Title: The Shining Sun - A Gary Oak One-Shot
Disclaimers: I don’t own Pokemon or related characters
Rating: G (G is for Gary!)
Author’s notes: This is my first One-Shot, please don’t be too harsh on me. By the way, after watching the episode Lights, Camerupt, Action!, I assumed that Gary and Ash had known each other since they were little. Also, I’ve made several fan fiction stories but I’ve never continued any of them. Just recently I started writing again, trying to find my style. I’d like to read and write some more One-shots to improve also. Some criticism would be all right I guess, but again please don’t be too harsh. I have some issues when it comes to writing - sometimes I feel I'm not too detailed so I often put too much detail when I correct myself. I'm trying to get over that...


Petalburg city was absolutely gorgeous in autumn. The month of October really brought out the best of this city, everything was just stunning. It was mid morning and the sky was cloudy. Occasionally, the sun would come out to compliment the city for it’s beauty and brilliant nature-mingling people. For the middle of October, today was unseasonably warm compared to the past couple of days, but everybody in Petalburg loved it. They loved how the air lately had been sweetened by the rich and tangy aroma of ripe peaches that now lay on the leaf-covered grass. Every now and then there was even a hint of something burning the air as well—probably leaves. It was relatively quiet this morning except for a few bickering Murkrow and Spearow on the treetops. This particular beautiful autumn morning in Petalburg was picture perfect.

Trees were aligned on the left side of the sidewalk entering Petalburg city with their arms hung down, creating a veil over the trail. They poured leaves all over the trail and into the blue lake on the other side of the path. The leaves would float on the surface of the dark water like little golden lights, stirring up the calm scene of the lake. The green grass has faded a little over the passed month, but leaves covered it with a colorful quilt. Rain from the passing shower earlier coated them with a slippery layer, making them stick to the pavement. Trotting down the colorful paved sidewalk was a Pokemon resembling a black cat called Umbreon, who seemed happy to see how quickly the season has changed. He playfully dodged puddles and tried not to slip as he looked up at the falling leaves. Following him was a young man, no older than fourteen, named Gary Oak.

Gary was an amazing Pokemon trainer from Pallet Town who has ventured all the way through the Kanto and Johto regions. He has captured many Pokemon and has seen even more, competing and winning many battles. Where ever he went, he was challenged by other trainers and defeated every one of them... he even had his own cheerleaders. He was a great trainer, the grandson of the famous Professor Oak. Many fans... many challengers... many wins... and he had a rival who was his best friend — Ash Ketchum. Gary had the world at his feet. He had the best chance of being a Pokemon Master... but he gave that up. After finally defeated by Ash at the Johto League, Gary became more open minded and settled down a bit... and he decided to pursue a career as a Pokemon Researcher like his grandfather. He has changed a lot since then.

Because of some rumors he heard about the Pokemon Latios being seen around Hoenn, he decided to travel here to learn more about it. It would be a great discovery for a Pokemon Researcher to know about such a Pokemon, or even just seeing it. That’s what Gary had come here for, to possibly learn as much as he could about Latios, and maybe, just maybe, he could see it.

The brown haired trainer and his Umbreon came to a sight on the trail where the veil of branches spread apart so he could see the slightly-hazy city across the lake. He could see that the tall buildings of Petalburg city were softly touched by a golden ray of morning sun that peeked through patches in the clouds. He always symbolized the shining sun as a ray of pride beaming down on a person when he’s happily living his dreams. The sun, Gary knew, was always shining on Ash. Even though Gary has always been better than Ash as a trainer, he has been under dark cloudy skies.

At the moment, the bright reflection made Gary feel a little too warm, so he decided to take off his zippered purple jacket, knowing he’d feel much cooler with his black T-shirt. He swung the jacket over and held it over his shoulder, sighing with relaxation.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen an autumn like this before,” he said out loud, admiring the beautiful scenery. “I can only remember one like this in Pallet Town.“

Gary stared into the deep blue of the lake and recalled one Halloween with Ash. Halloween had always been their favorite day —well, night— of the year, that holiday where young children in crazy costumes run from house to house collecting ample amounts of candy. Mischievous older kids pulled pranks in the streets with shaving cream and steeling candy from each other. Gary and Ash always loved that time of year when everything was creepy and eerie, parties all over the block, fun and games, and of course... trick-or-treating and candy. When he was thinking back, Gary smiled as he realized... Halloween is a kid’s thing. He’s too old for that now. But it was always nice to remember those fun times. So he did. He remembered a Halloween back when him and Ash were little, before they became rivals. Even at that time, Gary liked to pick on and make fun of Ash even though they were friends.

They were still friends... they are better friends now that they were before. Even more mature than before, Gary held a grudge on Ash. How the sun was always shining on Ash. And how Ash beat Gary at the Pokemon League. Still at age fourteen, Gary hasn’t gotten over his cocky-ness and his will to always win.

