Gary Oak was on his way home through Viridian forest when he heard a snap in the bushes to his right. Gary turned to see a large Ursaring coming at him. Gary felt something hit him on the right side and he blacked out. When he opened his eyes again, it was in some sort of bubble. "Where am I?" Gary said out loud. A voice seemed to answer him out of nowhere. "You're dead young one." Gary gasped in surprise and began to panic. "I can't be dead! I have pokemon to train and a championship to win! I'm going to be the best pokemon trainer ever, I can't be dead!" Gary said in alarm. "Whine if you want to, that still won't change your situation. You are dead but since you weren't cruel to your pokemon, we can sympathize but, we can't allow you into heaven." Gary paled. "However, since you have a lot of good in you, upstairs decided you are to be sent back." "I'm going home?" Gary asked hopefully. The voice answered with a laugh. "Yes but not in any form that's recognizable as Gary Oak." Gary was about to ask him what he meant when he felt his bubble around him change. "What's happening?!" Gary cried in alarm as he seemed to fall. Meanwhile Ash and co where coming home from Gary's funeral. "I can't believe he's gone." Ash said somberly. Misty and Brock gave him a sideways glance. "Didn't you always hate Gary because he was your rival?" Misty asked. Ash turned around to face her in anger. "I didn't hate him! Of course I envied his abilities and him but we were kids together! I didn't hate him, I envied him…" Ash let his sentence open. "Bet you don't envy him now." Brock joked. Ash lifted one eyebrow and sighed. Brock was right of course, Ash didn't envy Gary now he was gone. Then it hit Ash like a ton of bricks. "Who's going to train his pokemon now?" Ash asked. Misty and Brock looked at each other. They didn't know the answer to that question. In Viridian forest, a pair of Pikachu were having trouble of their own. "You'll be fine. Come on." Encouraged the male Pikachu. The female glared at him and gave him if looks could kill you'd be dead glare. "You're never coming near me again!" Growled the female. The female Pikachu was giving birth and was having a difficult time. "ARRRRG!" Screamed the pokemon one last time. "It's an egg!" Squealed the father in delight. Just then the mother fainted. "Are you alright?! Speak to me!" "Another, we have another one on the way!" Screamed the mother suddenly. In the chaos that followed, the egg began to wobble violently and it rolled down a hill into the river. Gary felt strange because he couldn't breath and it was so cold now. 'Where am I now?' A small thought crossed the mind in the egg, 'What sort of prison is this?' Ash walked outside and kept right on walking. He had just been to visit the Oaks who were grieving. Ash walked without Pikachu and his pokemon because for some reason, it just didn't feel right to be with them right now. 'I guess I need some time to get over Gary's death.' Ash thought as he traced his old route. 'This is where that large flock of Spearow attacked me and Pikachu.' Ash thought as soon as he saw the rocky part of the road. "Maybe I should go to where Misty pulled me up from the river." Ash said to himself. The reason Ash went was because he needed a memory that was pleasant right now and not about Gary. Ash walked for about an hour and found the spot by the lake. Ash sat down and watched the sun set. 'I should go home now.' Ash picked himself up when he saw something drifting towards him. When it reached shore a little bit to his right, Ash could make out an oval shape. Ash ran and plucked the item from the river. "What are you doing here?" Ash asked the poke egg. In the days to follow, Ash would take care of the egg responsibly. Of course there was a lot of teasing involved. "Hey Brock, how long did you take care of the egg before it hatched?" Brock paused for a moment at Ash's question. "I think it was a few months." Brock replied. "Your asking how much longer will it take? I honestly don't know." Misty saw her opening and decided to be included in on the conversation. "Now that's not like you at all Ash. Being responsible and asking advice." Misty teased. Ash was not impressed. "Oh yeah? Well I'm not letting you near this egg this time Misty. The last time I had an egg it hatched with you watching over it like a hawk. We