A/N:
Okay, so as you might have noticed, there will be two parts to this chapter since it was so long I had to split it up. Anyways, I also wanted to inform you that I am writing another story which unfortunately isn't amourshipping but, I'm planning on entering it for this years Pokemon Watties. I will be posting the first chapter as a preview and the rest later on in the year (still have to write most of them). If you like horror, you should certainly check it out. I'd like it if you guys could give me feed back cause I want it to be as good as possible for the competition! Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
"Ashy-boy? Is that you?" A strangely familiar voice called. It wasn't a voice I expected to hear in this region and it didn't quite fit. The sound sent a jolt of nostalgia coursing through my body. This voice, it wasn't meant to be here.
No-- he couldn't be here.
Within a fraction of a second, I found myself spinning on the balls of my feet in order to find the source of this voice. Amongst the puddles of people pondering about the town square, stood a bronze haired boy. One with a familiar face. One I had known for far to long. It had been years since our last encounter, many other things had tangled around our schedules and pulled us separate ways.
But he hadn't changed a bit.
Gary's hair was still disheveled and spiked, sweeping over his head like the ocean waves across the Ambrette shore. My old friend--or rival, shall I put it-- wore sagged purple trousers and skin hugging black tee, just the way I had seen him in Sinnoh. The small frayed necklace he wore still bared upon his chest, only showing minor signs of aging. The malicious smirk he always seemed to possess pined the corners of his lips to the center of his cheeks as his bark eyes landed upon me.
"Gary?" I questioned, though the answer was obvious. He was here-- standing lopsided in from of me.
"The one and only." He replied, gliding his hands into his trouser pockets and beginning the short journey towards our huddle. "Long time no see, Ash. And Pikachu for that matter."
"Pika, Pikachu!" The yellow mouse greeted with a gentle nod. He clearly recognized the brunette.
"What are you doing here?" I spoke, stunned beyond simple movement. Gary's placement was so careless, as if this encounter didn't come as much of a shock. But, I guess, that's Gary for you.
"I could ask you the same question." The bronze haired boy shrugged, dimples arising on his cheeks alongside a widening grin.
"I asked first." I deadpanned, desperately fishing for an answer. An airy chuckle left Gary's lips, signifying that he had just being messing with me. Classic.
"Short story: Gramps wanted in on the whole mega-evolution trend and sent me to do his bidding. Long story: I'm in Kalos as apart of a research experience program, helping professor Sycamore to further his knowledge on mega-evolution. Currently I'm visiting this town in order to study Gyarados, which is a Pokemon that can mega-evolve. Apparently, there have been some sightings of them out here recently." My old rival informed, looking rather pleased with himself. This, however, sent an abrupt shudder down my spine, shaking every vertebrae with haunting memories. I had dealt my fair share with Mega-Gyarados.
I was about to respond but was cut short by one of the girls, who cleared her throat with a loud emphasis, capturing mine and Gary's attention. His eyes flickered over to the pair. Hungry for more explanation, he drank in their presence, vision raking over each carefully. Instinctively, I inched closer to Serena, feeling strangely uncomfortable by the way Gary studied her. It was a gut wrenching emotion that tugged at my conscience, governing my actions like a puppet on strings. His look wasn't lustful or hungry, not in the slightest, I just didn't like it.
"Ash, care to explain the current situation?" Elaina spoke up, drawing Gary's gaze to her. My old rival grinned at the question, eager to introduce himself.
"Pardon my manners. Hello, I'm the one and only, Gary Oak." He held out a hand for her to shake. The golden haired girl stared at the gesture, perplexed. After a slight hesitation, she took his grasp in her significantly smaller hand.
"Nice to meet you." Elaina said slowly, as if choosing her words with precaution. A response to Gary would definitely challenge her impulsive state of mind. "Your majesty." She decided on sarcasm, by the sound of it.
"And your name?" The mahogany haired boy questioned, curiosity carving small creases into his forehead.
"Elaina." Gary dwelled on it for a few seconds. However, within too short a moment, he became disinterested and averted his attention to Serena and I. As if it were possible, the vast grin across his lips widened upon the sight of us, inched into each others personal space.
"And yours?" He questioned, gaze fixated on Serena with a teasing edge crawling beneath his skin.
"I'm Serena. It's a pleasure to meet you, but, how exactly do you and Ash know each other?" The honey blonde countered, giving Gary a questioning look that he clearly disapproved of.
"That's a long story. However, to put it short, we're neighbors in Pallet Town. Old rivals, really." He responded with a shrug, expression briefly becoming genuine as he remembered our rivalry days.
