Chapter Text
GARY OAK
and the Temple of Gloom
CHAPTER ONE
FROM CHINA WITH LOVE
Somewere in China…
It's dinnertime, smoke rises from the restaurant chimneys and the aroma of food fills the downtown streets, lit by Chinese lamps and signs, as passersby come and go, each headed to their own destination. Inside a classy restaurant, past the large wooden doors inlaid with two tangled dragons, customers are sitting at tables enjoying a Pokémon battle while enjoying fine food.
[Soundtrack: Alex Rudi Pell – Run With the Wind]
In the stone ring at the center of the building, Gary Oak and his friend Rick Pine are fighting against Lao Tze, a rich and powerful businessman with a hand in several shady deals, and his henchman…
Porygon has just dodged every blow from Ceruledge's Shadow Claw attack thanks to his agility.
"Porygon, Tri Attack!" Rick orders. The Pokémon brakes with a sharp turn, gets into a firing position, and fires three energy spheres: fire, electric, and ice. They hit Ceruledge like missiles and crash to the ground, exploding. But the Pokémon manages to dodge the attack by diving to the side and rolling nimbly.
"Gothitelle, put that Umbreon to sleep with Hypnosis!" Lao orders.
"Sand Attack!" Gary exclaims. Umbreon quickly catches its opponent off guard, throwing sand in its eyes and blocking the attack.
"Porygon, Lock-On!" Rick orders. The Pokémon locks onto its enemy targets: its next attack must connect.
"Umbreon, Bite!" Gary orders. Umbreon, visibly worn out from the battle, claws the ground and launches itself at Gothitelle. As it charges, a breeze rises. "WATCH OUT, UMBREON, IT'S FUTURE SIGHT!" Suddenly, the powerful energy beam appears as if from nowhere and rushes into the battlefield, kicking up dust in its wake. Umbreon gathers his strength and leaps, miraculously avoiding the attack, but not completely: he is grazed and knocked to the ground on the other side of the ring, rolls three or four times, and barely gets up right in front of Ceruledge. The crowd applauds, pleasantly impressed.
"Ceruledge, finish him off with your Flame Charge!" Lao orders.
"Gothitelle, hit Porygon with your Psybeam!" The minion orders.
"Porygon, now! Hyper Beam!" The Hyper Beam obliterates the weaker Psybeam and continues on to the opposing Pokémon, *BOOM* wiping them away in the explosion and saving Umbreon.
[Stop music]
"Ceruledge and Gothitelle are no longer fit to fight" the referee exclaims, raising his arm. "The victory goes to our challengers: Gary Oak and Rick Pine!"
*clap clap clap…* The crowd applauds, and some cheer, enthralled by the splendid match they've witnessed. Lao and his henchman don't seem particularly pleased, nor do the other security men scattered around his club. The henchman tries to apologize, but Lao rudely silences him.
Amid applause and cheers, Rick raises his arms in victory, then recalls Porygon into the sphere and turns to his friend "This time, we were so close, but we did it!"
"You fought well, Rick, but not all problems are solved with brute force..." Gary exclaims, recalling Umbreon.
"We won, right? And the Mariachi is finally ours!"
On the other side of the ring, Lao swallows his anger, adjusts his jacket with the red flower in the pocket, and approaches them “Please, gentlemen, if you would like to follow me to my table…”
Gary and Rick follow Lao up the stairs to the second and top floor, the section of the restaurant for the best customers, and sit at the large round table in the center of the room, Gary and Rick on one side, Lao on the other, with a couple of men standing behind him. On stage, an American singer in a folkloristic red dress is singing a song in improvised Chinese.
“I must pay you my compliments: few men in the world have been able to beat me… and none of them are Japanese” he adds, masking his nerves.
“Don't make it a political issue, Lao: we are, so to speak, free entrepreneurs” Rick exclaims, taking a sip of Dirty Tiananmen, a signature drink.
“Tonight you are my guests. Allow me to treat you to a dish typical of our country.” *snap* He snaps his fingers and the waiter rushes to the kitchen "Have you ever tried Chinese dog filet?"