learned from that mistake that the first thing a pokemon sees it thinks it's their mother." Misty turned red. "And what is that supposed to mean Ketchum?!" She yelled while her head enlarged twice its regular size forcing Ash to back up a few steps. "I mean your not going anywhere near this egg!" Ash roared back. Togepi giggled and hugged the egg. "This isn't a play toy Togepi." Ash said as he snatched the egg back quickly. "You're becoming as protective of that egg as Misty is of Togepi." Commented Brock. Ash was totally taken by surprise, Brock was right. Ash had become very attached to the egg he had been keeping safe for the last few months. "Yeah, you've been keeping under lock and key since you found that thing-oops!" Misty shut up immediately. Misty had forgotten that you don't remind Ash of that time period; Gary was gone and Ash didn't like to be reminded of it. Ash didn't let on that he was hurt. "The only reason I'm so protective is that I don't want another Togepi incident." Ash joked. Misty hit him over the head with a fan. Brock laughed and then continued cleaning up the campsite. "Anyway Ash, don't you think it's about time we left back to Pallet?" Ash smiled. Pallet was his hometown and he had left for another league. He had eight badges required to enter the league that year but, had three months until the league was on. "I suppose so. Wait till mom sees my badges!" Ash said triumphantly. Misty and Brock gave each other a look and grinned. "What? So she can add them to the drawer?" Misty asked making Ash fall over. "You would think that the drawer would be full by this time." Brock laughed. "Do you think that she'll put them in the trash instead?" "Maybe. I think that she'll throw out that hat before the badges though." Ash got up in a panic and protected his beloved hat. "No way!!!!!!!" Ash yelled. Misty and Brock saw that Ash wasn't yelling about his hat. On his way up to his head, Ash saw his watch. "Prepare for trouble!" came a female voice from the bushes. "And make it double!" echoed her male companion. "To protect the world from devastation." "To unite all people within our nation" "To denounce the evils of truth and love." "To extend our reach to the stars above." "Jessie." "James." "Team rocket blast off at the speed of light." "Surrender now or prepare to fight." "Meowth that's righ-huh?" Meowth said in surprise. Ash Misty and Brock had left them during the motto. "Why those stuck up, smart aleck twerps!" Growled Meowth. "Lets go get them!" Jessie growled. Ash and company were running on the path. "Just like them to be late for their morning interruption." Ash panted. "Too bad for them, we have a ways to travel before we get home. Hurry up you two! We'll miss the Goldenrod train." Ash yelled to his two friends panting behind him. "Don't you wish you had his energy?" Misty asked. Brock didn't say anything but struggled to keep up. 'What's going on out there?' Gary asked as he felt his prison beginning to shake. This had happened very few times over the last few months. Gary was still in his prison and he could hear voices outside more clearly lately but couldn't make out the voices. Then he felt the warmth again, Gary welcomed it because it was cold sometimes in his prison. 'I want out!!!!' Gary screamed. 'I had better keep this egg in my arms.' Ash thought as he ran. It was bouncing violently in his jacket pocket. Ash ran with the egg snuggly tucked in the crook of his arm. Just then Ash felt something jiggle and he stopped making Misty and Brock crash into him. "What's the big idea?" Demanded Misty. Brock and her were entangled on the path just after Ash. Brock and Misty had just stopped in time to avoid Ash and Pikachu. "Pika-pi?" Pikachu sniffed the egg and it began to rock violently again. Pikachu got bopped on the nose and gave a squeal as it fell over backwards onto Misty and Brock. "PI!!" "It's hatching!" Ash said excitedly. Brock and Misty stopped struggling and watched Ash's back as he knelt down over the egg. "Come on, you can do it." Ash encouraged. Gary was angry. He had enough of this prison so he kicked and struggled in his prison. To his surprise, the prison broke a little allowing him some legroom. 