4So, I debated even posting this, because it bears a resemblance to a fan fiction I read a longggg time ago, and I couldn't find the name of it :( I wrote this a long time ago too, but anyway... Here we go!
"Mom, I'm 16. I don't have to run errands for you just because my trainer career has been put on hold." Ash groaned, staring at the cold toast on his plate.
Ash wasn't the only person with the loss of his passion. The job of Pokemon trainer was temporarily prohibited in Kanto, after over 200 cases of wild Pokemon attacking humans were reported in the same week in the region. He couldn't catch or battle Pokemon, except out of self defense, for a while until the situation blew over.
"Come on, Ash," his mother said, sitting across from him at the kitchen table. "I need to get this present to your grandmother before her birthday, in 10 days."
"10 days?" Ash asked incredulously. "Are you kidding? Grandma lives, like, so far away!" He stabbed a berry with his fork.
"Pika!" Ash's Pikachu exclaimed.
"Well I can't exactly have the pidgeys deliver it, can I?" she retorted. The post office was shut down too. "Do you think I anticipated all this?"
"Well, no..." Ash mumbled. "But can't I just get it to her late?"
His mother paused and stared at him for a second. "This is very important to me, Ash."
Ash sighed, knowing he had lost. "Fine." he muttered. "But I don't know how I'm supposed to get to Grandma's when I only have 10 days."
"With a car, you could."
"I don't have a car."
"Gary has a car."
"I don't have a liscense."
"Gary has a liscense."
As he realized what his mother was implying, Ash's face contorted into horror. "No- no way! I'm not driving with that egomaniac all the way to Grandma's house."
His mother handed him the white package, wrapped with a single blue ribbon. "Ash! He's a nice boy!"
"Mom!" Ash moaned.
Ash's mom looked uncomfortable. "I was kind of hoping you would say you wanted to." There was a knock on the door, and she went to answer it. "...Because I already asked him."
Ash groaned again and dropped his face into his hands. "Mom!" He heard the door open.
"Hi, Mrs. Ketchum!" A sickening voice crooned.
"Hello, Gary!" she greeted. "Ash, your friend is here!"
Ash lifted his head. "I can see that." He seethed, glaring at Gary.
When Ash had packed everything he needed for the trip, he said bye to his mom and left through the front door.
Gary sat in the driver seat of his shiny red convertable, parked in front of Ash's house, and texting someone with one hand when Ash slid into the other seat with his bag and his Pikachu on his shoulder.
Gary looked up and smiled when Ash came by. "Decided to show up, loser?" He clapped lightly. "On time, and not in your pajamas! I'm impressed, Ashy!"
"Let's just go." Ash grumbled.
After hours of sullen silence Ash finally spoke. "So, why did you agree to drive me anyway?"
"Please. Do you think I would be driving to your grammy's house right now if I had the choice? Get over yourself, Loser. Gramps made me do it. Got tired of me complaining that I was bored." He took a sip out of his beer can. "Sorry if you expected me to want to be here, Ashy- boy."
"I didn't!" Ash defensively yelled. "And don't call me that!"
Gary just chuckled and took another sip. "Whatever you say, Ashy- boy."
Trying to keep his cool, he turned away from Gary and stared out the window. How long would the ride be? He counted the seconds as they passed. 1... 2... 3...
When he was just passing one thousand, the car screeched to a stop, and Ash, having only to turn his head, saw why.
"Need a ride, Beautiful?" Gary asked a girl with long brown hair and a blue backpack, walking along the road. The girl giggled and accepted his offer, and Ash groaned.
"Get in the back, Loser." Gary told him.
"No way! She can sit in the back." he protested.
"Do you want to walk to Grammy's, or do you want to sit in the back?" The ultimatum.
"Fine, whatever." Ash let the girl sit in his seat while he trudged into the back aisle with his Pikachu.
1,046... 1,047...
Gary's arm hung around the girl's shoulders. For the next two hours Ash proceeded to make gagging noises in the back just out of spite as his rival flirted with the girl, until he dropped her off on a path leading to the nearest town.
"Finally." Ash mumbled.
Gary snorted. "Jealous much, Ashy?"
"Shut up."
With a shrug, Gary played the radio and turned the volume up. "Turn it down!" Ash shouted. Smirking, Gary turned the dial to the right so the music was only louder. "Gary! Turn down the music!"
"You don't want music, Ashy- boy? Then you can walk." Gary smiled and sipped from his can.
Ash was seriously considering that at this point. "Don't call me that." he grumbled, trying to think of an annoying nickname of his own. "Don't call me that... Gare-bear." To his shock, Gary flinched and his face hardened.
"Whatever, Loser." Gary said, looking forward.
"Okay, Gaaaaaare Beaaaaaar."