"Not to be rude" Gary speaks up, "but we'd rather have our Mariachi and leave."
Lao stares at him for a second, then says "Of course." He motions to one of his men, who passes him a small box. Lao places it on the turntable in the center of the table and turns it toward them.
Gary opens the box; Rick exclaims "Some... green cards for the United States?"
"The deal was for the statuette, Lao!" Gary continues, placing the box back on the turntable.
Lao tries to contain his nerves, then accepts: he places the Mariachi on the turntable and turns it around.
Rick grabs it without hesitation "Aaah! Here it is, finally!" He looks at the statuette in his hands: it's an ancient Ming Dynasty statuette depicting a cheerful Chinese man in a sombrero playing the guitar.
Gary and Rick finally have what they want. Gary exclaims "Well, it was a pleasure, Lao." They start to get up but are distracted by something happening at another table: an American guy, barely able to stand, is brandishing a skewer with burning meat on it. The guy throws the skewer into a Chinese guy's stomach before he can pull out his gun to defend himself, ending up shooting the floor. "AAAAAH!" A woman starts screaming, followed closely by the others, and all the customers start running around chaotically, trying to escape in fear, while the American in the white jacket dives onto the table, beating up the Chinese at his table.
Gary turns around, huffing in pity "Tsk, Americans..." But suddenly his eyes widen: one of Lao's henchmen is pointing a gun at him.
"And now, Gary, now you have to give me back the Mariachi" Lao exclaims, trying to hold back his laughter.
Rick pushes back his chair and jumps up in anger "Lao! That wasn't the deal!"
"Ooh!" He laughs, "so what do you want to do?"
Now that the attention is on Rick, Gary's hand slowly slides to the pokéballs...
"You know what I tell you?" Rick points, "one day, we Japanese will conquer this land and kick your asses! And on that day, if you can still lift your head, you'll see me!" He points his thumb to his chest.
"Good! That's the right spirit!" He points his gun "To go to the other world!"
"Go, Muk!!"
*BANG*
Muk absorbs the bullet into his body and then "Muuuk!" "NOOO!" He attacks Lao Tse and his two henchmen with his full bulk. Gary and Rick run toward the stairs but are mobbed by the crowd, and more of Lao Tse's men jump on them. Gary and Rick have no choice: they punch them, knocking them out one by one.
“The window!” Gary points.
“The window?? Skarmory is too tired to fly!”
“We have no choice! Muk, come back!” Gary calls the Pokémon while, below him, Lao and his men catch their breath.
Gary and Rick run toward the window, already broken by the American from before who jumped out with the singer, for what reason…
“GO SKARMORY!” Rick yells.
“CATCH THEM!” Lao yells from above.
Gary and Rick jump on the Pokémon’s back but “Skarmory, pull up! PULL UP!” *CRASH* The Pokémon is too tired to fly and crashes through the roof of a parked car.
“Ouch!” Gary gasps in pain, “are you all right?”
“The statuette! Is it still intact?”
Gary grimaces critically.“Yeah… You hold it while I try to get this thing started.”
*gnek gnek gnek…*
“So? Why don’t we go?”
“I’m trying, but it won’t start!”
“There they are! Let’s get them!” Lao’s henchmen yell, having just run out into the street.
“Gaaary??”
*gnik gnik VROOOM* “Hold on tight!” Gary shifts into gear *SCKEEETCH* the tires screech on the asphalt, and the car speeds off into the night traffic, leaving the bad guys on foot behind.
*BEEEP BEEEP* “PART-TIME DRIVER!” Gary yells. “It’s true that Chinese people don’t know how to drive! Look at these CRAZY PEOPLE who all drive on the right!”
“Of course they drive on the right: we’re in China…”
“That’s what I said! PART-TIME DRIVER!” *BEEEEP*
“ACCELERATE!”
“Why? Are they chasing us?” He asks, turning around: cars are hot on his heels, but what's worse is that flying Centiskorch, ridden by Lao.
*WOOOSH* Gary dodges a flamethrower that sets a fruit cart ablaze.
“CAN'T YOU GO FASTER IN THIS WRECK??”
“WE NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT! CALL SKARMORY TO HIS SPHERE!”