'I can get out! I can get out!' Gary thought with new hope. Gary thrashed at his prison with a new fever of anger. The prison began to shatter under his onslaughts of fury. Gary had broken most of the prison but was stuck in the top part and too tired to continue. Then there was something that tore away the remains of the prison. Air! Gary sucked in his first few gasps of air he had in months. Then something odd happened. "Look!" a voice said. It was unclear and fuzzy. Gary shivered and tried to open his eyes. Gary was soaked in some sort of fluid he had never seen before and that was the source of his chills. The voice had come from something that had him around the waist. Gary looked down and almost screamed at what he saw. 'I'm –I'm a pokemon!!!!!' Gary saw wet, yellow fur and a pair of hand holding him. His hands were paws! He could feel the tail sticking out from behind him and the wind blowing on it. Gary trailed the hands to the person that held him and gasped in shock. 'No not him, ANYONE BUT HIM!' Ash Ketchum was holding up Gary. "Hi little guy." Ash said soothingly. Gary was in shock and then a wind made him shiver again. "My but you're a mess." Ash said jokingly. Gary then was surprised at what Ash did next. Ash took off his jacket and wrapped it around Gary. 'What are you doing?' Gary thought as he was wrapped snug. Then he saw the two that Ash traveled with peering over his shoulder. "How sweet!" Misty said. Gary was too confused to reply to her comment. Brock was the name of the other one Gary thought and he looked Gary up and down. "Congrads Ash. You just got yourself a Pichu." Ash smiled and Gary felt his stomach growl. Embarrassed, Gary tried to move. 'I can't move.' Gary realized with a panic. ' I don't want to be Ash's pokemon! He's got me wrapped up so I can't get away.' Pikachu tugged at Ash's pants and Ash knew what he wanted. "You want to see her Pikachu?" Ash said as he knelt to show Pikachu Pichu. Pikachu licked Gary on the face and Gary cried out yuck. "Pichu!" Was what everyone heard. Ash smiled and so did Pikachu. Ash thought that the voice was cute for a small baby pokemon like Pichu. Gary was then shocked twice over because of what happened next. "So you want to keep her Pikachu?" Ash said sweetly. "Sure do." Pikachu replied. Gary was startled that he understood Pikachu. Then he felt himself be moved from his spot on the ground. Gary then realized that he was being taken somewhere. "I don't want to go!" Gary yelled. Of course Ash just smiled down at the pokemon and continued walking. "Someone get me outta here!" Gary yelled again. Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and began to make faces at Gary. "And what do you think you're doing?" Gary asked sarcastically. Pikachu grinned and began to talk soothingly. "There, there, Ash'll feed you as soon as we get to Goldenrod. Then you can have a bath too. Sleep until then." Gary then realized with a panic that Pikachu couldn't understand him. "But I don't want to go to sleep!" Gary tried to yell. Pikachu crept down to the bundle Ash was carrying and began to give Gary a bath. " Peeh! I don't want a bath either! Stop!" Pikachu didn't hear Gary and continued. Gary tried to resist as long as he could until he didn't have the energy to resist the tongue. Gary succumbed to the exhaustion of the egg breaking procedure and slept under a massage of a tongue. "Isn't that cute?" Misty commented as soon as she saw the Pichu fast asleep. Ash looked down at Pikachu and Pichu and smiled. Pikachu continued to lick the pokemon after a bit and then tucked the pokemon in to sleep. "I think we missed the train." Brock said suddenly and Ash smacked his head. "I'm sorry! I'm such an idiot! I should've made the reservation for tomorrow. Oh well, we won't be able to ride today anyway because of Pichu." Misty nodded. "Yep. I'll agree with that." Brock and Misty laughed. Ash gave her a glare and kept right on walking. Pikachu climbed back onto Ash's shoulder and looked down at the sleeping baby. 'I wonder? For some odd reason, she reminds me of Gary.' Pikachu thought as he watched the pokemon sleep. 