Chapter One

Leaf

I brush my shoulder length hair as Hélène (who is really Grandma Hélène) calls me from the kitchen downstairs. I stumble into a black tank top and denim shorts and jam my feet into my slip-on sneakers. With one quick glance at the mirror, I grab my white lab coat as I make my way down to the dining table where a milk and cereal breakfast is awaiting me.

"You're not nearly as late" she says, "Is today your last day?"

I nod as I sit down haphazardly, already pouring cereal into the bowl as I adjust myself on to the chair. In many ways, Lady Luck has been too kind; how I go about my day being the klutz that I really am without quite as many mishaps is beyond me.

"I saw that." Hélène murmurs, frowning at first but letting out a small smile almost a second later. She sits across me gracefully, setting aside her reading glasses.

Hélène moved into the family home ever since my mother, Lauren, re-married and moved to the neighboring town. Despite being away from home for so many years travelling and training my Pokémon, and then taking off to pursue a career in research, my mother still feels guilty for falling in love and marrying again. I for one was the happiest, because I really like John Beckett and I can see he really loves my mum.

"Heard the news?" Hélène asks, leaning back on the chair and picking up her glasses to read the paper, "Ash is back today."

"He is?" I ask, smiling "No wonder Professor Oak seemed in high spirits yesterday. It's why I got home so early."

"He'll probably let you off after lunch today." Hélène smirks, "Delia's gotten a huge party planned this evening."

Of course she has. Mrs. Ketchum loves a good homecoming party.

"Well" I say as I scoop up the last bit of cereal in my bowl "I'm pretty much done with the project at the lab here in Pallet Town, and I'm leaving next week for the program in the Advanced Research Center in Unova. I'm so happy that I get to work with Professor Juniper!" I sing happily.

Hélène looks at me in amusement, but I could tell she was very happy for me. I'd spent over a year working with Professor Oak on a project that looked at grass type evolutions and had gotten a glowing recommendation from him as part of my application.

I was almost out of breath as I reached the top of the hill that housed Professor Oak's laboratory. The windmill like structure peeked out of a larger house, where Professor Oak lived (with Gary).

"Morning, Professor Oak!" I sing, causing him to jump a little as he looks up from his notes.

He smiles as he sees me. Behind him, Gary lets out a snort.

"Morning Grumpy Gary" I sing-songed, ensuring that it was annoying. I got a scoff in response.

After graduating from the Advanced Research Centre a couple of years ago, Gary had come back to finish up some research in Pallet, and while he was a quiet, surprisingly affable person to work with, he had been unusually somber the whole summer. I assumed some girl had dumped him, but I wasn't sure of his dating life. Sure, as a teenager he had those cheerleaders follow him around everywhere who disappeared out of the blue. Gary's Redemption. I thought. There was something that had happened to him after that spectacular loss at Indigo Plateau.

"Well, Leaf" Professor Oak says, positively beaming at me, "since we wrapped up the project on grass type evolutions last week, I was just telling Gary we should just wrap up the lab for the next couple of days and leave early for the party tonight."

"Oh" I say, "Hélène said Ash's getting back today, and that Mrs. Ketchum, true to her style is throwing a homecoming party."

"Ashy-boy came back this morning" Gary pips up, and I look to find him frowning. I give him a tight smile in return. Some rivalries never die, do they? I couldn't help but feel a little sad for Gary. It was almost as if he had given up training to do research. I'll admit, he was a brilliant researcher, and his calm, gruff demeanor induced just the right amount of fear in research assistants. In many ways, he reminded me of a younger Professor Rowan.

"Of course." I smirk, "the star of the show needs his beauty sleep." It worked. I got the tiniest of smiles from Gary.

"Anyway," Professor Oak interrupts, "we could just organize and store the files. I don't really feel like doing that particularly boring task today, but since you're leaving next week, I wouldn't want to be calling Aurea for you while you're just getting oriented."

"Sure, Professor Oak." I say, already lifting myself off the stool. Organizing the files wouldn't take me too long- I had already coded them last week.

"And Gary will help you with the files to storage." He says, and clearing his throat, "Is Hélène coming tonight?"

I saw Gary grin from the corner of my eye as I nodded. This whole summer I've witnessed an odd romantic tension between Professor Oak and Hélène. As far as I know, Hélène has always been a free spirit (her words, not mine), and since Mrs. Oak died over a decade ago, Professor Oak hasn't indulged in much of a love life. I smile mischievously.

"So," Gary begins, breaking the still silence in the underground storage room "Professor Juniper eh?"

"Isn't she the best?" I smile, happy.

"It's no surprise she picked you. You've got that energy and enthusiasm."

Part of Gary's redemption was also being nicer to people generally. Over the summer, Gary and I had formed a cordial friendship, and he had begun to look out for me. He had reviewed my applications to the research center and conducted many mock interviews before I made the two-day trip to Unova to face Professor Rowan's drilling entrance exam. He had become a sort of a professional mentor to me.

"I had Rowan." He continues. I laugh.

"What?"

"You're so Professor Rowan-like" I say. "Gruff."

"Anyway," he says, picking up the last pile of folders, "you'll be great. I'm sure."

"Gee, thanks, Gary. What was your thesis on?"

And then he smiled, and I realized it was a rare smile because his eyes lit up with a tiny sparkle. "Eevee Evolution"

"Easy guess. Umm, Gary?"

"umm?"

"Why'd you leave training?"

I could see that it affected him. He shifted slightly, as if I had hit him with a ton of bricks.

"I mean," I say, trying to soften the blow, "Did you always know that you wanted to do research?"