Rick calls the Pokémon and the car suddenly accelerates as if it's turbocharged.
*RATTATA-TA-TA-TA…* two of Lao's men lean out of the windows, brandishing a clearly American-made submachine gun.
“Yeah, otherwise it's not cool to use the enemy's weapons…” Gary mutters to himself.
“Gary, what are you muttering about?! SPEED UP! These guys are gaining ground!”
“I didn’t say that to myself, I was speaking with the audience!”
“What audience?”
“Forget it… and try to slow them down somehow!”
“FIRE COMING!”
“HOLD ON!” *SCKEEETCH* Gary swerves into an alley, dodging the flames and losing some cars that continue on, while others continue the chase. The car continues speeding down the alley, hitting and blowing up all the garbage cans. Gary ends up with pickles over his eyes like a beauty mask, while Rick ends up with an octopus wig. *VROOM* They shoot out of the alley, almost causing a crash with other cars on the street, and are insulted by everyone passing by. They still have one car behind them, and Centiskorch reappears from atop a building.
“That damn Lao just won’t let go!” Rick exclaims.
“We’re almost at the airport!”
They are now out of the city and, after passing the last buildings, the road in front of them runs straight towards the airport.
*CLANG* Gary rips off the gate of the small airport and races down the runway. *POP* The radiator cap pops like a mortar shell, steam pouring out. The car continues for a little longer before losing power, but luckily they've reached their plane: a small, single-engine, four-seater, if you squeeze in. The car is no longer moving, so Gary and Rick jump out and start running. Gary is faster and reaches the plane first, puts in his keys, opens the door, and then turns around.
"MOVING, RICK!"
"TAKE THE STATUETTE!" He yells, throwing it to him.
Gary catches it "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?"
"START THE ENGINE! I'LL HOLD THEM BACK AS LONG AS I CAN!" He yells, as Lao and the henchmen's car arrive.
"Tsk, he's got it into his head to be a hero now..." Gary mutters. He climbs in, sits in the pilot's seat, and begins fiddling with the instruments.
Meanwhile, Lao catches up with Rick, flying at ground level with his Centiskorch "I want my statuette!" His men's car also stops behind him.
"If you want it back..." Rick pulls out a Pokéball "...you'll have to fight! Go, Krookodile!"
"Whatever you say! Now I'll have my revenge!" He jumps down from his fire snake and prepares to fight. "Go, Centiskorch! Show that foolish Japanese the full power of your Fire Lash!"
Centiskorch spins around, taking the shape of a wheel, then quickly unleashes a whip with his fiery tail, then another and another, hitting and tearing through the ground. The attacks are powerful, but Krookodile is more agile and avoids them all by leaping from one side to the other.
"Krookodile, put out that firebug with your Sand Tomb!"
Krookodile creates a tornado of sand that forces everyone to shield their eyes. Centiskorch is trapped inside the whirlwind and struck repeatedly. When the tornado ends, Centiskorch collapses to the ground, exhausted but perfectly polished.
"NO CENTISKORCH!" Lao shouts.
"HAHAHAHA! This is your destiny: to be defeated! Because people like you will always be defeated by people like me! HAHAHAHAH!"
"Grrr!" Lao has been humiliated like never before in his life and is very, very angry.
The plane is now taxiing down the runway. Rick turns to his enemy one last time "Well, I'd love to stay here and win the third match in a row, but my flight awaits. Goodbye, Lao-Tse!" He greets him with a slap-worthy smile, turning his back on him.
*BANG*
[Slow motion]
"RIIIIIK!!" Gary yells from the cockpit.
Rick falls to his knees; behind him, the smoking gun in Lao's hand. Rick watches his friend Gary yell from the cockpit one last time "NOOO!!" and then falls to the ground.
[Normal speed]
"STOP THAT PLANE!" Lao yells. His henchmen begin firing at the plane with pistols and machine guns. Gary leans back in his seats to avoid being hit, pushes the throttle all the way forward, and begins the takeoff roll. The plane passes in front of the Chinese, getting punctured, but not seriously. The Chinese stop shooting: the plane is now airborne.
