* * * r a i n y    d a y* * *
                         * * *by loren leah* * *
                         lorenleah@angelfire.com


--one month until the meeting of the pokémon league--


It was *still* raining.

Gary sighed, chin resting on his arms, arms resting on the lip of the bay 
window as he looked out at the downpour running its course outside.  It had 
been raining for three days straight.  He hadn't been able to get outside 
and train his Pokémon at all; the only exercise they'd gotten was a short 
jaunt around the house once a day, with the exception of Poliwrath.  And he 
himself was feeling quite cooped up.  His family's little house in Pallet 
Town wasn't exactly huge or luxurious.

"Nine...?"  Arcanine walked up beside him and nudged his leg.  Looking over, 
Gary stood and patted his favorite Pokémon's head.

"Sorry, Arcanine.  I'd love to take you out, but you're a Fire-type.  I 
wouldn't want you getting sick from being out in the rain," he said.  "Or 
myself, either."

"Arr!  Arrrcanine!  Nine nine arrcanine!" the Pokémon barked, going over to 
the door and scratching at it gently.

Professor Oak entered the room, noticed Arcanine, and then looked over at 
Gary.  "Erm, I don't want to tell you how to raise your Pokémon, but...it 
looks like Arcanine wants to go outside."

Mentally rolling his eyes, Gary glanced over at his grandfather.  "I know.  
But it would be terrible of me to take a Fire-type out into that mess," he 
said, gesturing toward the window.

Professor Oak looked out at the dreary scene and shook his head.  
"Actually, Arcanine should be just fine out there, as long as it doesn't 
fall into a pond or something," the Professor said.  "It doesn't have any 
actual fire sprouting from its body, so there's nothing to worry about, 
unless you're planning on having a Pokémon battle--in which case I would 
recommend a Water- or Ice-type."

Gary raised an eyebrow.  "Seriously?"

"Of course!"

Gary blushed slightly, and his surprised expression was instantly replaced by 
a scowl.  "I...I knew that!  I was just testing ya, gramps, to make sure your 
antique brain was still working!"

Gary yanked his raincoat from its closet hook, nearly ripping a hole in the 
hood.  "C'mon Arcanine, let's get out of this stuffy house!"  He opened the 
door and stalked out.

"Arrrrc!  Arrcanine!" barked Arcanine joyfully as it followed afterward.  
Professor Oak watched them leave, then closed the door with a sigh.

* * *

_Grandpa...  I didn't mean to act like that..._

Gary walked slowly along the path around the edge of town, lost in thought.  
He barely noticed the rain that still drizzled down all about him, or the 
barks of his Arcanine as it jumped happily about.

_Even Ash doesn't like me anymore.  And now I can't even be nice to my own 
grandfather.  What the heck is wrong with me!?_

He shook his head and sighed, resisting the temptation to just break down and 
cry.  Nothing was going right lately.  If it ever had in the first place.

_Ash is such a good trainer...  He's so much better than me it wouldn't even 
be a match if we tried to battle.  Who cares if my Pokémon have more levels...  
His are better trained...  And heck, if we did fight, I'd probably bungle it 
myself!  Send out a Graveler against his Squirtle or something braindead like 
that.  I so suck--_

"Aughh!  Watch where you're going!"

Gary jumped, and looked up from his view of the ground to find one of Ash's 
friends standing directly in front of him.  The red-haired girl...what was 
her name?  Misty.  Yes, that was it.

"Oh."  He blinked.  "Ahh, sorry...Misty, isn't it?  I, uhh...didn't see you 
there."

Misty was indignant.  "Well, of course you didn't, looking down at your feet 
the whole time!  What could be so unbelievably interesting down there 
anyway...!?"

Gary shrugged, looking backwards to try and find his Arcanine through the 
fog.  Locating it, he turned back around to find Misty staring at him.

"What are you doing out here in the rain, anyway?" she asked.

He scowled.  "None of your business.  Besides, I could ask *you* the same 
question."