Umbreon gazed over the lake as well and caught something with the corner of his eye as he perked up his long dark ears. On the other side of the lake, he saw a little black haired boy wondering along the shore looking around as if he was searching for something. Umbreon flicked his ears furry and sat down on the wet pavement, curiously watching to see what the boy was up to. Just as the black cat moved, he noticed the boy had paused, and was looking straight him. With a surprised look, the boy started to run along the shore of the lake towards them.

“Um, umbreon,” Umbreon called up to his master, warning him about the boy he saw. Gary snapped out of his gaze and looked down at his Pokemon who was pointing his paw down the trail.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Hey you!!” yelled a kid’s voice. Gary turned his head toward this voice to see the little black haired boy running in his direction. Dark brown eyes narrowed at Gary, he got a Pokeball from the side of his belt and enlarged it with a big grin on his face. He stopped and pointed the Pokeball Gary’s direction. “My name is Erik! You’ve got a Pokemon so I want to battle!”

Standing there was a short ten-year-old boy with an ocean blue T-shirt, long blue jeans and shaggy black hair. He had a little bit of dirt on his clothes and face, probably from battling other trainers. Obviously Erik was a new trainer just starting his own journey. He looked so familiar though. Gary questionably stared at this kid and was shocked at how much this Erik looked like Ash... and how he came running straight over to challenge him. At first he thought hallucinating so shook his head lightly.

Am I seeing things? he was thinking, This kid looks just like Ash as a kid.

“Fine, kiddo,” Gary responded in a familiar cocky tone, excepting the challenge without giving it any thought. That still must feel normal to him - he was use to being challenged by many during his trainer-days. When Gary looked back at Erik, he still looked the same. Looked just like Ash. Umbreon quickly hopped back onto all fours and looked up at his trainer with a desire to battle.

“Great,” Erik announced, raising his Pokeball. “It will be a one on one battle. Anything to train! Lets go, Pocky!” He threw the red and white ball like a baseball and it spiraled through the air. It opened with a blaze of bright red lights and revealed a small green lizard-like Pokemon standing on two legs. Pocky looked calm as he entered into battle and turned his head to spit out the twig he was chewing on, looking to the brown haired trainer and his Umbreon with big yellow eyes.

Snickering at the gecko’s nickname, Gary looked to Umbreon who was ready to battle, showing off the glowing rings on his body. Wordlessly, Gary let the black cat enter the paved battlefield where the dead leaves skipped. He was thinking about asking Erik about the Latios rumors, but he seemed uncomfortably wrapped up in this battle with the kid that looked just like Ash. It seemed like a coincidence—Gary was just thinking about his times with Ash on Halloween. Talk about creepy, he thought.

“Pocky, let’s start with a Pound attack!” Erik commanded, punching his fist forward as the Treeko leaped into action. He knotted his little green fingers together and pounded down toward the black cat, who watched him with a careful pair of crimson eyes.

“Faint Attack!” called Gary. Umbreon took a step back, faded away and disappeared into the nothingness just as Pocky went to hit him. Missing, Pocky pounded the hard ground and slipped on the wet leaves falling on his bum. He jerked up and looked around for the golden-ringed cat who had disappeared. Behind him, the rings appeared again and Umbreon came out of hiding, attacking Pocky in the back. Pocky skid a few feet on the trail by the attack, but it wasn’t a direct hit. Since this kid Erik is a newbie, Gary decided to go easy on him.

“Pocky hang in there,” shouted Eric as he took a step forward. “Quick, get up and use Bullet Seed!” As commanded, Pocky got to his feet before Umbreon could come back with another attack, and fired a bunch of flaming seeds from his mouth directly at his opponent. Umbreon took the attack on purpose and fell onto his side as he was pelted down by the seeds. Quickly, he got out of it and shook his body the attack was nothing.

---

Seven-or-eight-year-old Gary and Ash were invited to their friends’ Halloween party at late notice. Of course they were going to go, but they had to dress up for it. There was only a few good costumes left at the store and most of them were too big for them. Gary came across a nice one, his size, but he knew if Ash saw it, he’d try to get it too. So, Gary came up with an idea.

“Hey Ash,” he whispered over to Ash, who was looking through an old chest full of 80's styled clothes. “I heard whoever dresses up in the cutest Pokemon costume at the party wins a whole barrel of candy!”

“Whoaaaa!! A whole barrel full? That candy is mine!” Gullible Ash took off immediately to the kids’ Pokemon suits as Gary took the costume he found to the counter to buy it.