"Really? What a coincidence. Ash never told me." Serena stated, giving me provocative look and gently nudging my side. A sheepishness secreted from my body in lengthy waves, easily reaching Gary who grinned at my uneasiness.
"That's a shame. Is there anything els you haven't told her, Ash?" He teased, mischief laced through every breathing word.
"No." I said with too much haste. It was rushed and abrupt. And I wasn't sure if it was true or not. "Why don't we get going to the hotel, like we said we would."
"Well, if it gets us out of this situation, then yes please." Elaina intervened, noticing that the gradual rise in tension had just about bubbled over a healthy level.
"I'll come with you!" Gary exclaimed, almost causing me to curse under the hem of my upper lip.
"So Gary, are you going to be watching the master class performance tomorrow?" Serena pondered as we began walking towards our destination. Gary happily engaged in conversation, leaving Elaina and I a few paces behind.
"Old rivals, huh?" She raised a blonde eyebrow while watching the backs of the pair with an equality of focus.
"Yep." I answered, popping the 'p' and allowing a sigh to swallow the last of the syllable.
"Seems more like two little boys who didn't get the same sized slices of cake at a birthday party to me." The new trainer blamed.
"Nice analogy but I'm really not in the mood." I said bitterly, making her jerk slightly. She muttered something under her breath that drifted away with the wind, not making contact with my eardrums.
"Lighten up..." Elaina collected herself, crawling back into the witted and short-temped girl I knew. "Ashy-boy"
Oh great. Just when I thought she had given up on the nick name 'Ketchum' she had now been crossed with a new idea, introduced by none other than the notorious Gary Oak.
Elaina left me, jogging up to the duo and joining their conversation. Several minutes passed while I trailed aimlessly behind before Gary excused himself to fall in step with me. I looked at the boy with a bland expression, not exactly sure how I felt about his sudden appearance.
"How did you--of all people-- land yourself with two pretty girls?" He smirked, patting me on the back in that brotherly kind of way. It felt homely and warm. Boyish company was something I hadn't even realized I was missing.
"You sound shocked." I tried to hide the beaming smile that consumed my face but it wasn't a notion I could suppress. On only the rarest occasion was I complemented by Gary, even if it was hidden beneath an insult.
"I'm proud, actually." Gary had wrinkles creasing the corners of his lips that were barren of frolicsome. They were...honest.
"That's a first."
"Is there anything going on between you and Serena? In romantic respects." He asked, shocking me like I never knew I could be.
"W-what do you mean?" I stammered. There wasn't much of an answer to that question. I was unaware. It was a complicated problem I hadn't the skill to figure out.
"You're a bad liar Ashy-boy and I'm observant. There's undoubtably something going on there." He explained, a general concern completing the enlightened furrowed structure of his eyebrows.
"You sound like Elaina." I muttered harshly under my breath. Those two were going to be the bane of my existence.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"So, there's nothing between you and Serena?"
"No." I frowned at this. It wasn't appealing. The word was bitter, sour and salty all at once. Truly distasteful.
"Whatever you say Ashy-boy." My old rival sniggered, clearly taking a large portion of amusement in my discomfort.
Gary Oak hadn't changed a bit.
*. *. *.
The hotel was of a smaller size yet still glamorous. It carried the shoreside theme into its decor by adding silvery shells to every place possible. Each window was crowned with a sill large enough for sitting, allowing one to gaze across the azure waters beyond. The walls were painted a subtle blue, capturing the Suns rays in the most ideal way to light the room brightly. A few people loitered about the reception area, flicking through the latest paper or watching a program displayed upon the large flatscreen T.Vs.
"Pika, Pika!" My partner yapped from my shoulder, showing his approval for the place as Gary and I pondered off to the reception desk to ask for some rooms. Meanwhile, Elaina and Serena decided to venture throughout the lobby.
"Two rooms, both with twin beds please." Gary said to the receptionist who nodded in acknowledgement and began typing something into her computer.
"You're staying with us now? Cause I don't remember inviting you." I said with the evidence of a joke lacing my tone.
"Relax Ashy-boy. It's just for while your here, which is?"
"Two nights."
"Book them for two nights please." He announced to the receptionist who typed this new information into her database. Within several minuets the whole procedure was complete and the lady handed us our set of keys with a genuine smile. However, this smile was broken by the sudden out burst of a familiar girl.
"What the hell?! No! That is not possible!" Elaina screeched at the TV screen, her face flushed scarlet with anger and successfully attracting the unwanted attention of everyone in the reception area. That girl had no filter, I swear.
The guests gazed upon her fit with a mixture of shock, disgust and irritancy. Serena, who had peered away from her perch on the window sill, appeared frightful and calamitous at the sudden out burst. What had set Elaina's fire roaring again?