Misty blushed, growing quite angry.  "Well, I'd probably give you the same 
answer!"  She paused for a moment, scowling, and then went on.  "You are such 
a jerk!  Going around with your stupid ten badges and your stupid 
cheerleaders in that stupid car, like you were better than everyone else!!  
And you're probably not even as good a trainer as Ash!!  And I..."  She 
paused to catch her breath, glaring at him, then finished her sentence: "I 
hope you just jump off a cliff!  Because that's all you deserve!"  She walked 
off in a huff.

Gary watched her disappear into the fog and gloom, then turned and slowly 
walked down a side path away from Pallet.

* * *

Misty wandered the streets of Pallet Town, feeling confused, angry, and more 
than a little embarrassed.  _How is it possible to get lost in such a tiny 
town...?_ she wondered, half-berating herself.  She'd been headed to 
Professor Oak's lab to borrow some Super Potion, but things were so hard to 
find out here in the...well, mist.  In fact, she suspected she'd been going 
in circles for the past fifteen minutes.

Looking around, she spotted a bush with bright pink-and-yellow blossoms.  
_Yes,_ she confirmed with a sigh.  _I really *have*  been going in circles!  
I've seen that bush three times already..._

She turned toward a path she thought would lead to the center of town and 
started along it.  She had only walked a few yards when she heard a voice 
from beyond some of the bushes to her left.

"Please, Arcanine...just get into the Pokéball.  Please?"

_Who...  Wait!  Is that Gary?  What's he up to...?_

Walking up to the bushes as quietly as she could, she parted a few branches 
and had a look.

Gary was sitting not too far in front of her, his back toward her face.  
Arcanine was a short distance off to his left, hiding behind a few trees and 
looking disappointed.  A few feet in front of them, the wet, grassy field 
took an abrupt drop for what looked like at least seven feet.  _So I'm on the 
way to Professor Oak's,_ Misty thought absently as she watched her fellow 
Pokémon trainer.

"Please?  Come on, it's not like you'll be in there forever," coaxed Gary.  

"Arrrrrc," sighed Arcanine, finally giving in to this interruption of its 
playtime.  It walked over to the Pokéball in Gary's outsretched hand and 
allowed itself to be pulled back in.

Gary rose, took a short look around the grass under the trees his Pokémon had 
been standing behind, and placed the Pokéball in an indentation between two 
tree roots.  Then he walked over to the cliff.

Misty's eyes widened abruptly.  With a shout of "Stop!" she scrambled through 
the bushes and rushed over to him.

Gary jumped and wheeled about.  "Misty!  What are you doing here!?"

"What are *you* doing...?"  Misty's voice was soft and tremulous.  "Don't 
tell me you...took me seriously...?"  She blinked.  "G-Gary..."

Gary looked out over the drop before him and sighed, walking back to the 
safety of the trees.  "I guess you're not going to let me go through with 
it, huh?"

"Well, of course not!"  She walked over beside him and sat down, prompting 
him to do the same.  "But...why?"

He shook his head, staring down at the ground.  "Look, I don't have to 
explain anything to *you*.  It's my business, okay?  Just like I said 
before."

There was a pause.

"I could tell someone about this, you know."

Gary looked up at her.  There was a deadly serious expression on her face.  

"I could tell your grandpa and Ash and your parents, and then there 
wouldn't be any more Pokémon training for you, now would there?  No more of 
anything fun, since they'd probably be too afraid to let you out of their 
sight.  Plus you'd be stuck going to a shrink for the rest of your life."

Gary sighed, and her expression softened a bit.  

"So why don't you just talk to me about it, and maybe...just maybe...you can 
avoid all that."

There was another pause.  Gary avoided her eyes.

"All...all right," he said finally.  "But if anyone else ever heard about 
this...  I would *die*, I swear..."

Misty nodded.  "Secret secrets.  Okay, I won't tell.  Go ahead."