"Your first question was fine." He says, his voice sounding rough, "Training wasn't really the same, after a point. Especially after Indigo Plateau."

"But you won after!" I reasoned.

"I did." He studied me for a moment, "but it felt hollow."

"I get it. I felt that way too."

"Maybe it was the way I had started the journey," he continues, in a rare instance of being slightly chatty, "sometimes victory cuts far deeper than loss."

Who knew that Gary's redemption also had a healthy dose on the philosophy of life?

"I get it." I spoke up, after a strange, yet comfortable silence. "My entire Pokémon journey was so lonely, that I started feeling that somehow this wasn't what I was meant to do, you know?"

He nodded silently.

"So.." I began, hoping to lighten the mood, "Does Grampa Oak have the hots for Hélène?"

He laughed, a real, free laugh this time. "You've noticed now?"

"Maybe he's shy." I reason. "Hélène can be.."

"Intimidating?" he offers, "you know how Gramps is. He is careful, almost too much."

Like you? I almost felt myself asking.

Gosh. This place is crowded. I wade through the mass of people that were currently occupying Mrs. Ketchum's backyard. Does Ash really know all these people?

As I scan the party, I realize that I had dressed just right for the occasion. I wasn't a shabby dresser, but I didn't really care too much. As Hélène puts it, my simple summer dress ensured that I blended into this crowd of people.

"This is rave" I say to Gary, who is standing beside me as we try to navigate a way to find Ash, "I feel short."

"What?" Gary shouts, over the noise, as he looks down to me. I wasn't that much shorter than he was (alright half a foot maybe) but given the number of leggy beautiful model-like women I felt like a kid at an adult party.

I elbow Gary as I spot Professor Oak and Hélène chatting in a corner. Well that could also be because they're the only people over fifty at this party. I finally see a black head of hair.

"Oh finally!" I exclaim as I grab Gary's hand and stride purposefully before Ash disappeared amidst another mass of leggy models.

"Ash!" I scream at the top of my lungs, and he turned around, following the sound of my voice, frowning as he fails to recognize who I was "Gary?"

"It's Leaf!" I say, as I notice a beautiful auburn-haired woman next to him.

"Wow!" Ash exclaims, his eyebrows shooting upward as his face shows traces of recognition. Had I really changed that much? I did cut my hair much shorter. But I was a full five years younger than Ash and Gary, and I don't even remember the last time Ash had seen me.

I felt Gary's hand stiffen in mine, as I faced the girl next to Ash. She looked so familiar, but I couldn't place where I had seen her before.

"This is Misty, my girlfriend." Ash says, gesturing to her.

"Waterflower?" I ask, finally recognizing her as one of the gym leaders of the Cerulean Gym. Hélène had a story of how the Waterflower women were always renowned for their beauty, and I could see why.

"The very same." Misty answers, in a soft voice, "Hi, Gary." She looks at him, kindly, almost apologetically.

"Misty." Gary manages, gruffly, but when I turn to look at him, it hits me.

It is written all over his face.

"Leaf!" Mrs. Ketchum interrupts, thankfully I would think, preventing any uncomfortable moments that might have unfolded, "You haven't tried my truffle pudding yet!"

I stifle a yawn as I wait for Hélène to finish gushing with Mrs. Ketchum, with Professor Oak smiling broadly. I could see that he was proud. It made me smile.

"They're going to take a while." a voice interrupts my thoughts, as I spin around to find Gary leaning by the front door of the Ketchum household. "We should probably go. I can walk you home."

I realize how fit he is, right at that moment. I wanted to snort at myself for observing Gary Oak's attractiveness. And yet, I knew it was never lost on me that Gary was always attractive. He had been good-looking for as long as I remember; but most of it was engulfed in his arrogant persona. Now that the arrogance had mellowed, I realized how handsome he really was.

I nodded, as I began to make my way out of the Ketchums' front lawn. We walked in silence for a few moments, my mind spinning. We were friends, right? Or was he just some older professional mentor?

In the end, my curiosity won over.

"Gary," I begin, "How long have you been in love with Misty Waterflower?"

He stops, but only for a brief moment. He chuckles softly to my utter surprise.

"Gramps said you were far too perceptive. I see that now."

"Does.." I pause, "Does she know?"

I remember how mum struggled for years with falling in love again. I can see she's just coming to terms with the fact that she is really loved; considered the best by one's partner. The first person to share with, the first person to confide in.

He nods. "It was soon after I won the Indigo Plateau championship."

"That was five years ago!" I exclaim, and then chastise myself for being so thoughtless. Everything made so much more sense to me. Ash and Gary's rivalry, and now a girl in the mix. But, even with knowing how Gary felt, I couldn't help but think that Misty and Ash just belonged together. She was not just his oldest travelling partner, but his closest friend. While I hadn't particularly paid attention at the time, in hindsight, the way Delia gushed about her. The way she held his hand during the party tonight.

Jeez. Professor Oak is right. Maybe I'm too perceptive for my own good.

Turning my thoughts back to Gary, I squeeze his hand. "That sucks."

He looks at me in surprise.

It was my turn to be surprised. "Why?" I ask, "It's incredulous, it really sucks to be in love with someone who's in love with someone else!"

He nods, slowly. "It does."

He looked so sad that, out of impulse, I walked over and hugged him.

"Hélène is a big believer in the healing power of hugs" I reason, "but you know…." I stop. There's a long awkward pause. It's as if I've broken some unknown rule, by asking him this raw, personal question.

"You'll be great in Unova, Leaf" he finally breaks the silence, as we reach my house. "And this.. you won't?"

"Misty who?"

He gives me a small smile, and with a gentle wave he goes off towards the hill.