'Can't wait until it learns to talk. Togepi was a bit hard to teach to speak and isn't much of a conversationalist.' Goldenrod Gary awoke with a start. He was back in the egg again! Gary panicked and kicked as hard as he could. To his surprise, water moved freely away from him. Gary opened an eye and saw bubbles. "Good, you're awake." Gary turned to see Ash and his pokemon behind him. Ash was holding him up above the water and had a bar of soap in the other. Ash then slowly put Gary down in the water. "What?" Gary asked. Then the tickling started. Ash moved the bar up and down his stomach and worked the lather into his fur. "Hey-hey stop! That tickles!" Gary tried to slap the hands away only to splash water. "Hi there." Pikachu said to Pichu. Gary saw Pikachu climb in and took over for Ash. Pikachu's small paws began to work into the lather. Gary couldn't help giggle and squirm when Pikachu began to scrub Gary's fur. Ash crossed his arms under his chin and watched the two for a while. 'I got a female Pichu. When it evolves, I bet Pikachu is going to have some competition for battling rights. Heh. Then again maybe not.' "We should give Pichu a name." Ash said over his shoulder to Brock and Misty. Brock was sitting down waiting for Nurse Joy to come along again. Misty was reading a magazine on water pokemon. Gary heard about a name and tried to be included in on the conversation. "I'm Gary! I don't need a name!" Ash smiled at his pokemon's sudden interruption. It was about time that Pichu came out so Ash rinsed off the suds and bundled her up in towel. "How about Sugar?" Suggested Misty. Gary gave Misty a don't-even-think- about-it look. "I'm not a girl!" Growled Gary. "I don't think she likes it. Can you understand her yet Pikachu?" Pikachu shook his head. "Not yet. She needs to grow up a little bit more." Gary began to squirm in the towel. Gary got one arm out from under the wet covers and tried to get the other out. "I think Peachy would be cute too." Misty added. Pikachu, Gary and Ash made a face at that one. "I don't think so." Ash said. Pikachu bounded up onto Ash's shoulder and agreed with Ash. 'What do these guys think I am? What's with all of these girly names?' Gary thought. Then Gary remembered something. The voice had said not in a form that's recognizable as Gary Oak and that could mean. "Why that-that cruel, unfair-arrrg! I'm a girl! They sent me back as a female pokemon!" Gary outraged. "To make matters worse, I'm HIS pokemon." Gary pulled the other arm free and tried to push his way out of the towel. "I think someone just got fussy." Misty said smiling. Ash looked down at the pokemon's small outburst and saw that she wanted out of the towel. Ash smiled and unwrapped the pokemon from the soggy material. Ash picked up a dry towel and set Pichu down on the floor and knelt. Gary was then aware of what was going to happen next and didn't have time to protest. "Pichu!" Came a small voice from under the towel. Ash was rubbing gently but vigorously. As soon as Ash unwrapped the towel, there was a semi dry but, very fuzzy pokemon. "There, all done." Ash said in closure. Gary had trouble standing up so he almost fell over when Ash grabbed him to steady the pokemon. "Guess you haven't learned how to walk yet." "Togepi didn't walk for at least a few hours." Misty said to Ash. Gary then heard a louder grumble come from somewhere. Everyone in the room had a sweatdropped on their heads. "What? That wasn't me was it?" Gary asked out loud. Brock laughed as Ash picked Gary up. "Already taking after you Ash. I'll bet you're starving little one. What's say we find you something to eat?" Gary was not impressed. "I'm not eating Pokechow." Gary grumbled. Brock startled Gary by rubbing his head and laughing. Then something strange happened, there was an instinct release somewhere in Gary's body that seemed to activate when Gary was scared. About three or four volts of electricity moved from Pichu into Brock. Ash was protected because of the towel. "Ouch!" Brock said in surprise. It stunned everyone in the room but no one was as stunned as Gary. Misty giggled and so did Togepi. "Looks like you're Pichu just learned thundershock." Brock said from the floor. Gary looked over the mounds of fabric at Brock. "Did I do that?" Gary asked. Ash laughed. Then they went out to the cafeteria for something to eat. After some waiting, food was brought out to the gang but, Pichu refused to eat the food given to him. "Hey, Misty? How did you get Togepi to eat?" Ash asked. Gary wouldn't open up for the hundredth time. "Togepi just ate what I gave it. Here let me try." Gary gave Misty a what-are-you- doing look. "Yummy, open up Pichu. See, good food. I bet you're hungry." 