"Shell Slide!"
Blastoise grunted as his thick shell slammed into the girl's Meganium. The quadruped cried as it crashed to its side and laid still - not much could stay standing after a direct hit from Blastoise. Not much besides Ash's Nidoking, anyway. He scowled at the memories of his loss and folded his arms as the girl sighed and returned her friend.
"Not even a scratch," Gary sneered, an insult to the girl and compliment to his starter. Blastoise huffed and slowly made his way to stand by his trainer's side. He spared the water-type a nod before he stared down at his "opponent". "Pay up."
"That's not fair! How are you this strong?" The sad excuse for a trainer whined and stamped her foot. It reminded him of Jonathan's tantrums after he got stomped into the dirt. By Gary, anyways. They'd all lost so many times to Ash it didn't garner much of a reaction anymore.
It was just one of those certainties in life. Gramps spent too much time in his lab. Daisy never came home. Ms. Ketchum was too nice for her own good. Ash kicked ass.
He rolled his eyes when he realized the girl was still on some stupid tirade. "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"
"Yes! You didn't tell me you were Conference-level!" The loser huffed. "If I'd known I never would've bet anything on this."
"I'd have beaten you if the big guy was still a Squirtle," he smirked. Blastoise nodded sagely beside him. "You're an amateur."
She scowled. Heh, too easy. "I've been training for three years! I'm not an amateur. I even managed to get Pryce's badge last year."
"I got it my first week in Johto," Gary said breezily. He fought back a grin at the way the girl's face fell. "Fact is, Blastoise here just took down four members of your team without breaking a sweat. So you're either an amateur or just weak. Which is it?"
The loser had nothing to say to that. He snickered. "That's what I thought."
Her face went red and puffy but she didn't try anything. Smart girl. She turned to leave and Gary arched an eyebrow. "You're forgetting something."
She didn't turn to face him. Gary rolled his eyes. Ugh, another one of these? Talk about sore losers. If she didn't want to pay up she should have been better than him. It wasn't a complicated system. Her own fault, really.
"Don't take another step," Gary warned. Blastoise grumbled and lumbered forward a few feet, just enough that the girl knew he wasn't messing around. "Hit the freakin' button and confirm that you lost. If you don't, I've got your Trainer ID and one of the new Elite Four on speed dial. I bet he'd love to hear about someone trying to Sneasel out of a bet. Not the most forgiving guy."
"Bullshit!" The loser spat back. Heh, that always got a reaction. "Like someone like you would know a member of the Elite Four!"
He laughed. What an idiot. "Someone like me? I'm Gary Oak!" He boasted. The girl winced and looked at him in a new light. Good. Looked like he'd already started to leave an impression on these wimps from Johto. By the time he had the Silver Cup in his hands the whole region would know him. Let alone when he grabbed the Indigo Cup
Turns out that was all he needed. The loser looked miserable as she confirmed his win on her PokeGear and stormed off into the woods.
"Smell ya later, amateur!" Gary called out after her. She flipped him off.
He cackled and turned back towards Violet City - it was getting late and there was no freaking way he was going to sleep outside when there was a warm bed waiting for him.
XX
"Good girl!" Gary grinned as Umbreon finished her berries and stretched out on the bed of the Pokemon Center. Her rings pulsed luminescently, a brilliant gold in the dark of the room. The Center was on the edges of the city, so there wasn't quite enough light pollution to be a pain in the ass. Umbreon and Clefable always preferred true darkness, lit only by the moon and stars.
He stroked her sleek fur as he stared up at the ceiling, the fan swinging in lazy circles above his head. There was a sort of simple peace in it. Sitting with his friend, brushed by the air that was way too freaking cold for July, alone with his thoughts, and this was so boring it was driving him crazy.
"Let's go," he directed to the dark-type, who'd already leapt to her feet and landed on the floor with uncanny grace. She looked expectantly back at him - she knew him too well. Gary got the sense she was laughing at him. "Yeah, yeah. I know I have crappy sleep habits," Gary grumbled. "I've got nothing on Gramps, though."
The great Professor Samuel Oak's shitty sleep schedule was the stuff of legend in Kanto. From what he'd heard the man had always been obsessed with his work and his projects. Sleepless nights were the norm, and when he was a kid there'd been days at a time where the only time he'd see the Professor would be when he visited the lab. It wasn't so bad before he was born, apparently.
He'd find the Professor hunched over his work - especially that weird purple pokeball he was constantly tinkering with - with his eyes ringed black and bloodshot with manic exhaustion. There'd been a few times where he had to bring some lunch (Ms. Ketchum would usually bring him something from her cafe) and sit with the old man for a few minutes, especially after Daisy left.
His lip curled at the thought of his sister, even if his scowl loosened just a tad when Umbreon brushed up against his leg as they walked out of the Center into the cold air of Violet. It was a pretty crappy city, honestly. Not like Saffron or Celadon, or even Goldenrod. Tiny, insignificant, and even its Gym Leader was weak. Falkner was a joke. Cocky prick thought he was hot shit because he was the best trainer in Violet. That was like saying your Rattata was in the top percentage of Rattata. Gary snorted at the memory of that kid outside Cherrygrove. Kid had guts trying to take on Scizor with a Rattata, but that didn't mean he wasn't an idiot.