Pallet Town, four months later…
Umbreon is running across the fields playing with some butterfree. Gary is lying on the grass, his hands behind his head, looking at the clouds in the sky on a calm and peaceful August midday. There's a cloud that resembles a plump Pikachu with type 2 diabetes. Maybe Gary is overthinking as usual; he should take life more lightly, but that's what he's doing: having a nice vacation. He's always had an active life, always rushing to be the best at everything, and this is the first time he's unplugged for so long. Even as a child... well, before his growth stopped at 10, he used to stay active during vacations. This is his first real summer vacation. He needed it, especially after what happened...
"Gary?" His sister Daisy joins him, "I'm going into town with a friend of mine to buy tickets for the Thunder Rats, do you want to come?"
"The Thunder Rats?" He exclaims, sitting up. "Are they still around? They're… at least 120 years old!”
"HAHA! You're the one talking! Come on, let's go!"
"Meh... no, I don't care..." he exclaims, stretching. "And then I still have to make the onigiri for lunch."
"Ugh... Do you want me to get you a ticket too?"
"Meh... I don't know... After the guitarist left the band, they started changing their sound..."
"Whatever... Oh, I forgot: your grandfather was looking for you, come by the lab later! See you, bye!"
"My grandfather?" Thinks Gary.
After lunch, Gary heads to his grandfather's lab, crosses the bridge over the stream, and climbs the steps to the door. *drin driiin driiiiin…* no one answers the door. Gary enters anyway, it's his house after all, and finds his grandfather sitting at his computer with headphones on and a crumpled onigiri wrapper on the floor.
"Grandpa?" Gary waves his hand in front of him.
"Gary! There you are!" He takes off his headphones. "You know the Thunder Rats, right? They're a band from my era. They're coming through Viridian City for the first time in their career. Summer camp or not, I'm not missing this one! Do you want to come?"
"That's why you were looking for me?"
"No… no, there's something else…" The professor opens a program on the computer and enters his credentials. A series of graphs appear on the monitor, showing a series of exclamation points as if to say "be careful." "I'm receiving anomalous data from an experiment underway at your university. Based on these readings, it seems that the monitored Pokémon have mutated into something else..."
Gary observes the data on the screen "That's absurd! This data makes no sense! The instruments must have malfunctioned..."
"That's what I thought, too. Maybe a power surge messed up the equipment, and in August there's only a clumsy graduate student checking it, and he doesn't even answer the phone."
"Well, that doesn't surprise me... You know how universities work: the least of their problems is studying..." Gary comments with a wry grin.
"I wanted to ask you to go and fix the problem myself. I'd go, but I'm too busy with summer camp, and so is Tracey."
"Oh... of course! No problem! I've had a lot of free time lately... I'll get in the car and leave immediately! I'll sort everything out and be back by tomorrow evening, the day after at the latest!"
"There's no urgency, Gary. Why don't you take it more calmly?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I lost someone important too, you know... Back in the day, it was helpful for me to go on a trip of my own, like when I was young, I was a Pokémon trainer. Setting goals helps keep your mind active and focused, and it helps a little, but you shouldn't overdo it in the other direction either!"
"Hey, Grandpa, I'm just a little sad!" Gary laughs, perhaps trying to lighten the mood. "I just need to spend some time in the countryside and I'll be back to my old self! But your idea isn't bad... There's nothing to do here: a few days of walking in nature can only do me good! And then, maybe I could meet that loser Ash intent on catching some Metapods, HAHAHAHAHAH!"
"I don't think so: Ash has set off on another journey to the Piedmontia region, and judging by his determination, he might even win the League..."
"Oh, yes? Well, I hope it won't take him another 25 years of trying to do it! Don't worry, Grandpa: I'll fix this little inconvenience at the university and then, why not? I'll set off for Piedmontia too! I'll win the League and place at the end of the Elite Four with a nice camera. I really want to capture the exact moment Ash sees my face, HAHAHAHAHA!" Gary laughs heartily and heads for the door, continuing to laugh like a madman to himself.
"That was almost too easy..." the professor chuckles.
