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Gary stared at his rotom phone screen for several minutes; he supposed to be studying somehow for my final project mew mission, but it was too difficult.
Looking at the world championships on his rotom phone, seeing Ash was about to be battling Cynthia at the moment, the researcher saw fan’s theories from both sides about what the possible outcome would be
Gary then got startled when an incoming call from his grandpa came into the screen
“hey gramps!” he answered causally to him
“are you going to be watching Ash today?” was his immediate question to the researcher
Gary rubbed the back of his neck and sighed just giving him a head shake “I have to study for project mew . . . becoming a researcher and joining project mew . . . it feels like I don’t even have time to breathe for myself . . . “ he admitted to him with a frown
Professor Oak nodded and smiled “don’t worry, you work on what you have to do and I’ll keep you updated”
With a nod, he smiled “thanks grandpa . . . “
“it’s not like Ash were to care we haven’t seen each other in years until we reunited . . . “ he looked out a window, his eyes gaze at the clouds
At hearing such, Professor Oak lifted an eyebrow “oh? And what makes you say that?”
Gary shrugged “nothings the same anymore . . . Ash has branched out and it’s as if he doesn’t necessarily care for me anymore”
“I wouldn’t be so sure” his grandpa’s voice lit up with a knowingly smile, catching his attention Gary turned back to his screen, now facing his grandfather
“no matter how much time you spend apart you never seem to change, and I think Ash has grown to really admire you Gary and in vise versa”
“the day you left the lab that day Ash was quite open about how he found you cool as ever” he laughed with a smile
“he what . . . ?” he asked in disbelief with a slight wide eye, seeing as his grandpa broke away from the screen and called back
“coming Delia!”
“it looks like the match is about to start, we’ll speak later. Take care Gary” he said with a smile ending the call
“Gramps wait!” Gary desperately called out but it was too late, he sighed and looked at his rotom phone screen again
“cool as ever huh . . . “ he thought to myself with a smile
“and he’s naive as ever . . . “ he grinned before a voice spoke
“how’s that studying going??” he heard then turned to see that the voice came from Asahi
Gary looked at his blank note sheet and sighed “okay I guess . . . “
“you haven’t written a thing” a cold voice then said causing him to jump seeing Tsurugi
“do you ever say hi?? Hello??? Or something instead of bursting out of nowhere????” he complained, Tsurugi had serious issues with popping out of nowhere
“hi” Asahi smiled at Tsurugi
“hello” he replied getting himself coffee, Gary rolled his eyes and looked out the window
“why are you so bummed out lately??” Asahi questioned him sitting across from the researcher
“I’m just tired” he retorted to her in defensive mode
Asahi tilted her head and looked at Tsurugi who rolled his eyes “you can take a break and watch Ash’s match if you want to”
“why do you say that?” he snapped at her. He never necessarily told her about Ash or even talked about him generally
Asahi shrugged “it’s pretty obvious that’s what’s bugging you”
“well I can’t”
“I’m giving you the permission to”
“I’m going to my room” he then picked up his utensils leaving as Asahi looked at Tsurugi
-
Opening up his phone again, Gary saw that Ash’s Dragonite was token down by Cynthia’s Spiritomb, biting his lip in worry about how the outcome would go, he set his phone to the side
what if Ash lost? he wouldn’t be able to go see him; comfort him
soft fur nuzzled his hand that was clenched and gazed to see Umbreon trying to cheer his trainer up “I’m just worried”
“Cynthia is too strong, she’s the second ranked and Ash already is losing. Maybe he doesn’t stand a chance” he frowned gazing at the phone wanting to see more and then felt as Umbreon bit him
“Bre!” he yelled, the Moonlight Pokemon had always done that whenever he was angry at him. Umbreon then looked at him deeply, dragging the researcher’s backpack to him
“We can play later” he dismissed thinking Umbreon was referring to his toy ball in the backpack
“Bre!” he growled trying to unzip the bag which Gary sighed at and unzipped for him
“is it this you want?” the researcher held the ball as Umbreon shook his head and dragged out a pouch, seeing the pouch Gary blinked and picked it up; opening it
revealing his half pokeball he stared at it and touched it lightly “incredible how I’ve still kept this after all these years . . . “
“I wonder if Ash still has his . . . “
-
“she makes every move– every movement– so purposeful . . . “ Ash’s thought wandered as he saw Aura Sphere and Scale Shot cancel each other out
“but if I beat Cynthia, I’ll become stronger” Ash then thought to himself
With their next moments of battling leading to both Lucario and Garchomp to the ground
With silence terrorizing the stadium Ash breathed with his heart as they would say; in his throat
About to swirl in a thought of feeling defeat, Lucario had risen up and with that, Lucario was named the winner of the battle
In dumbfounding coloring his features Ash stood still, and blinked “I won . . . ?” he spoke to himself seeing as Pikachu happily jumped up and down in excitement, with a smile now on his face jogged to Lucario surprising it with a hug
“we did it Lucario! We beat Cynthia!” he exclaimed happily, showing his goofy wide smile
-
With the Gary’s Rotom ringing and ringing, Gary looked over and saw the incoming call from his grandfather
“hello?” Gary said looking at the screen with seeing Professor Oak in tears
“grandpa are you okay??” he worryingly asked gripping his phone tightly
Professor Oak sniffled and grinned “he did it Gary!” he chuckled