'I'm not going to eat this junk.' Gary thought. Misty had the spoon right up to Gary's mouth but he wouldn't open. "How young is that pokemon?" The group turned to see an elderly couple watching the group. "Just hatched today ma'm." Ash replied. They came over. "No wonder it won't eat. Pichu's in the wild usually get milk to drink instead of solids right off the start. Maybe that's why it won't eat." The man said. "Give it some milk in a bottle like a real baby and maybe she'll eat." Suggested Brock. Ash got up from the table and brought Gary with him to the kitchen, Pikachu came along too. The Nurse Joy asked if there was anything wrong with his meal. "There's nothing wrong with my meal, it's hers I'm worried about." Ash looked down at Pichu. Gary saw a few things strewn on the table and counters. 'This is more like it!' Gary thought. Ash set Pichu down beside Pikachu on the counter to talk to Nurse Joy about Pichu. 'Now's my chance to get some real food.' Gary thought. Gary tried to make his way over to the food on the opposite end of the counter and remembered in a hurry that he couldn't walk. After a few stumbles, Gary was interrupted. "Where are you going?" Pikachu asked Gary. Gary then knew he had been spotted. Gary was so startled by Pikachu's question that he fell down with a thump. 'Ow. That hurt!' Gary thought. Tears began to well up in his eyes. Pikachu saw what was going to happen and moved in to avoid it. "Ash! We got someone about to cry over here!" Ash was interrupted and saw Pichu flat on her rump and a shade of blue passed over his face. "Uh-oh!" Ash did the two-foot dash to the counter and picked Pichu up. "Did someone fall down? You shouldn't be trying to walk around on your own yet Pichu." Gary then realized that he wasn't on the counter anymore and his stomach growled. 'I'm tired, hungry and I'm a pokemon. Not even a good pokemon at that! No one understands me and I can't communicate. I'm so frustrated I think I'm going to-" "PICHUUUUUU" Tears began to pour down Gary's face. Ash and Pikachu sighed and Ash held Pichu closer. "About that milk." Ash looked at Nurse Joy for help and she smiled. "I think we can whip something up." Pikachu jumped up onto Ash's shoulder to try to get Gary to calm down. Gary wouldn't listen and continued to cry. In five minutes a bottle was warming up on a stove and Gary was still crying. 'Why am I acting like this?' Gary suddenly thought. 'This isn't like me at all. Then again I'm not myself am I?' Ash had an idea and he held Pichu up more to his chest. "What are you?" Asked Nurse Joy. Ash smiled before he gave her an answer. "When Pichu was still in it's egg, I slept with it on my chest so it could listen to my heartbeat. Maybe Pichu'll calm down a bit if she hears my heartbeat again." Gary didn't hear what Ash and Nurse Joy said. 'I-I know this beat. It was outside the prison. Did-did Ash take care of me all this time?' Gary stopped crying for a moment. Gary looked up and saw Ash's smiling down at him. Then for some odd reason Gary was tilted back a ways and was held in the crook of Ash's arm again looking up at him. "Here you go." Nurse Joy said as she handed Ash the bottle. Ash took the bottle and held Pichu with one arm. Caught off guard, Gary opened his mouth and let the liquid in. Gary was so hungry and the milk was so warm that Gary was drowsy. "Like that, don't cha?" Ash soothed. Gary didn't respond. Pikachu marched out behind Ash into the cafeteria and gave Nurse Joy a thank you. Right now, Gary didn't care he was being held in someone's arms and being treated like a baby. Gary almost fell asleep when he heard more voices. "Awww. Isn't that sweet? Ash has his very own baby." Misty teased Ash. Ash turned a nice shade of red and growled a reply. "Bite me!" "No need to be rude!" Misty growled back. "Knock it off you two." Brock broke up the fight. Gary was getting full but, didn't care. "Hey Ash. You should burp Pichu so it doesn't get gas." Brock recommended. "How do I do that?" Ash asked. "Hold it like this and rub her back." Brock said copying Misty. Ash did as he was told but had a time getting the bottle away from Gary. "H-hey!" Gary said as soon as the bottle was taken away. "I was drinking that!" Gary was hoisted onto Ash's chest and his back was rubbed. Gary felt something come up and a loud burp