Andy and Mike came to meet Ash as he was leaving. Andy's weedle was squirming around at his heels, making Mike a little nervous, but Andy didn't seem to mind. They helped Ash put on a backpack with his supplies. They embraced quickly while Gary took off.
"Lead the way, your highness," Ash said into the air and ran off to catch up with him.
"Your highness," shouted Andy behind them. "Lay a finger on Ash and I'll sick my Weedle on you!"
Ash raised an eyebrow at the thought. Gary ignored them and moved on at the same brisk pace.
The houses slowly gave way to fields, the fields to meadows. Soon they reached territory that Ash had never seen before. He never had reason to travel beyond the farmed areas, and he had no idea how picturesque Pallet Kingdom was. The Indigo Mountains caught the eastern sun and looked brown. By dusk they would go blue, hence their name, yet no-one understood the reason for the change. The meadows were patches of different shades of rich green, dotted with yellow, white and pink flowers. There were creeks in which poliwag splashed and rattata came to drink. The sky was blue and white, with the occasional spearow or pidgey or their mature forms flying overhead.
They stopped for a break around noon, and had a bite to eat and plenty to drink. Gary was puffing, while Ash, even loaded up as he was, had taken it in his stride. Working hard in the fields day after day had its advantages.
When Gary felt adequately refreshed, they took off again. They kept their talking to the bare minimum, which suited Ash fine. As far as he was concerned, the journey had started off well.
By late afternoon, they had reached the edge of Pallet Woods and stopped for another drink.
"I need to pee," Ash said, as soon as they started moving again.
Gary stopped abruptly. Ash barely missed bumping into him. Gary undid his trousers and urinated on the path in front of him.
Ash was disgusted. Had the guy no decency?
"When I'm king, this whole land'll be mine," he said. "I can do with it as I please."
"So you mark your territory like a wild raticate," mumbled Ash as he went behind a tree. Admittedly, there was no-one else around for miles. Gary had done it solely to intimidate him.
They moved on.
"And I'm gonna change a whole lotta things."
Ash tried to ignore him. It didn't work.
"I'm gonna buy myself my own personal army. I'll raise taxes to pay them of course. But no-one'll object, 'coz if they do, I'm gonna come down on them—hard!"
They continued to walk through the woods. The sun was now close to setting and the place was taking on a gloomy feel. There was occasional rustling in the bushes and movements in the trees. Ash would have preferred to know what was responsible, but Gary showed no fear, so Ash forced himself to believe that whatever monsters lurked in there, they would not cause them harm.
"Troublemakers won't last long. You know, those noble types with ideals about protecting people from being exploited."
"Gary, isn't that what our mission's about?"
"That's what you've been told. It's really about power—and competition. Competition between Timmy and me, and whether Pewter will take over Cerulean."
Ash did not know what to do with that information.
"Yeah, I've figured out what Pewter's up to, even with my grandfather trying to keep me in the dark. But tell you this, I'll have Misty eating out of my hand—and under my blanket—before we even get back to Pallet.
"Yeah... Misty. She's a good looker. Ha! And my grandfather goes on about moral codes. That's the next thing that'll go when I'm king. You know Ash, one thing I regret is listening to him about the age of consent. If I'd known how good it was..."
Ash was getting uncomfortable. Each step of the journey felt worse than the one before.
"Don't you wish you started earlier, Ash?" Gary turned to look at him. Ash kept silent.
"What's wrong? Think that stuff's too private for you?"
"Shut up, Gary."
"Hey... you don't mean you don't have a girl yet?"
"Let's just keep walking, Gary."
"What's the matter? Pallet girls not good enough for the king's representative? Or maybe you don't want to end up with any more little bastards around like yourself?"
"SHUT UP!"
"Is that an order, O fearless leader?"
"If that's the way you want it, then yes!" Ash was so distracted by Gary's taunting, he stopped concentrating on the path through the forest and tripped on a willow root. With a heavy pack on his back, he lost his balance and fell flat on his face.
"Your wish is my command, O commoner. In the mean time, since you've decided to stop here, let's set up camp for the night."
They moved a few steps further to a small clearing. Ash took out a flint and started a campfire. To his surprise, Gary did the work of collecting firewood. Ash unpacked some food, which they heated and ate silently.
Ash unpacked their blankets and gave one to Gary. It was early, but after walking all day, both their bodies craved rest. Gary added more fuel to the fire, and they each lay down on opposite sides under their blankets.
