Gray woke up with a stretch, paying little mind to the boys and their antics with his pokemon. He brushed his teeth to occasional laughter and lively noises, pleased with the strengthening connection between his nephews and pokemon.
Good, he was banking on the natural protectiveness of pokemon to be there for them both.
“We’ll be going to Celadon City today, so start packing up and make sure you don’t leave anything behind,” instructed Gray as he looked himself over the mirror for a final time.
He expected exuberance from Ash and Gary, the same child-like wonder they had been constantly showing thus far as they joined their uncle in his quest to collect badges.
Instead, what greeted him was a stilted silence, forcing the fairy trainer to exit the bathroom with a frown.
Both boys were frozen on the ground, surrounded by Gray’s pokemon who were looking over them with concern.
A few moments later, both boys sat up, Gary with feigned nonchalance and Ash worriedly looking him over. Neither said anything.
“Boys? You heard me?”
“Yep. We’re going to Celadon City?” asked Gary with apathy so forced that Ash had to take one of his hands to hold tightly.
“That’s right. Is something wrong?”
Gary hesitated briefly before shaking his head with furrowed brows. Ash was just about to open his mouth to say something when he felt his best friend squeeze their joined hands.
“We’re good. You’ll be with us the entire time, right? You won’t leave us alone or anything like that?”
Alarmed, the older trainer hurriedly agreed. Gary’s brown eyes, so similar to his uncle’s, looked over Gray. Satisfied with what he found, he gave Gray a small smile before getting up and dragging Ash with him.
“We’ll start packing!”
Gray watched his charges flitter about the room, dragging their belongings into a pile and stuffing them into their backpacks. He couldn’t help but notice the slight tension in their movements though, nothing too alarming yet the difference remained stark.
He briefly entertained the thought of sitting the boys down and digging, but he held off. The boys were old enough to keep their own troubles, plus Gray feared that even his own well-meaning attempts to pry would be unwelcome. He considered asking Grandpa Sammy for advice, but the old man hadn’t mentioned anything last night. Following his advice to the boys, he turned to closer sources for help.
“You guys know anything? You don’t, huh. Keep an eye on them both, yeah?” He addressed Sylveon and Azumarill, who would be again trailing after the boys today when his pokemon denied knowing anything.
Both fairies nodded seriously.
Celadon City was part of a trifecta of cities known in Kanto as economic powerhouses. A glamorised shopping destination, there was a longstanding belief that if one was in need of buying anything in Kanto, you’d be able to find it in Celadon.
Under the guidance of past Celadon gym leaders, it was the first city in Kanto that prioritised economic activity, using the natural beauty of nature as a backdrop for materialism. Businesses congregated in Celadon, eventually it became home of the Celadon Department Store and Celadon Game Corner.
Vermillion, as a port city, imported foreign goods that would eventually be freighted and sold in Celadon at a premium, creating a symbiotic economic relationship that had only thrived in recent years.
As such, transportation between cities was well-developed, many inhabitants choosing to commute daily.
While Gray could have easily hopped onto Mega Altaria to zip over, he hoped to distract the boys with an assigned adventure.
He sat them both down in their hotel room just before leaving, patiently explaining the existence of a bus terminal in Vermillion that regularly ferried commuters to and fro.
“Today, we’ll be using a bus to get to Celadon.”
“A bus?” asked Gary in wonder. His uncle had a sneaking suspicion on his silver-spoon nephew. “I’ve never taken one before!”
Sure enough.
Biting back his frustration, he patiently explained to his nephews how they would need to use public transportation when they eventually left for their own journey.
“Why? Can’t I just hire someone to drive me when I go on my journey?”
Gray felt his heart stutter when Gary asked, images of an ostentatious red convertible, skimpily dressed cheerleaders and an overly haughty boy flashing in his head.
“Is that the type of trainer you want to be? Driving from one city to another with a trail of fans along the way? I mean that’s fine,” lies Gray like a liar before continuing, “But the most memorable parts of my own journey were sleeping in the rough with my team, training day in and out and getting better every day.”
Gray fought to keep his face straight, giving nothing away. He looked to Sylveon and Azumarill, companions who had stuck with their trainer the longest who dutifully nodded.
Dazzled, Gary agreed that being a real trainer was a much more worthwhile endeavor, Ash happily seconding him.
Gray promised to be extra apologetic when the boys eventually find out the truth in the future.
After all, Gray and his team of fairies found camping out in the wilderness to be so 'memorable' that they now exclusively chose fancy hotels.
The fairy trainer reassured himself that he wasn’t completely fooling the boys. Truthfully, he did camp out mostly in the rough during his rookie year. Only, it got increasingly frustrating to set up watches and be constantly on alert for a long period of time. Furthermore, he felt that his team of fairies were far too used to modern conveniences to be happy camping in the wild (like their trainer, they would insist but Gray would vehemently deny).