escaped his lips. "How long do I do this for?" Ash asked. Gary didn't hear the answer, he was fast asleep. "Two minutes. That is if she doesn't throw up on you." Brock replied. Ash paled a bit. " It happens." Brock commented. Gary drifted off into peaceful dreams. "zzz-snore-zzz." Ash looked down to see Pichu fast asleep. Brock and Misty saw the sleeping pokemon and decided it was a good time to lower their voices. "That was quick. So, when do we head home?" Misty asked. Ash continued to rub Pichu's back when he answered. "I think we should head over to Pallet town tomorrow permitting that I don't have a fussy Pichu. We never did figure out a name for her yet." Misty and Brock began to fire names out. "Pika, Zap, Pam, Shocker?" Brock suggested. "No, no, yeah right and no." Ash said. "Cutie-pie, Honey, Peachy, Pika-chan, Fluffly?" Misty suggested. "Absolutely not! No! I already kyboshed that one. Uh-uh. Where did you come up with fluffy?" "When you went and dried off Pichu with the towel earlier, it fluffed up like a Hoppip." Retorted Misty. "I noticed that too. Why is that?" Ash asked. Brock was the one with the answer. "It was because of all the static electricity that Pichu had in its cheeks. When you rubbed Pichu, it caused more electricity to form and that's why it's fur went fluffy." Replied Brock. Ash smiled a wicked grin. "Thanks Brock! I know what to call her now." Ash said looking down at Pichu. Brock and Misty looked lost for a moment. "So? Don't keep us in suspense! What's her name?" Misty asked in a demanding tone. "Static. I'm sure if she's anything like you Misty, I'll get plenty of it." Ash replied. "WHAT?! Why you-" Misty growled. "See?" Ash said smugly. Misty growled a bit but settled down after a moment. "Static, what do you think Pikachu?" "I like it!" Later 'Now where am I?' Gary thought as he looked around. It was dark and scary. Gary couldn't see anything it was so dark out. 'I don't like this.' Gary thought as he tried to get up. It didn't work to say the least because he was already standing up. 'I'll never get used to this height.' "What is that?" Gary asked in surprise. His eyes adjusted to the dark and saw a bed above him. A bunk bed! It was night! Gary then felt the earth below his move. "Whoa!" Gary squealed. Gary fell onto the mound he was sitting on and woke Ash up. Gary tried to stand up again. 'This is going to be a lot harder than I thought with this tail.' Gary grumbled to himself. Ash watched as Static pushed itself up from a crawling position. Gary waved his small arms around in a circle to try and find his balance. When Gary was about to fall over again, a hand held him up. "What?" Gary asked out loud and saw that Ash was awake watching him. "Uh- oh" Gary said embarrassed. Ash was smiling. "If you want to learn how to walk. I can teach you tomorrow with help from Pikachu." Ash whispered. Gary was furious! Teach HIM how to WALK? Gary was the one that taught pokemon how to do flips and strong moves against an opponent. Gary didn't need anyone's help to do anything! "Listen! I'm not going to learn anything from you so don't even think about it! Hey-" Gary trailed off. Ash had picked him up under the armpits and was holding him high above his head. "Heh! You're cute for a pokemon and with my help, you'll become the best you can be; like Pikachu. I gave you a name this afternoon after you fell asleep." If Gary were human, he would have turned a shade of blue. 'If he says Peachy or Sugar I'll give him such a zap.' Gary thought bitterly. 'That is, when I can figure out how I did that the first time.' "Static. So? Do you like it?" Gary let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't a girly name but he still didn't want a name. "Knew you would. Now, get some sleep, we have quite a ways to go tomorrow." "Wait! I didn't say I liked the name!" Gary squeaked as he was brought down. Ash laid Pichu on his chest and tucked in the covers. "I'm not sleepy either!" Gary protested. "Goodnight." Ash said and fell asleep. Gary was left on his chest wide-awake. Gary wasn't able to move and he stared out into the darkness of the bedroom. 'How did I get myself into this?' Gary thought bitterly. 'This is Ash Ketchum. He wouldn't know the first thing about baby pokemon. In fact, he hardly knows anything about pokemon in the first place.' Gary stared at Ash's face for a moment. 