"Sleep with the backsack," Gary said coldly. "Monsters sometimes come and take the food."
Ash pulled the bag close to him. Soon Gary's breathing told him that he was alseep. He thought about the day. It was only the first day of their journey and Gary had succeeded in demoralizing him. Was the king wrong in thinking that he was up to the job? Mixed thoughts crowded his mind, but they soon became cloudy and Ash finally fell into a deep sleep.
Ash awoke to the sounds of a struggle. He opened his eyes and saw feet. He jerked awake and jumped up. Gary was held by an assailant, his left arm in an arm lock, his right trying to hold back a knife at his throat.
"Make a move and your pal gets it."
It was a second man who spoke. Ash looked around; there were only two of them.
The man holding Gary said, "Take out your sword, nice and easy, and throw it away."
Gary had little choice but to disarm himself.
"Alright," said the second man, who was also brandishing a knife. "Let's have your bag and no-one gets hurt."
Ash picked up the bag and made as if to swing it to the second man. At the last moment, he twisted and passed it to the man holding Gary.
The man instinctively lifted his right hand, the one holding the knife, and knocked the bag away. Simultaneously, Ash jumped over the campfire and aimed a kick at the man's forearm. He missed, and very nearly lost a foot as the man sliced the knife back down.
Fortunately, the man lost his grip on Gary, who broke free and lunged for his sword. The second man lunged as well, bringing his knife down sharply. Gary rolled out of the way, and the knife struck the ground. Gary, still on the ground, punched the man sideways, but it had no effect. The man raised his knife, swivelled over and tried to stab Gary again. Gary grabbed his opponent's wrist with both his hands. It took all his effort to hold back the blade, but he was losing. The man forced the blade, inch by inch, down towards Gary's chest.
Meanwhile, Ash retreated warily as the first man closed in on him with the knife. He stepped forward and thrust the blade, aiming for Ash's neck. Ash automatically blocked with his left arm and smashed him in the nose with his right first. Without waiting a second, Ash kicked the man in the groin. As the man keeled forward, Ash lifted the same leg and kneed him in the chin. A karate chop to neck, and the assailant fell down, unconscious.
By now the other man's knife had pierced Gary's shirt. The man was too strong—Gary could not hold out any longer. Ash took stock of the situation, jumped over to the man's left side and sent forth the sharpest side kick he could muster into the man's head.
The man was not expecting it. Ash's heel hit home, there was a loud crack, and the man went limp. Gary rolled the body off him. Both of them started to shake.
Gary kneeled down and checked the man's body. There was no breathing. He picked up his sword but did not sheathe it. Instead, he walked towards the other man.
"What are you doing? asked Ash.
"No-one puts a knife to my throat and gets away with it!"
"Wait! Can't we just tie him up?"
"And give him a chance to do this again—if not to us then to someone else?"
Ash grabbed Gary by the shoulder.
"NO!"
Gary stopped in his tracks but did not turn back. "Is that an order?"
Ash remained silent for a moment, then shook his head and released his grip. Gary walked up to the unconscious thief. He thrust the blade down into the man's heart. He withdrew it, wiped the blood off on the man's clothing, and sheathed it.
"Robbers from Viridian," said Gary. "I've heard stories of travellers being attacked, but I've never experienced it first hand. Then again, not many who do live to talk about it."
Ash looked surprised.
"Yeah, 'nobody gets hurt'—and you believed them?"
"How about we move camp?"
Gary didn't reply. He picked up his blanket and put out the fire. Ash waited until his eyes adjusted and did his best to pack up in what moonlight filtered through the leaves.
They managed to find another suitable place to camp without tripping too many times in the dark. They built another fire and settled down again.
"How about we take turns to keep watch?" Ash suggested. "I can take the first watch if you want."
Gary nodded. "Thanks," he said, the first positive word Ash received from him.
Both of them were subdued after that incident. Ash searched himself and was surprised to find that he no longer felt the inadequacy he had felt before. Gary's bragging and intimidation appeared to have stopped. He hoped it would last.
The rest of the night passed peacefully. Ash was once disturbed by some rustling. It turned out to be a monster he had never seen before. It was short and round with a bunch of tall leaves growing on its top. It eyed the two men suspiciously. Ash threw anothe piece of wood on the campfire. That scared it away.