"Okay, Ashy." Gary retorted weakly.
Now that he got a rise out of Gary, Ash wasn't going to stop. "Gare- bear, Gare- bear, Gare- bear!" he chanted. Gary's grip tightened on the leather steering wheel.
"Knock it off, Ashy- boy."
"What's wrong, Gare- bear?" Ash teased.
Gary's lips were pinched and tight. "Be mature."
No one said anything for 10 minutes, until Ash, snorting with laughter, uttered a single word: "Gare- bear." and burst into laughter. He couldn't resist.
The car stopped suddenly and Ash wondered if he was picking up another girl. "Okay, get out." Gary ordered.
Ash blinked. "What? Are you serious?"
"I don't have to deal with you." Dead serious, apparently,
Ash narrowed his eyebrows. "Um, yeah, you do. Your grandpa is making you."
"So? I'll drive into Celedon, hook up with a couple girls, blow my money at the slots, and be back in time to tell Gramps what a great time we had together." A grin spread across his sickening face.
Without a good comeback, Ash just answered lamely, "I don't have to get out!"
Gary's phony smile disappeared quicker than it had come. "Get out, Ash!" The unfamiliar intensity in his voice shook Ash so he opened his door and stepped out immediately, carrying Pikachu, who was asleep on his lap.
As he walked, and walked, he wondered what about that harmless nickname could have caused Gary to freak out. He had waited years and years for the day when he could pay Gary back for the times he had teased Ash or made him angry, but now, it didn't feel as satisfying as he used to imagine it would be.
As he pondered this and traveled along Route 4, he noticed Pikachu, who had woken up, was acting different. His ears perked up, and he looked at Ash as if to say, "Do you hear that?"
"What is it, Pikachu?" Ash listened closely, until he heard a terrible scream. He sharply turned his head towards the noise. "I hear it!"
Pikachu nodded vigorously. "Pika!"
"Let's go!" He ran ahead along the dirt road as fast as he could, following the sounds of the piercing screams.
"Chu!" Pikachu exclaimed, pointing towards a figure in the trees being attacked by a Rattata.
"Is that...?" Ash looked closely as he sprinted. "It's- it's Gary!" he shouted, running towards him. As he got closer, Gary tripped and fell on his back, screaming for help, as the Rattata jumped on his stomach and bit into his shoulder with his fangs, rousing another scream. Gary tried to pull it off, but its fangs were locked on tight.
"Pikachu, use tail whip to get the Rattata off of him!" Ash knew his Pokemon couldn't use thundershock yet or Gary would be fried, too. As Gary flailed and yelled, and the Rattata clawed and chewed, Pikachu leaped into the air, and wacked the Rattata off Gary using his tail with strength.
"Run!" Ash told Gary. Gary staggered off the ground.
Ash expected the wild, rabid Pokemon to turn on himself or his Pikachu, giving Gary time to flee, but it had its eyes set on the rival 16 year old.
Gary reached and clawed hopelessly at a short ledge, trying to climb up, but it was so dry everything he grabbed at tumbled down at him. He cursed loudly, covered in dust, dirt, and blood. He slid down the side of the ledge until he was back on the ground, fatigued, and curled into a protective ball.
Trying not to grimace at the blood- stained dirt, Ash didn't give the Rattata another opportunity to leap onto the boy. "Pikachu! Use thundershock!"
"Piiikaaaaa!" The flash of light forced Ash to close his eyes, but when he opened them, he was happy to see that the Rattata had scurried and limped into a patch of tall grass, near fainting.
Ash released a relieved sigh. "Gary, it's gone!" Ash said, walking over to him and tapping his back.
Gary slowly opened up, and realized that he was safe. He quickly stood, looking deeply embarressed. "I'm- I'm fine!"
"You need to get to a hospital." Ash said.
Gary shook his head insistantly. "No I don't! I'm okay." His voice cracked.
"You're kidding me, you are not okay."
Gary's breath shook. "No, I'm not kidding. Let's just go."
"Come on, let's get in the car. Do you need help walking to it?" Gary didn't say anything. Ash asked, "Come on, what is it?"
Gary pointed towards his red convertable, smashed against a tree. "Whoops." he muttered.
Ash's mouth dropped open."What the h-" He paused and composed himself. "What did you do?" he demanded.
"I was a little distracted." Gary shrugged.
Ash sighed, annoyed. "I'm not going to argue with you right now. We're really close to Cerulean City. I'll help you get there."
Gary didn't argue either. He let Ash clean his wounds and wrap a couple of them with fabric from his shirt. "Okay, we're good. Yay, I'm healed. I've never felt better in my life. Now let's just keep going." Well, maybe he argued a little.