“he did it!” he repeated himself, Gary’s worrying colored away and a grin showed on his face; wide, proud, and bright
“really??” he in disbelief said with a small breath
Professor Oak nodded again and laughed “yes he did! He’s going to face Leon next” he grinned again
“he’s so close to becoming a pokemon master, he’s came . . . so far”
Seeing his grandpa wiping a tear from his eye away, Gary exhaled trying to not get emotional himself; he never liked to get emotional. He’d do so around his grandpa most of the time but he wanted to refrain himself from showing how much of an emotional wreck he could be
“not bad for a . . . ranked eight trainer huh” he commented keeping his cool tone and eyeing the pokeball he took out of his pouch earlier
Professor Oak laughed at his comment once more “I wouldn’t say he’s level eight, he’s basically exceded to the second ranking”
“yeah you’re right, interesting. I gotta say” he smiled softly
After ending his call, he made his way outside where all his Pokemon rested at, Umbreon, Blastoise, Arcanine, Electivire, Tyranitar, and Hatterene
Umbreon who approached Gary, nuzzling at him feeling his trainer now calmed down; Gary put his fur
With all his Pokemon looking at him in a kind of anticipation Gary smiled and closed his eyes “he won” he simple said calmly then seeing his Pokemon cheer
Seeing such an excitement, Gary gave them all a gentle smile and turned over too look at the sky, his thought wandering off
-
“yup! We better get going!” Asahi hurriedly said packing her bag
“what’s going on?” Gary inquired seeing not only her but Tsurugi making a phone call
Asahi got up, swinging the bag on her shoulder “it’s time to begin, Tsurugi is making his call to Goh. It’s time to encounter Mew” she said in her straight face
“what? N-now? Isn’t Goh going to watch Ash battle Leon??”
“I’m afraid that if he wants this. He’ll have to come, Tsurugi and I are going now. You rest and we’ll give you information on where we’ll meet first thing tomorrow morning. We’ll be meeting with Professor Amaranth”
“okay?” Gary confusingly said with a blink
“bye Gary” Tsurugi said
“were you able to reach Goh?” Asahi then asked Tsurugi
Tsurugi picked up his bag as well and shook his head “no. But I’m just wasting time, let’s go”
“I’ll do it, let’s just go” she said as the two left not letting Gary process such, he rubbed his head and decided to sleep for the night if it was the case to catch a boat or plane early.
-
Arriving at the doc of the boat the day of meeting, Gary causally walked when spotting Goh and Tokio already catching up
Getting his snarky, casual style profile in tact he walked over and smiled when hearing Tokio say about not getting enough sleep
“well that’s not good” he said, explaining how a good trainer should have their rest and be in shape to do what they have to do
Quickly changing the conversation, wanting to know about Ash, Gary casually began “What a pity, Goh”
“Ash’s finals match is today, right?“
“But I know he’ll win” Goh retorted to him, “we promised one another that . . . next time se meet, we’ll meet with a smile” he smiled with a fist in determination
With a grin ready to spread on his feature Gary, stopped such and just smiled “interesting” he said; thinking for a moment keeping his eyes closed
He did think it was very sad for Goh to not cheer Ash on, from what he knew he was the only one there in person. But in his selfishness he did it to express his own feelings off of using Goh as an example.
That obviously didn’t necessarily work, Goh seemed quite well about it. But Gary; he couldn’t lie he envied that he couldn’t be there, he didn’t do what Goh did and went to the stadium despite knowing his own dream would push that away.
He in a way felt like; he failed Ash. He failed in not prioritizing him.
”meet with a smile huh? He’s sweet as ever” he then thought to himself then seeing Tokio and Goh leading the way as he went behind them; eventually taking the lead
When approaching the destination Gary took a breath. He still hated himself for his early thought that he thought was true.
But with something hitting his mind, it sounded delusional but he randomly he remembered
”your old rival wouldn’t get so discouraged!”
Professor Oak’s words from the day prior
”he’s came so far!”
Then remembering Goh’s words
”but I know he’ll win!”
With the angst and anger leaving him he stood in front of the destination as the other two went inside, Gary kept his smile then faced Asahi and Tsurugi with a smile
”Goh and Gramps are right; he’s going to win. And I told him; even if my dream seems impossible, I’ll keep pushing. Keep on keepin’ on.”
”that’s how Ash would want it . . . right?“ he thought to himself
“well you look better and pumped up compared to the other day” Asahi blinked with her hand on her hip, as Gary approached the entrance
Gary gave her his signature smile, “let’s just say, that I’m not upset about Ash anymore”
“wait! So it was about Ash, why wouldn’t you just admit it?” she demanded
“I wasn’t in my actual head, let’s just say; I know there’s many possibilities for us both in the future and . . . things Ash and I, never thought of” Gary casually made his way inside with Asahi following him
“what is that supposed to mean? I mean are you planning on visiting him after all this mission for Mew is over with?”
Gary shrugged helplessly, looking at her in the corner of his eye with a gentle smirk
“I dunno, they say that I can never be honest about how I feel” he laughed making his way to join the other chasers, leaving Asahi in confusion
When taking off his backpack; taking out Umbreon of his pokeball and staring inside his backpack he smiled spotting the pouch which withheld his half pokeball in it
Lost in his own thought, he finally rosed one final thought of his rival; “you can do it Ash . . .”