Gary pulls into the driveway, thoughtful “It sure is weird: all the sensor data was wrong…” He opens the door and enters the house “How is it possible that all the equipment failed at once? What kind of mess did that graduate student make?” *bonk* Absentmindedly, he bumps into something.
The something turns and looks at him with wide eyes.
Gary watches the something look at him “Who…”
“Aaaah!” The something screams.
“Aaaah!” Gary screams.
“AAAAAH!” The something screams louder, “MANIAC!” And hits him with her backpack.
“OUCH!” Gary screams, “STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? WHO ARE YOU??”
“STOP IVY!” Daisy comes up to them from the other room, “it’s my brother!”
The girl stops and stares at him with her head cocked like a curious pigeon. A curious pigeon with a slender body, wavy light brown hair that reaches her neck, a yellow T-shirt two or three sizes too big, blue jeans, and low-top Converse-style sneakers.
“Who the hell is her, Daisy?” He asks irritably.
“It’s Ivy, that’s my friend I told you about! We’re back in…”
“Gary Oak?” Ivy interrupts, “Professor Gary Oak?? Yes! Now I recognize you! It’s really you!” She clasps her hands together and bows her head “Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, I hit you! I thought you were some maniac who came in to kidnap me and take me to the castle to wait for the plumber to arrive!”
“Doing what?”
Daisy tries to save the day “Gary, Ivy is a… bit peculiar. She lives near Celadon City and goes to the same university as you. She’s an honor student, you know? He's only 10 years old and already in his third year of Pokébiology!
"Yay! I peeked at the syllabus, and you'll be my Statistics and Moves Learned Module 2 teacher! How exciting!! I can't wait to get started! All the students are talking so much about the professor who defeated the Nazi ninjas all by himself! Right! Left! Right! Left! Kick!" Ivy mimes the fight.
"Yeah, well, it didn't quite go like that..." he continues embarrassed.
"They thought they'd conquer Europe and then the rest of the world, but you showed them! You don't mess with Gary Oak!"
*driiin*
"Ugh! The onigiri tart in the oven!" Ivy disappears into the kitchen, leaving the brother and sister alone.
"So... she's a nice gal, huh? What do you think?"
"She's totally crazy! Where did you meet her?"
"Come on! She's just a little excited to have met you in person. She's usually much calmer."
"And you even wanted to trick me into going to the concert with her!"
"I was just worried about you! You've been sitting here doing nothing for months... And don't you think she's a beautiful girl?"
"Yes, I just have to stop by Grandpa's to get the Rapidash tranquilizer gun!"
From the kitchen comes the call "It's readyyy! Gary, come and try a slice! No! It's too hot now! But maybe I could cut it into very thin slices to help it cool faster..."
"But don't worry, sister: I'm fine! Now excuse me while I go get ready: Grandpa asked me to stop by the university to solve a problem, and then I'm leaving for another trip!" He exclaims, heading up the stairs to his room.
*tack flush pling snap ting swip…* Gary is ready! He's wearing khaki cargo pants, sneakers, a dark T-shirt, and a backpack.
"And my lucky charm! I almost forgot it" he exclaims, picking it up from the desk right next to the Mariachi. Bad thoughts come flooding back to him...
Gary walks down the stairs "Bye everyone, I'm going!" He walks out the door and "Aaagh!" He stops just five centimeters away from Ivy.
"I'm coming with you!" She exclaims joyfully, raising an arm in the air.
"Are you kidding?" He blurts out. He turns to his sister, who gives him a dirty look as if to say "Don't be rude."
"Really, really! I live around there anyway! We'll walk the whole way together and talk about your adventures, isn't that a wonderful idea?"
"..." Gary is left speechless and speechless, disheartened, his shoulders slumping.
And so another exciting adventure begins! Will Gary be able to get to Celadon City to figure out what happened to the university's equipment? Was it a power surge or a clumsy graduate student that caused the damage? And will he be able to get along with the beautiful and eccentric Ivy?
"I don't think so! Are you seriously following me for this nonsense? Does this sound like an adventurous and exciting story to you? With twists and turns and exploding helicopters? Ah, Ash has certainly given you a bad rap..."