Later that night at the party, everyone had arrived in creepy ghostly costumes, all far from the definition of ‘cute’. Even girls look wickedly creepy disguised as green-faced witches. Gary was wearing black clothes with skeleton bone designs and an open grey jacket, aware that it was very chilly in the house. He was wearing a skull mask on the side of his face because it was so hard to see through — and he wanted to see Ash when he came to humiliate himself. Eagerly, he and a few others awaited Ash’s appearance, excited to see if he actually fell for the cute trick. Sure enough, Ash bursted through the door wearing a full-body purple Aipom costume with his face in the monkey’s mouth.

“Guys! I’m here!” he noisily announced and the party turned it’s attention towards him. He stood there. Everyone was staring at him. Looking around, Ash saw that nobody else was wearing cute Pokemon costumes. “Wait a minute,” he said, suspiciously shifting his eyes from side to side. He was on to something... then he smiled. “Hey! I win!” Everyone in the party room started to laugh hysterically at this kid with the lame costume. Confused, the gullible Ash tripped over his footed costume and fell over onto his back with his head in the monkey tail’s hand. Embarrassed as he couldn’t get up, he struggled and excepted this laughter.

---

Since then, Ash has been more cautious around Gary, making sure he isn’t tricked into doing something more embarrassing. For Gary, it was then he learned that he loved picking on Ash. Eventually when they became trainers, a rivalry formed between them. Gary, however, never thought as Ash as a rival, but as a loser. Whenever they’d battle, he’d always end up defeating Ash. He had more better Pokemon than Ash, more badges, and more experience. Gary Oak was always better than Ash. But the sun always shone on Ash. It always did. It wasn’t until they faced at the Pokemon League in Johto and Ash had finally defeated Gary at last. And since then, things have changed for Gary. He realized that he didn’t want to be a Pokemon Master. But even if he did, would the sun ever shine on him?

Gary still hasn’t accepted that loss. He still felt a desire to face Ash once again and defeat him like he did back in his trainer days. To prove Ash is still a loser. His mind was not fully focused on the battle he was all ready in. Erik, the boy who resembled Ash, commanded his Treeko to attack with another Pound. Doing so, Umbreon kept easily dodging moves, giving Pocky some ideas to improve his speed and accuracy. The black cat gracefully landed and held Pocky down, pinning him so he couldn’t move.

“Pocky! Hang in there, ‘kay? Pocky!” shouted Erik.

Gary opened his cold eyes and looked over at Erik. He saw Ash. Ash was his opponent here. Gary did not go easy on his opponent. He clenched his fist and laughed a bit. Smiling with revenge, he called out to his Pokemon, “You can’t win! You’re still a loser like always, Ash! Umbreon, use Shadow Ball!” Umbreon questionably looked to his trainer and opened his mouth. A dark purple ball started to form outside of the cat’s mouth and he pointed it over Pocky’s nervous head. This was very unlike Gary. Still a bit confused, Umbreon did not release the black ball of energy and he looked to his trainer with hesitation. “Now!!” Gary shouted, Umbreon leaped off of Pocky’s body as he finally shot the Shadow Ball down. The attack pinned Pocky into the ground, making a medium-sized dent in the new pavement. Leaves, rain droplets, and dirt flew up and clouded the hole. Erik frantically ran over to the hole and started to fan the dust away to retrieve his Treeko, who had obviously lost the match. He held his arms around the injured Pokemon and took off down the path to the Pokemon Center, where Pocky will be healed.

A cold chill ran through Gary as he watched the rushing child run away. It was like something evil had taken over him... it was kind of scary. He put his jacket back on and kept his gaze down the path. Umbreon looked up at him like he was stupid — stupid how his trainer could stand there like the battle was some kind of dream. And how he believed the kid was Ash.

That must’ve been like some kind of sign, Gary thought, now understanding how unfair he made the match. But now, Gary felt a little better in terms of that loss at the Johto Pokemon League. In fact, the loss never really bothered him much until just before, after being reminded of Halloween. At ease, he put his hands in his jacket pockets and started to walk down the still-clouded path, Umbreon walking slowly behind him now. The soft humming wind blew over the sweet scent of the peaches, along with some more leaves dancing and skipping around their feet. Umbreon’s ears perked up as he heard the abnormal hum in the air getting louder. Looking up in the direction where it was coming from, his ruby gemmed eyes widened in surprise at what he saw.

“Umbre! Umbreon!” he jumped around the fourteen year-old trainer’s feet, mewing crazily and pointing his paws at the sky. Gary stopped to see what was up now, thinking his Umbreon was on to something with these “I Spy” things all morning. He followed the cat’s paw and looked up, finding himself in amazement. Blazing by in the cloudy sky above him was a roaring blue jet in the figure of a bird of some sort, too fast to be identified. Gary, grinning, knew exactly what it was.

“Latios!” he called, he jumped up and started to run down the path towards the city were the flash was headed. Knowing he’d never be able to catch up with it, he felt he was very lucky to see it. Quick but majestic, the shining blue jet Latios darted through the sky, his wings cutting an opening in the clouds and the sun came through, shining on Gary.

-End