly not true. He had no idea why his parents trusted Professor Castor so much.

But right now Gary just wanted to get over with the situation. He didn't wanted there to be any arguments or anything else that might force his parents to leave.

So he quietly walked up to May and whispered to her, "I think we need to sort out this situation. Can you tell them that Ash is your friend and he just made a misunderstanding?"

"That's a good idea," May replied.

She walked forwards and said, "Sorry everyone, actually this is my friend Tom Redheart from Hoenn region. He is a Pokemon trainer and he is very touchy about anyone training their Pokemon too harshly. It was just a big misunderstanding on his part and I apologize on his behalf."

Castor glared at the whimpering Cleffa in her arms and said, "Your friend, I see."

"Oh that's fine Maria. Such misunderstandings do happen," Professor Oak replied good-naturedly, "I am sure your friend Tom only had Honedge's best interests at heart."

"Yes that's true," Ash muttered looking confused by the sudden turn of events.

"I am going to be a little busy now, I'll give you the details of the summer-camp later on," Professor Oak told her.

"That's fine Professor Oak. And I am sorry again for Tom's misunderstanding," May replied. She then grabbed Ash's hand and almost dragged him away from the scene.

"Well, that got sorted out quickly," Gary's dad muttered.

"He was just some random Pokemon trainer. I guess we should drop the matter now," Professor Castor suggested. But Gary noticed how he had fixed Ash and May's retreating backs with a shrewd glare.

"We will drop the matter after the Honedge is healed," Professor Oak said and scooped up the little Pokemon in his arms.

"I was going to heal him anyways Samuel. You are unnecessarily making a big deal of nothing," Castor spoke.

"Well, then you won't have any problem with me healing him, right?" Professor Oak asked him, and before he could reply Oak turned his back and walked towards the lab with the Honedge in his arms.

"Don't worry Professor Castor, father will heal the Honedge properly," Gary's dad told him.

"Yeah, that's a good thing," Professor Castor spoke in a tone which made Gary suspect he didn't think it was a good thing at all.

Later that day, Gary returned to his room and thought about the day's happenings for a while. He could tell that this Professor Castor was a fishy person and needed to be exposed soon. He also knew that he needed to talk to his parents before that, so that once they were safely out of the way he would be able to help Ash and others in finding out more about Castor and whatever he was doing to the Pokemon.

Gary tossed a Pokeball and smiled a little as Umbreon came outside.

"I am going to do something extremely important Umbreon. Wish me luck," he said as he gathered all the data he had obtained about the oncoming earthquake.

"Umbreon!" the Pokemon said in an encouraging tone.

Gary gently patted her. His face was set in a firm line. He knew what he had to do and he was ready to do it.


Author Note:- This was one really difficult chapter to write. *sighs tiredly* Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it. And if you have any suggestions then feel free to tell them. :)