But the older trainer was of firm belief that such experiences were quintessential to being a trainer, instilling worthy lessons and fostering deeper relationships with their pokemon that would eventually be life-long.
Taking out Rotom-dex, Gray showed the boys how to navigate with a map, how to get their bearings and how to utilise the wonders of the internet to keep the boys on track.
He turned to Ash with a gleam in his eye before saying, “One of the most important skills for a trainer is learning how to safely get from one place to another. After all, how are you going to collect badges if you can’t even find the gym?”
The simple logic made sense to both boys and they cheerily agreed.
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This time, his mind’s eye flashed with a confused 10-year-old with unruly spiky hair looking lost in the middle of a forest, a Pikachu on his shoulder looking on with worry. Unfortunately, he would lead his companions in circles, only managing to get out of the forest after Arceus-level intervention.
Gray appointed Ash with the task of getting them to another hotel in Celadon City, instructing him to read aloud the information to get a practice on his reading.
When the boy managed to read out loud with minimal mistakes, Gray praised him effusively then asks him to get practice on navigation by talking about his thought processes before making a plan.
So caught up in guiding Ash, Gray missed the sour look from his other nephew until Sylveon managed to discretely poke at his trainer.
Recognising the look, the fairy trainer internally berated himself for being too one-sided.
“As for you, Gary. I’m confident you’ll be able to do this on the first try. You’ll be in charge of getting us from our hotel in Celadon to the gym itself.”
The momentary relief the older man felt after his nephew’s budding smile vanished with the last sentence.
“Can we not go to the gym so quickly? What if it turns out like Vermillion where you’re forced to fight on the spot again again? Uncle, shouldn’t you prepare first before fighting the gym leader?”
Reassuring Gary that it wouldn’t be like Vermillion, he explained that there was no reason he would be strong-armed into an immediate fight.
Lt. Surge had a longstanding relationship with Grandpa Sammy, and he was familiar with the lieutenant from childhood. Their shared history and his fondness for Grand-Uncle Surge were the main reason he was willing to go along with his antics.
“I don’t have anything like that with anyone in Celadon gym, so I definitely won’t just go along with what they say. We’ll quickly go to the gym to register the match and leave just as fast.”
Uplifted, Gary smiles and agrees. “That’s right! We’ve nothing to do with Celadon gym, so they can’t do anything to us! Alright, I’ll lead us to Celadon gym tomorrow! We’ll register and leave!”
Gray couldn’t help but feel there was something more to his nephew’s happy insistence.
An hour later, Ash successfully led them to the bus terminal, only managing to get them lost on two occasions.
Gray had but a few measly years to install a GPS into the boy, and he had a feeling there would be more of such occasions in the future. Gray doesn’t know which of those two facts he dreaded more.
On their way, many people had recognised Gray and Azumarill, whispers increasing and glances stolen whenever they passed by.
Thankfully, Grimmsnarl released himself just before someone plucked up the courage to approach Gray, his intimidating appearance and glare actively deterring further disturbance.
So now, Gray and his nephews found themselves half an hour into the bus ride to Celadon City. Ash and Gary pressed their faces on the windows once the wall of green trees made way for city buildings.
Celadon City, true to its Grass-type gym leader, was a deliberate mix of greenery and concrete unlike any other city in Kanto. Here, in accordance with past gym leaders, nature blended with modern architecture to create a ‘green’ city.
Carefully pruned flowers and trees were dispersed between buildings and sidewalks, freshening the air with a crisp, sweet scent. In between both lanes of the road was a plot of land dedicated to trees, providing even the road occasional reprieve from the heat of the sun.
Gray was impressed by the planning that went into the city. Unlike other cities in Kanto who prioritised infrastructure to carve out a living space for its human inhabitants, Celadon made it a point to work with nature rather than against it.
It was thus dubbed the most beautiful city in the region for its harmonious blend of cityscape and plants.
As their bus neared the terminal in Celadon, the crowd walking along the roads became denser and denser. Strolling along the shopping boulevard was an eclectic mix of people, similar to what they encountered in Vermillion. This time, however, there were simply more people going about their day.
This wasn’t a surprise to Gray. As Kanto became more prosperous, Celadon stood out more and more for its dedication to city planning, attracting more visitors. Businesses ventured to set up stores in the city, as it became proven that more footfall naturally led to more sales.
Over time, on top of being aesthetically impressive, Celadon became known as a shopping destination for everything one may need in daily life, eventually cementing itself as an economic powerhouse of a city within the region.
When they finally alighted the bus, Gray instructed both boys to stick close, his trusted pokemon pressing tighter to ensure their smaller charges weren’t lost to the crowd.