"Well..."  He was silent for a moment, organizing his thoughts.  "You were 
right, you know...  I just can't match up to Ash.  He-- he's got this huge 
bond with his Pokémon that I never had...I'm not even sure I *could* have 
something like that.  I've got so many more Pokémon than him, but he's 
like...quality over quantity.  I could never beat him.  And if I can't beat 
Ash...what chance do I have in the Pokémon League?"

"So that's why you...?" whispered Misty, mostly to herself.  "Just because of 
Ash...?"

Gary went on, oblivious.  "And I couldn't come back home a loser.  I just 
COULDN'T!  M-my mom and dad would be so humiliated...  They'd be like, 'Oh, 
we can't believe the grandson of the *great* Professor Oak failed at 
anything!  Why, you're just going to have to live on the road until you can 
do it right!' "  He smiled sarcastically.  "Or something stupid like that."

Misty was quiet.

Gary sighed, looking down at his feet.  "You know, everybody thinks I think 
I'm so great and everything, but...  I mean, I never asked for all those 
cheerleader girls to follow me, but they did anyway, because they wanted to.  
So I'm going along, winning all my battles, and they're cheering for me, 
everyone is in fact, and..."  He shook his head.  "I don't even deserve it.  
So I try and try and try to really deserve--  But I--"  

He looked back up at Misty.  A lone teardrop managed to escape his eye, and 
slowly rolled down one cheek to be lost in the endless tears of the heavens.

"I just don't."

Misty shook her head.  "That's not true at all!  You might not be the very 
best, but you're an excellent Pokémon trainer!"

Gary scowled.  "Sure.  Look, I told you what you wanted, so you better keep 
your mouth shut," he said, rising and retrieving his Pokéball.  He turned 
toward the bushes and was about to make his way back to the path when--

"Misty?"

Ash's voice sounded clearly and loudly.

"Misty, where are you?  Are you all right?"

Misty jumped up, blushing slightly.  "Ash!  I'm over here, behind the 
bushes!"

After a moment, Ash came poking through.  He took a quick look around, his 
eyes coming to rest first on Gary, and then Misty.

"What the heck are you doing?" he asked.  "It's been half an hour since you 
went out to Professor Oak's!"

Misty blushed further.  "Yeah...I know..."  She paused, looking at Gary.  
"But you see--"

"And why is Gary here?  What are you guys doing?"  Ash looked at the Pokéball 
in his rival's hand.  "Are you trading Pokémon?  Out here in the middle of 
nowhere?"

Gary rolled his eyes.  "Ash, you are so thickheaded it hurts to listen to 
you."  

Ash scowled.  "Hey!  You know I'm--"

Misty ran over and put a hand on Ash's shoulder.  "Ash, would you do me a 
favor?" she asked him.

"Yeah, sure," said Ash, "just as soon as I finish--"

"No, I mean right now," said Misty.  "It's really important."

Ash turned around to look at Misty.  "Well...what do you want?"

"Ash," Misty began hesitantly, "do you think Gary could beat you in a 
Pokémon battle?"

Ash jumped, a horrified look on his face.  "Misty, he's STANDING right 
behind me!"

Misty nodded.  "That's the point.  Come on.  Please be honest...this is 
more important than you'll ever know."

Ash blinked and paused for a moment, about to refuse.  But something in 
Misty's face told him she wasn't just doing this to humiliate him.

"Well..." he began softly.  "Yeah.  He could kick my butt.  He's really...
really good, a lot better than me.  People like him really do deserve 
cheerleaders...at least the ones that don't already think way too much of 
themselves."  He glanced back toward his rival.

Gary was crying.  Tears streamed unchecked down his face, making it as wet as 
the rest of his rainsoaked body.

"D'you...really mean that...?"

Ash nodded, eyes wide.

Gary glanced over behind his rival, reaching up to wipe his wet cheeks.  

"Thanks.  I needed that."

Misty just smiled at him.