Work Text:
In The Beginning
A metallic clatter echoed across the laboratory, echoed by a groan and footsteps as the nine-year-old chased after the pokeball as it rolled across the floor. Professor Samuel Oak looked up when the footsteps stopped, just in time to see a head of messy auburn hair pop up from under one of the counters.
“Got it!” his grandson chirped. He tossed the metal ball in the air and caught it easily before attempting to spin it atop his finger once more.
It clattered to the floor a second later.
Samuel smiled and shook his head. “I certainly hope you don't drop it so often when there's a pokemon in there,” he spoke up, eyes twinkling as he teased the boy.
“Nuh-uh,” Gary replied as he scooped up the empty ball once more. “I won't be dropping it anymore when I'm a trainer!”
This time the ball balanced atop his finger for a second or two longer before falling. “You're getting closer,” Sam observed with a smile. He watched Gary chase after the ball and try again. He certainly wasn't giving up easily. “You know,” he began suggestively, “the other children are probably all studying.”
“Probably,” Gary agreed, speaking over the clatter of the pokeball hitting the floor again. “But I don't need to. I already know it.”
“There's always more to be learned,” Sam commented wisely.
“Yeah, but I've already studied the beginner stuff,” Gary replied proudly. “I can take a break from studying.”
Sam fixed him with an indulgent smile. His grandson was, of course, the top of his class and had been studying advanced training methods for the last several months. Sam was pleased, but couldn't resist the occasional playful teasing.
“I see. Well then, my boy, have you chosen your starter?” He suspected he knew the answer already.
“Of course – ugh! So close!”
Sam's eyes followed the red and white ball as it rolled across his lab for what must have been the hundredth time today. “And what would that decision be?”
“Guess.” Gary shot a grin at his grandfather.
Sam smiled at the challenge. Calm and level-headed children like Gary tended to pick one of two particular starters. “Charmander,” he picked the third and least likely starter intentionally.
“Charmeleon and charizard are known for being difficult and stubborn,” Gary said, finally getting the ball to balance on his finger for more than two seconds. “Even good trainers have a hard time with them.”
Sam nodded, pleased again – the boy sounded just like a training guide. “Do you worry you won't be a good enough trainer to handle a charizard?” he questioned.
The ball fell again and Gary shot him a faint glare. “No, I’ll be good enough to handle any pokemon!” the boy declared proudly.
Sam chuckled, amused. With the way his boy studied, he didn't doubt it. Especially not with the way Growlithe — a loyal companion and pet — had been growing lately. He knew a trained pokemon when he saw one but he didn't chide the boy. Gary was far too smart to get caught and too driven to stop, in any case. Besides, little harm could come to him around the reserve with the way his late mother's pokemon looked after him.
He returned his attention to the conversation when the pokeball clattered to the ground again. Ah, yes. He was supposed to be guessing his grandson's starter.
Gary wasn’t the sort of child to have a grass pokemon on his main team. Trainers who chose Bulbasaur as their starter tended to be a little more grounded than his confident grandson.
Even so, Sam smiled. “Bulbasaur,” he guessed next.
“Bulbasaur would make the first two gyms much easier,” Gary commented, retrieving the fallen pokeball yet again. “And its final stats are higher than charmander’s… but so are squirtle’s.” he added, attempting to sound casual.
Gary wasn't quite as sly as he thought he was — though Sam already knew this. Granted, the boy was also only nine. Sam dreaded to think how he might be as a teenager… But that was years away.
Squirtle it was.
“Squirtle or bulbasaur then,” Sam concluded, deciding to humor his grandson. "Are you going to tell me which?"
"I said guess," was the laughing reply.
Another smile crossed Sam's face. "I guess we'll just have to see which one you bond more with when the starters come in, won't we?"
"You can't guess, can you?"
Sam chuckled. Oh, this boy had gotten so cocky. "What if I want it to be a surprise?"
Gary faltered at that, having apparently not expected that particular response. Sam took the chance to redirect the conversation to something coming up far sooner than he cared to admit.
"Ash's birthday party is in a few weeks. Have you considered what to get him for his birthday?" he asked the boy, trying not to think too hard on the fact that the boys were turning ten this year. It was one thing to consider the pokemon Gary would choose for his team — it was another to admit that they were growing up far faster than anticipated while Sam wasn't getting any younger.