The combination of beautiful scenery and wide array of people were impressive even to Gray, so it was particularly concerning how unenthused his nephews were in spite of it all.
With their brows furrowed and eyes narrowed, Ash and Gary were searching the crowd with apathy. It managed to throw their uncle off, who was far more used to the bubbling excitement they expressed in Vermillion.
Keeping his thoughts to himself, Gray let Ash continue to lead the group to the hotel.
Unfortunately, Ash managed to bring them around thrice on the same stretch of road. Lost, he turned to Gray for guidance. Ignoring the beads of sweats running down his neck, Gray simply smiled at Ash and said nothing.
Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, Ash determinedly led the group into an offshoot road. While it was still crowded, they no longer needed to press themselves shoulder to shoulder with the crowd. Ash marched up to a fuming man in travel clothes.
Gray had to purse his lips, exasperated that Ash decided to approach someone who looked mad.
“Excuse me sir? Do you know where this hotel is?” Ash asked brightly, shoving Rotom-dex’s screen towards the man’s frowning face.
“Wha — Huh? You want to go to this fancy place?”
Looking up from the screen, the man finally looked up and noticed the group the boy came with. An Azumarill and a fox-like pokemon guarded two young boys, a handsome young man with familiar features looking over them from behind.
The man’s eyes bulged out in surprise when he registered the man’s identity.
“You’re Gray Oak! You recently beat Pewter and Vermillion Gym’s personal teams!”
Gray smiled at the man and nodded politely in hello.
“Yeah! That’s my uncle. We’re trying to get to this place mister, do you know where it is?”
“Wait, are you guys here to challenge Celadon gym?”
“That’s right! Our uncle’s going to wipe the floor with Celadon!”
Putting two and two together, the man began to address Ash enthusiastically.
“That’s amazing! Your uncle’s an awesome trainer. He’s teaching you something now, right?” After receiving Ash’s bright agreement, the man tried to give instructions on how to get to their destination.
Unfortunately, it seemed like Ash had led the group further than expected, so there were a ton of instructions. Confused, Ash looked to Rotom-dex and Sylveon beside him, asking them if they had managed to memorise the man’s directions.
Upon their exasperated confirmation, Ash gave another grin at the man and thanked him.
Gray was impressed that Ash seemed to have taken his teachings of relying on pokemon for help to heart. Still, he would drill a sense of direction into the boy if it was the last thing he did. He wasn’t above threatening the boy with a ‘babysitter’ on his rookie journey if he failed to develop before turning ten.
“Good luck with your match Mr Oak! Make sure to show those arrogant Celadon trainers who’s boss!”
The fairy trainer thanked the man, but before he could clarify what he meant, he had to scramble to catch up to Ash who was already getting further away with Gary.
Ash led them triumphantly through the hotel doors, proud of his accomplishment. He was so enthused that he insisted on booking them the room via the concierge too.
“A big one for us and all of my uncle's pokemon!” said Ash when asked what room type they wanted to stay in.
So now, they landed themselves a room much bigger than the one in Vermillion. Gray was indifferent because it was on Professor’s Oak dime, a quick swipe from his card guaranteeing it.
Before the boys could fully settle in, Gray brought up the weirdness they had been exhibiting since they found out their destination had been Celadon.
"You've both been so strange today, ever since you found out we're going to Celadon. Remember, you can tell me anything."
To his surprise, neither of the boys were upfront in their explanations.
“We’ll be going to Celadon Gym tomorrow morning, right Uncle Gray?” Gary softly asked.
“That’s right. You’ll lead us there tomorrow just like Ash did so today. Is that alright with you?”
“Yeah! I’ll be so good at using the map uncle, you’ll see!” he replied with enthusiasm closer to his usual. Still, compared to how he was just yesterday, it was definitely lacking. “You’ll probably find out tomorrow, Uncle Gray. I’d rather not talk about it now.”
Find out tomorrow? Gray had no idea what that could even mean. He resisted the urge to go behind the boys' back and contact Grandpa Sammy to get his answers. Heck, he’d even entertained the idea of asking Blue! For now, he chose to respect his nephew’s wishes.
Despite his misgivings, he was confident that nothing could truly hurt the boys as long as he was around.
As his pokemon family grew closer to his human one, he was certain that the reason for his nephew’s glumness would make itself known tomorrow, and it would be a simple matter to brush off. Time would prove to his nephews that with their uncle around, there really wasn’t anything to worry about.
Besides, he trusted Grandpa Sammy. If there was anything noteworthy, he would have informed Gray. The fact that he didn’t say anything more, yesterday's conversation revolving solely on Erika, her pokemon and her battling style proved that there was nothing of concern.
If only Gray knew that his Grandpa was betting on his grandson’s protectiveness to see them through.