'What's wrong with me?! He's my biggest rival and not a very good one at that and I can't force myself to even think bad things about him. How am I going to leave him later on when we return to Pallet?' Gary laid his head on Ash's chest and a hand stroked behind his ears. "Pichuuuu." Gary said dreamily. Then Gary knew the answer to his question; he couldn't leave Ash just yet. Gary listened to his heartbeat and decided that even if he wasn't knowledgeable, he had a good heart. 'He took care of me for months in my egg, he's trying to make me as comfortable as possible and I think he loves me already. I can repay him for all the months he took care of me but his love, I can't repay him back for that.' Gary listened to Ash's breathing as it got slower and deeper as he fell asleep. 'Maybe- maybe I truly don't belong back in the life of Gary Oak. I'm just a pokemon now and they can't understand me anyway. I never was held like this as a kid and his love is unconditional already. How can I just ignore that?' Gary looked back at Ash's face and saw what he was missing as a trainer, love. 'I cared for my pokemon but, I didn't love them.' Gary realized and a tear escaped his notice as Gary fell asleep again. "Staaaaticcc." Gary moaned and turned over. "Staaaatic." Ash said again. His Pichu covered his ears with whatever was available which was with his shirt. Ash grinned. Ash had just woken up to the sunlight coming through the window and was seeing how Pichu felt about waking up. "Again Static's already taken to another of your nasty habits. Sleeping in, tsk, tsk." Misty said from the top bunk on the other bunk bed. Ash stuck out his tongue at her and nudged the pokemon again. "Staaatiiic. Time to wake up sleepyhead." Gary didn't move, Ash sighed and felt Pikachu waking up by his head. "Morning Pikachu." Ash said in greeting. "Pikachu pikapi." Was his reply. Brock, Misty, Ash and Pikachu went to breakfast later on with a still sleeping Pichu. Ash sat down when a Chansey brought out a bottle for Pichu. "Hey, wake up." Ash crooned to Static. Gary sniffed the air and recognized the milk from the other day. "Food?" Gary asked. Of course everyone at the table heard "Pichuu?" Instead of Food? Gary sat up only to be laid back even more with a bottle stuck in his mouth. Gary drank deeply into the bottle and closed his eyes. However, Gary didn't go to sleep; instead he listened in on the conversation around him. "I'll have the breakfast special." Ash ordered. Brock and Misty had the same. "So are you ready to go and see mom again Pikachu?" Ash said. Gary stopped drinking for a moment to listen. "Sure am! Can't wait to see Prof Oak too." Pikachu said in reply. "I bet you can't wait to go home to have one of your mothers pizza pot pies." Misty teased. Ash retorted with an intelligent. "With pepperoni! Can't have pizza pot pies without pepperoni!" Everyone at the table fell over with a thump. If Gary could have laughed he would have. Ash was always commenting with something to that extent, it wasn't that he was stupid or anything like that, it was how he made things interesting. Gary knew because at one point in his life, Ash and Gary got along fine, sure it was a long time ago but old habits die-hard. "Only Ash." Pikachu moaned. Gary sucked back the liquid in the bottle. Of course there was the ever-dreaded time when the bottle was taken out so he could be burped. 'I could be miffed about this but-' "Burp!" 'It feels too good.' Gary thought as Ash had her on his chest. 'This is going to be tough, being a pokemon and all, but maybe it'll be worth it.' Gary thought as he was given the bottle back again.' Gary listened with surprise to Ash's latest accomplishments. "So you're going after that title in the Johoto league? I still can't believe you have that many badges already." Brock asked. Ash nodded and laughed. "You know what? If I train hard with my pokemon, I'm sure we'll win it! I also have some new help here. You think I can train Pichu to at least walk by then?" Ash asked. Gary was no longer interested in the bottle. 'Him train me? I don't think so.' Gary squirmed at bit in Ash's arms. 