Gary jerked as a tiny pink hand tugged at his pants, only to relax as he saw Clefable down at his side. The cheerful little creature grinned up at him and he found himself smiling back despite himself. Clefable could always cheer him up - sometimes he was paranoid that she was using some of her abilities on him, then she'd sent a bright smile his way or do a little dance and he'd put it out of mind.
The silence was nice, but mostly because it wasn't a boring silence. He had more to entertain him than the freaking ceiling fan. Rattata scrounging for scraps in every alley and corner, a few Murkrow trying to break into a shop and another edging closer and closer to a Hoothoot munching on some feed. Gary even grinned at a Misdreavus that had inched closer and closer, its body faded out of this dimension in an attempt to sneak up on him, only to shriek and flee at the sight of Umbreon's rings, which flashed dangerously.
Heh, stupid ghost got what it deserved. It was just lucky he was here to scratch Umbreon's ears. If she was on her own she probably would've stalked the ghost through the city streets until she had the chance to devour it. Dark-types could get addicted to that little boost eating a ghost could give them. Enhanced their abilities ever so slightly.
He grinned as a couple holding hands was forced to part as he walked straight between them on the street, Umbreon's rings a bright deterrent in the night. Her species had a reputation for being relatively calm and relaxed for dark-types, but that didn't mean people didn't fear her. It was pretty convenient. Stupid people would keep out his way and he was fine with that.
Thoughts of Daisy returned and Gary stuffed his hands into his pocket. Clefable whined at him but for once it wasn't enough to jerk him out of his bad mood. How the hell had Ash seen Daisy before him? She'd sent him one of the Feebas she found beneath Mt. Coronet (why she wanted to go to that freaky place was anyone's guess) and sure, that was great, but it had just been a transfer. It had been years since she'd stopped in Pallet. Even her other visits had only been a few hours.
And then Ash just went down to Hoenn and ran around with her. He'd mentioned it in some of their messages and hadn't seen a problem with it. Of course he hadn't. Ash was Ash. Even if he realized how weird it all was he wouldn't think about anything unless it involved training or any of the other crazy stuff he found himself caught up in.
A bitter taste filled his mouth. He lightly rubbed the soft, short fur that covered Clefable's rubbery skin. She was getting agitated - she was always sensitive to how him and the rest of the team were feeling.
How was Ash so lucky? Ms. Ketchum for a mom. Gramps loved him like he was an Oak. Daisy apparently thought he was worth traveling with. That wasn't even going into the rest of the bullshit.
He was Gary Oak. Grandson of Samuel Oak, Pokemon Professor and former Champion and the most respected man in Kanto. Brother of Daisy Oak, Coordinator Champion. The Oak genius ran strong in him, everyone said so. Training magazines had interviewed him less than three months into his journey. He'd made it to the Top 8 of the Indigo Conference as a rookie! That was the same as the Dragon Master himself.
Everyone in Indigo knew exactly who he was. Greatness was his birthright, laced into his blood.
And Ash still burned brighter. Always a step ahead. By the time Gary had reached for the stars, he'd found Ash there with a scowl on his face and a pokeball in hand.
Born to no legacy, yet he'd already clawed his way to one. Gary had made it to the Top 8 and reached a fable rank up there with Champion Lance. Ash not only put him out of the Conference, he made history as the first rookie finalist to the acclaim of the whole world. The guy probably didn't even know how famous he'd become - his face wasn't everywhere yet, but you couldn't open a training magazine or channel without seeing his name somewhere. They said he was the next Champion for sure.
He was already a trainee in the Elite Four after a single year. Nothing Gary could do would compete to that. Not as a trainer. Ash had left him in the dust.
And that was before all this crap with Greenfield and whatever had happened back when they were all in Pallet! Gary didn't know what happened out there, but he knew it was bad and that Ash was out in the middle of it. He always was, somehow. Not only was Ash better, he even made Gary worry about him during that kind of stupid shit. Why couldn't his rival just be normal? Why did he have to be the best? Breaking records, making history, getting involved in whatever weird, dangerous crap was going on in the world…
Clefable and Umbreon grounded him as he stewed in his thoughts, and it was a long time that they spent wandering this crappy little backwater town. If it weren't for his friends steering him he'd probably have walked into a wall or something stupid like that.
His PokeGear dinged. Gary blinked - who else was up this late? Gramps, Daisy, and...
He rolled his eyes. Ash, of course. It looked like he'd left Ecruteak that day and was on the road now. Some news report or something. He'd have to check that out in the morning. Anything that left Ash that rattled was worth looking into.
Despite himself, Gary smiled as he read the message from his friend.
A/N: Here it is! I'm excited to do a Gary chapter. I've planned it for a long time, even before the P at reon poll a month or two ago! This felt like the perfect time with the Pallet Four meeting up again soon, and I really can't wait to show that along with everything else planned for the next chapter.
I'll go ahead and say that this was really fun to write. Gary's always been a favorite and it's been a great time getting a chance to show his psychology and complicated feelings as well as a few hints into his relationships. I really hope everyone enjoyed! The next few Recollections chapters will probably include Daisy and Wes, but I'll also include some other results from the poll depending on when I have the inspiration!
Thanks so much for reading. I hope everyone enjoyed!
