I think it was Pikachu. But the trainer? There was no way it was
Ash. I didn't know though, because I hadn't turned around. So I did. And
I nearly screamed. That's because the trainer hat saved my life was Gary
Oak.
     Then I remembered that I guessed that I had to change the past and
Ash had no clue who I was and neither did Gary.
      "Are you okay?" , he asked me. 'Remember, Misty, he doesn't know
you.' "Yeah...thanks." I said, smiling. "I'm Gary Oak," he said, smiling
at ME. "I'm Misty Waterflower." "This is Pikachu.", he said, gesturing
to the Pokemon. But...wasn't that the Pikachu ASH was supposed to have?
     We walked into Viridian silently. Then, he finally broke the ice.
"Are you traveling alone" he asked. I nodded. "Would you like to travel
with ME?" he asked, looking down at the ground. I smiled at him again.
"That would be great, Gary. I would love to travel with you." He flashed
a heart-melting smile at me. "Thanks, Misty." Was I falling for him? No
way. It's just that he was being nice. I am NOT falling for him. 'Keep
telling yourself that, Misty.', said the little voice in my mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    We actually stayed in a hotel. A NICE hotel. A place where we could
never afford to stay when I was traveling with Ash. It had a pool and
cable television.
     Gary was acting weird all night. He could never look me in the eye
and talk. He blushed furiously when he DID talk to me.
      Was this some crazy dream? It seemed like Gary Oak was falling
for...me? And sometimes it felt like I was falling for him too. How
could I though? He's Ash's number 1 rival, But Ash now has no clue of my
existence. But I couldn't fall for the cuteness and that amazing smile
and the self-confidence. Could I?