'Let me out of here. You're not going to train me to be one of your weak fighting pokemon!' Gary thought. "Ash! That league is on in four months! Pichu might evolve before then." Ash stopped and thought about it. "Your right. Anything could happen between now and then." Gary moaned inwardly and finished off the bottle. Ash looked down and saw Pichu finish off the bottle. "Someone was hungry this morning. Lets see if you can try to walk yet." "Better try to make her stand first." Brock suggested. Ash picked up Gary and set him on the table. Gary sat down and was not impressed. "I can learn to walk on my own thank you!" Gary growled. Gary pushed forward on his front paws from a crawling position. The force from the push made him stand up straight but he couldn't keep his balance for some reason. Gary then was about to pitch himself back down on the table when Ash decided to lend a helping hand. Ash kept Pichu from falling backwards by grabbing Pichu's small paw and holding her from the back. "Grab onto me and use me for support." Ash suggested. Gary was about to slap Ash's hand away when he thought of something. 'He said grab onto me. USE me for support. Ash is trying to help me help myself. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't have done the same. I would be taking the credit if one of my baby pokemon walked on it's own.' Gary then grabbed onto Ash's fingers with two tiny paws. Ash then held his fingers high in the air over Pichu's head and helped Pichu walk. "That's it! You can do it!" Ash encouraged. Gary on the other hand was trying to figure out why it was so difficult to walk. 'I've walked before. Why is it so hard for me to find my balance? Wait a minute!' Gary looked behind him and remembered something. 'I have a tail to contend with! No wonder I'm shaky. I'm trying to stand like a human with all this extra weight on the back.' Gary then tried to move his tail. "Look at that!" Misty cried out in surprise. For the first time ever, instead of trying to walk, Gary was experimenting with moving his tail around. Ash couldn't really see but got the general idea. "Good girl! Come on Static. One foot out in front of the other." Ash said disgustingly sweet. Gary put one foot in front of the other, waving his tail around for balance. Ash's smile was something to be seen. Gary looked up and saw an amazing sight. Ash was excited and proud at the same time. Gary never had that look in his eyes when training a pokemon. Suddenly, Gary let go of Ash's hands and stood up on his own. "Whoah!" Cried Pikachu in surprise. Pikachu hopped onto the table and held out his arms. "Come here Static. Come on!" Gary was surprised at Pikachu's actions. Pikachu wanted Gary to come to him. "Go to Pikachu Static." Ash encouraged. Gary looked up at Ash and saw the pride again. 'But I want to go to you.' Gary thought. Gary wanted to be held high above Ash's head like when he talked to him last night, Gary wanted to be fed in the crook of his arm, Gary wanted to sleep on Ash's warm shoulder. Gary didn't want to go to Pikachu. However, the look in his eyes one of encouragement that Gary couldn't refuse. "Right." Gary said. Gary took his first step without Ash towards Pikachu and wobbled some. Another step, another shaky balance and on the third step Gary was at Pikachu. "Yaaaay!" Gary was suddenly startled by the cheers around him and- "Pichuuuuuuu!" Gary accidentally shocked everyone at the table. It wasn't a major shock but it still hurt. Gary fell over on his rump again and tears threatened to fall. "You did it Pichu!" Ash said suddenly. Gary felt two strong hands take him by the waist and hold him high in the air. Gary stopped the waterworks for a moment and heard Ash laughing! Gary saw the look of pure joy on Ash's face and felt jealous. Gary was never this happy on his pokemon journey. Maybe it was time Gary faced reality. 'I'm a pokemon now and a girl. I'm no longer Gary Oak. I'm Static, one of Ash Ketchum's pokemon and I think I can be happy.' Gary had a wicked idea. "Pichuuuu!" Static cried again. Tears fell down the Pichu's face and Ash held the pokemon close to his heart again. 'That's better.' Static thought just before she fell asleep. Author Note: Like it? I won't make a sequel unless someone tells me if I should or not. At least one person should give me their opinion. Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or anything related to pokemon. Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo/Game Freak. This is a pokemon fanfic created by my mind only.