"We're so close to the hospital." Ash said. "And those wounds are really deep. They could be infected. You might still be bleeding a little. We can't afford to risk this. By the way, there's no way we're keeping this from Officer Jenny." He glanced at Gary's shoulder and clenched his teeth. It was... Bad.
"Whatever."
"So what happened, anyway?"
Gary sighed as they walked. "I crashed, but I was okay, except I swerved right by a Rattata. I wasn't sure if I hit it or not so I got out to check. I must have just scared it, because it freaked out on me. Stupid Pokemon." He kicked a rock.
"That's so weird. We need to find out what's going on with these Pokemon attacking people." Ash brushed a leaf out of his hair.
Gary snorted. "That's so like you to say. It's not our problem. There are people who can figure this out FOR us."
Ash rolled his eyes. "That's so like YOU to say. You're so self- absorbed."
He looked ahead, not denying it. "How can I not be, with so much to be absorbed with?" Typical arrogant smile.
"You know, even when you're injured, you're still an *ss." The corners of Ash's lips perked up a bit.
"Thanks, Loser." Gary returned the smile.
"Well, at least I finally got a 'Thank you.'" Ash remarked. He was a little annoyed by Gary's lack of gratitude. His eyes widened. "Hey, look! There's Cerulean!"
Gary stopped suddenly. He smacked himself on the forehead. "I just realized, I forgot my Pokemon in the car!"
Ash groaned loudly. "Gary!"
"Jeez, don't go blaming me for this. You should have reminded me!" Gary accused.
"You're ridiculous." Ash argued. "It's not my responsibility, it's yours."
"Wow. That's a little selfish, to expect ME to have to do all the work. Even in this condition I'm in. That's REAL nice."
"Well! What're we gonna do?"
"Well!" Gary mimicked. "You can't just leave them there. You have to go back and get them."
"Just me? You walked all the way here, can't you go back?"
"There's no way." Gary defiantly insisted. "I'm feeling a little lightheaded from this loss of blood. But I guess, if I have to, I can walk..." He limped forward pitifully, grunting dramatically.
What's the point? "Fine! I don't want you with me, anyway! Wait here." Ash gave up.
Gary's pained expression vanished. "Great! I'll even hold Grammy's package for you." He chuckled in his unchanging careless way.
Ash handed him the present and started back, Pikachu tiredly walking next to him.
"Bye- bye, Ashy- boy!" called a smug Gary, settling himself down under a shady tree.
"Can you believe him, Pikachu?" Ash exclaimed, with an armful of Gary's Pokèballs.
"Pikachu!" it replied in disgust.
"I don't even know if it's safe for him to be alone here. If he gets attacked by another wild Pokèmon, I won't be there to save him. Thank God, it's getting dark, so it's cooled down." He craned his neck to see farther ahead. "And he should be right up here." Pikachu nodded.
"We'll get his wounds checked out, report this to Officer Jenny, and go straight to sleep. I'm exhausted." His stomach growled.
"Pika!"
Ash yawned. "Yeah, I'm hungry too. Okay, we'll have some of the sandwiches I packed."
Ash stopped slowly. "Wait, I think we passed him. He was supposed to be back there." They walked back a little but didn't see Gary. "Maybe he fell asleep." Ash suggested.
"Pikachu..." Pikachu said nervously.
"Gary!" Ash called. "Where are you! This isn't funny! Look, he even left the present here." He and Pikachu looked for a long time, but with no luck.
"Oh no, Pikachu... He's gone!" Was he kidnapped? Did he just get up and walk away? What could have happened? "I- I'm sure he's perfectly fine. Gary can handle himself." He was only trying to assure himself because he knew it was getting too late to go looking for him, and he felt really guilty.
Ash laid out under the same tree Gary had earlier. "Well, goodnight, Pikachu. We'll have to go looking for Gary tommorow. That'll put us way behind with Grandma's birthday. There's no way we'll make it now."
"I wonder what's in it, anyway." He picked up the little white package. "Doesn't it feel lighter?"
"Pika!" Pikachu felt it and nodded. "Pikachu!"
Ash ripped it open, to see that it was indeed empty, except for a note. "What's this?" He read it out loud so Pikachu could hear.
Ԁєɑʀ ɑʂʜ (ɑĸɑ ɑʂʜყ- ʙoყ),
ı ԀєƈıԀєԀ Ɨo ʟєɑѵє tʜıʂ ɴotє ʙєƈɑuʂє ı'm ʂuʀє ყou'ʀє pʀoʙɑʙʟყ ғʀєɑĸıɴɢ ouƗ ʀıɢʜƗ ɴoա, ʂo ı ɢuєʂʂ ı ʂʜouʟԀ ʟєƗ ყou ĸɴoա ı'm oĸɑყ, ɑɴԀ Ɨєʟʟ ყou ɑ ƈoupʟє oтʜєʀ Ɨʜıɴɢʂ.