"She doesn't deserve that! That's...thats...thats...not fair!" Elaina's nose was practically pressed against the television screen, a snarl crawling from under her lips as if it could slither into whatever was being shown. Her tantrum was making the surrounding population rather uncomfortable and Gary was not slow to react. He sprinted across the lobby, hair becoming even more disheveled and tussled.
"She cheated! I know she did! I refuse-!" The golden haired girl was cut off by Gary's hand clamped over her mouth. Screams became muffled until they eventually died. And eyes became hard as solid ice, glaring at my old rival with the furry of being interrupted.
"Shut up, you're making a scene." He chided her. Elaina didn't respond, just continued to stare right back with a look that expressed her urge to plant a nasty bite on his restricting fingers.
I drew near, eyes glued to the TV screen, now realizing the reason behind her sudden lash out. Displayed like a princess draped in jewels stood a vividly familiar brunette. Her smile was wide and the crowd roared. And in her hand she clutched a bejeweled key.
"Bella won a princess key..." I muttered aloud. Realization clicked like clockwork in my head, arranging itself so I saw the picture perfectly. I understood why Elaina threw a fit, however, the extent of it was still slightly more exaggerated than it needed to be.
"Pika pika." Pikachu agreed, whispering it into my ear.
"Now, I'm going to slowly release my hand and when I do, you aren't going to scream. You are going to be collected and civilized." Gary warned the fuming girl who still beheld a death glare. She didn't nod or show any signs of acknowledgment but Gary continued to slowly peel away each finger, and soon, she was free of captivity.
"I'm not a three year old. I can take care of myself, thank you very much." Elaina growled, fortunately, in a voice of lower amplitude.
"Well, you were acting like one." Gary shrugged, giving her a looked that suggested he was amused. This did not settle well with the blonde and in any second, I swear, she would lunge at him. However, Serena quickly interrupted, taking full control of the situation and offering Elaina comfort by the simple hand on her shoulder.
"Excuse her, she just likes picking fights. We should probably get up to our room now." Serena intervened, allowing any tension that had conjured between them flood away. With a sigh she approached me in order to retrieve a room key. I tried to smile at her, however, it was faulty. Cracked but not broken. Was there anything going on between Serena and I?
"See you for dinner?" She questioned, looking me dead in the eye while taking the key from my palm.
"Of course." I nodded before she grabbed Elaina's hand and began dragging her towards the elevator, evidence of scolding amongst their hushed conversation.
"We should get going too, Ash." Gary suggested and I merely followed.
*. *. *.
Once in the hotel room, I decided to take a shower. It was long overdo and ultimately refreshing. The rhythmic patter of water drumming against my skin I always find is somewhat soothing. The warmed streams that engulf my face wash away not only muck, but worries. I stayed there longer than necessary.
Afterwards, I wrapped a complementary towel neatly around my waist and trudged into the bedroom. Gary had already taken the bed by the large window overlooking the nearby bay. He lay passively, finding entertainment in the fiddling of his fingers. Pikachu remained curled on my pillow, exactly where I had left him.
"Took you long enough." Gary complained, only slightly stirring from his position, craning his neck to peer at me.
"Well, you looked comfortable. Thought it wouldn't be a problem." I said, dismantling my clothes from the tangled state I had left them in. Gary didn't respond with another witty insult, however, he gasped in shock.
"Ash! What happened to your torso?!" He flew up into a sitting position, eyebrows traveled halfway up his forehead.
I glanced at the large scratches that etched trough my skin, starting at the top of my rib cage and only ending at my pelvis. The redness from when the scars were new had certainly flushed away, only leaving slight elevated skin and scab. Serena had been very persistent with applying her special ointment to the wounds and most of them had healed. However, the ones across my torso were taking a little longer. On the occasion, if I jerked suddenly, they would seize up and sting like hell had been engraved into them. But, for the most part, the scratches weren't a bother.
"I fell out of a tree." I informed my old rival. He shook his head in a mixture amusement and disapproval.
"Only you, Ashy-boy."
I pulled my teeshirt over my head and adjusted it around my waist so it hid the scars once again. After getting dressed, I plonked down on my bed, temporarily startling Pikachu. As soon as I let my body relax, muscles come undone and breathing steady, my stomach let out a low grumble.
"Hungry, are we? Why don't we go for lunch. Besides, we have some catching up to do." Gary suggested.
"Sure, why not."
I allowed Pikachu to pad onto my shoulder once again, gently scratching that place behind his ear that he loved and earring a small 'chu'. Though, I was sure, Gary's definition of 'catching up' was mostly like drawing information out of me about my relationships.
Oh well.
And with that, we set off for lunch.
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