Gary's easy grin fell away at the question — odd, considering how close the boys had always been. The boy gave a listless shrug — again, odd. "I dunno," he mumbled.
"No?" That was unusual, though perhaps Gary had just been so preoccupied with pokemon recently that he had simply forgotten his friend's tenth birthday was fast approaching. But, now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Gary play with Ash the way they always had in a while.
He supposed it had to do with the new school in Viridian. The poor boy spent so much of his time just being driven to and from school that he hardly had the time to play with his best friend during the week. It was a shame, but the switch to the more prestigious school had been good for Gary. He had peers at the same academic level, his classes provided an appropriate challenge, and his teachers knew how to handle a child as bright and driven as Gary. He wasn't nearly as miserable there as he had been in the little school in Pallet.
But this difference with Ash was a bit concerning.
"Well, how about we come up with something together? Perhaps something for when you boys start your journeys?"
Another listless shrug. "I guess," Gary returned quietly.
This time Sam caught the begrudging inflection and suddenly he understood. Gary was always ahead of Ash… except this one time. Surely that didn't have anything to do with why Sam had seen so little of Ash lately.
A sinking feeling in his gut told him that it likely did.
But Sam pushed that thought away and forced himself to keep the cheerful tone. "Oh, don't be like that," he chided gently. "Your birthday's just around the corner."
"Yeah, in four months."
All the confidence and teasing had drained out of Gary's voice, leaving it hollow. Sam couldn't have that.
"Those four months will fly by," he reminded him just as he had every time Gary had bemoaned how far away his birthday was. "Besides, you'll be getting your training licenses at the same time. It doesn't matter who actually turns ten first." Although, everything had become a competition between the boys in recent months, so this likely wasn't the way Gary viewed it, but Sam was determined to always be the voice of reason when it came to his grandson.
Still, Gary looked doubtful. "Maybe," he sighed, fidgeting with the empty pokeball in his hands and looking anywhere but at Sam.
"Look at it this way: at least you don't have to wait so long after your birthday to get your starter. You'll barely have a month to go, but Ash has almost five months of being ten and waiting to start his journey."
This didn't seem to soothe any of Gary's feelings about this, if his dramatic sigh was anything to go by.
Sam hesitated, certain he knew the issue but unsure if he wanted to broach it here and now. He didn't entirely want to bring it up as he knew what Gary’s response would be, but the boy's mood had already turned. What better time than the present?
"Do you think you're perhaps feeling a bit jealous?" he asked as delicately as he could.
Gary’s glare was instantaneous. "No!"
That was a resounding yes.
"It's alright if you are," Sam assured him. "Everyone gets a little jealous of someone at some point. It's perfectly normal, and your tenth birthday is a big deal. I would understand if you were."
Gary's glare had dropped away, his gaze once again anywhere but on Sam. "I'm not jealous," he mumbled, though it lacked confidence.
There was definitely some jealousy at play, but there was more to this than just that. There had to be, but what exactly it was, Sam wasn't sure. He wasn't quite sure if Gary knew either.
All he knew was that something was going on and that something was enough to drain his grandson of his usual confidence. It must have been serious, but Sam doubted that it was something to be concerned about. Gary talked to him when it was important. Eventually. It wasn't at the point where Sam felt the need to pry further.
Gary was young and jealousy wasn't a feeling he was prone to — he needed time to work through it, and Sam would patiently wait until then.
He just hoped it wouldn't put more distance between the boys in the coming months before they went off on their long-awaited journeys.
Sam offered his grandson an indulgent smile. It was important to show that Gary's negative feelings didn't change anything between them. "It's squirtle isn't it?" he asked, lowering his voice conspiratorially.
Gary's smile flickered back to life as he nodded. "It's got the best stats," he returned, lowering his voice to match.
"It sure does," Sam said with a chuckle. Oh, he was going to miss these little moments when Gary was on his journey. It was coming all too quickly. "Squirtle is an excellent choice," he continued, raising his voice to its usual volume.
Gary's smile grew and Sam's heart warmed. It was relieving to see that his increasingly independent grandson still valued his opinion — not that it would be any different if he chose any of the other starters.
Whatever it was going on with his grandson, Sam was certain it would pass soon enough. The jealousy was normal enough and would fade once Gary turned ten and the boys would go back to being best friends once Gary was out of school for his journey.
Surely, this would pass and wouldn't grow any worse over the coming months. He just had to give it some time.