ғıʀʂƗ, ı ʟєғƗ. ƗʜɑƗ'ʂ ɑʟʟ ı ƈɑɴ ʂɑყ. ıƗ'ʂ ғoʀ pєʀʂoɴɑʟ ʀєɑʂoɴʂ ƗʜɑƗ ı ƈɑɴ'Ɨ Ɨєʟʟ ყou. Ԁoɴ'Ɨ ғʀєɑĸ ouƗ AGAIN, ʙuƗ ı ʝuʂƗ ƈɑɴ'Ɨ.
ʂєƈoɴԀ, ı'ʟʟ ɢıѵє ყou ɑ ʀєɑʂoɴ աʜყ ı ĸıɴԀɑ ʟoʂƗ ıƗ Ɨʜє oƗʜєʀ Ԁɑყ. ı'm աʀıƗıɴɢ Ɨʜıʂ Ԁoաɴ ıɴʂƗєɑԀ oғ Ɨєʟʟıɴɢ ყou, ʙєƈɑuʂє ıƗ'ʂ ʀєɑʟʟყ ʂƗupıԀ & Ɨʜıʂ ıʂ єɑʂıєʀ. աєʟʟ, oĸɑყ, Ɨʜıʂ ıʂ աʜყ, ʙuƗ Ԁoɴ'Ɨ ʟɑuɢʜ ɑƗ ʜoա ʂƗupıԀ ɑɴԀ ƈʜєєʂყ ıƗ ʂouɴԀʂ.
ɢɑʀє- ʙєɑʀ ıʂ աʜɑƗ mყ pɑʀєɴƗʂ uʂєԀ Ɨo ƈɑʟʟ mє. ı աɑʂ oɴʟყ 4 աʜєɴ Ɨʜєყ ԀıʂɑppєɑʀєԀ, ʙuƗ ı ƈɑɴ ʂpєƈıғıƈɑʟʟყ ʀєmєmєʙєʀ ıƗ, ɑɴԀ ı ʀєmєmʙєʀ ʜɑƗıɴɢ ıƗ. ı ɢuєʂʂ єѵєɴ ɑʂ ɑ ʟıƗƗʟє ĸıԀ ı ʜɑԀ ɑ ʟıƗƗʟє Ɨoo muƈʜ pʀıԀє, աʜıƈʜ ı աıʟʟ ɑԀmıƗ Ɨo. ʙuƗ ƗʜɑƗ mєmoʀყ, ƗʜɑƗ oɴє Ɨʜıɴɢ ı ʜɑѵє ʟєғƗ... ıƗ'ʂ ĸıɴԀɑ ʂɑƈʀєԀ Ɨo mє. ı աɑʂ ɑ ʟıƗƗʟє ƈɑuɢʜƗ oғғ ɢɑuʀԀ աʜєɴ ı ʜєɑʀԀ ყou ʂɑყıɴɢ ıƗ, ʂo ყєɑʜ.
ı pʀomıʂє ı'ʟʟ ƈʜєƈĸ mყʂєʟғ ıɴƗo Ɨʜє ʜoʂpıƗɑʟ ʀıɢʜƗ ɴoա ıғ ყou pʀomıʂє ɴoƗ Ɨo ƈomє ɑғƗєʀ mє. ı nєєԀ Ɨo Ԁo Ɨʜıʂ ɑʟoɴє.
ɑʙouƗ mყ poĸєmoɴ, ı ɢuєʂʂ ყou ʂʜouʟԀ ʝuʂƗ Ԁʀop Ɨʜєm oғғ ɑƗ mყ ʜouʂє աʜєɴ ყou ɢєƗ ʙɑƈĸ. Ɨєʟʟ ყouʀ mom ı ʂɑıԀ Ɨʜɑɴĸʂ ғoʀ Ɨʜє ʜomєmɑԀє ƈooĸıєʂ, ɑɴԀ Ɨєʟʟ ყouʀ ɢʀɑɴԀmɑ ı աɑʂ ʂoʀʀყ ғoʀ єɑƗıɴɢ ʜєʀ ɢıғƗ ʙuƗ ı աɑʂ ɑғʀɑıԀ ıƗ աouʟԀ ɢo ʂƗɑʟє & ɑʟʂo ı աɑʂ ғєєʟıɴɢ pʀєƗƗყ ʜuɴɢʀყ.
ʂıɴƈєʀєʟყ,
ɢɑʀყ oɑĸ
So... There it is... I actually have the whole thing written already, so there will definitely be more chapters later. If you've read up to this point, thank you very much, and I hope you stay for the future chapters!