Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Secret No More ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: DefiantVixen 
Anime/Manga: Pokemon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.29.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 162 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Pokemon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.29.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 162 | Status: Completed
Secret No More
Summary: With Tracey a female in hiding, and now his girlfriend, Gary has a hard time keeping his hands off her with his grandfather away...but then Ash and Co just had to pay a visit. When will they leave?
Pairings: Gary/Tracey
Disclaimer: I don’t own the series Pokémon or any character associated.
Warnings: Tracey is portrayed as female in gender in this story. Yes, I know he’s a guy, and yes there have been episodes where Tracey had been shirtless, let’s just pretend that never happened for the sake of it, ok?
AN: Hello again everyone. Yep, I decided to use Butch and Cassidy simply because they don’t get used much in other fics and in the Anime they were always interfering with Oak Labs. Glad they were received so well ^^ I also hope you like this chapter as it has a tiny bit of action and drama.
Suggestions and comments are always welcomed. Hope to hear from you all again very soon.
-
Chapter 7:
Feeling Gary’s shielding arms wrap around her and pull her flush against his chest, Tracey immediately pressed herself closer to him, ducking her head under his chin for a sense of comfort. She could feel the material of his shirt around her shoulders, offering her more protection, giving her a small sense of dignity back. She curled her fingers around the material of Gary’s shirt, tears pricking at her eyes when she realized that Gary was having a small argument with Ash about her. She could hear them but she could not pay them very much attention for the disbelief of what just happened.
She could not have predicted this scenario where Ash and Misty finally learnt of her true gender and wished in vain that this was just some sort of a weird dream.
But the sound of Ash’s voice holding a sense of anger caused her to wince and realize that there was nothing she could do. Team Rocket had unintentionally exposed her secret and it seemed that Ash wasn’t taking the news particularly well. Not that she could blame him, of course.
Suddenly, the realization that Team Rocket was still here and still a threat to the Pokémon caused Tracey to momentarily snap out of her shock induced trance and focused her attention on what was really important; protecting the Pokémon.
She will deal with Ash and Misty’s questions later on.
Pushing ever so slightly away from Gary’s chest, Tracey swallowed thickly when she noted the angry and annoyed expression on his face, his eyes glaring hatefully at the two Rocket Solders before them. “Gary?”
Gary immediately looked down at her and reluctantly loosened his grip, making sure his shirt stayed around her shoulders as coverage from prying eyes. “What?” he asked in a low and gentle voice, the one he only ever used when she was around or with his Pokémon.
“I have an idea,” Tracey explained as she kept her voice low as well, not wanting Team Rocket to overhear them. “They won’t stand a chance.”
This intrigued Gary as Tracey wasn’t normally the one for battles, but then again, she was a Pokémon Water who was able to come up with some great strategies just by observing. “What is it?”
“Well, it’s nearing lunch time, isn’t it?” Tracey said as she quickly looked at the watch sitting on her wrist, noting that it was in fact a mere few minutes away from twelve o’clock.
“So?” Gary said as he raised a sceptical eyebrow, wondering what the time has to do with anything.
Tracey merely gave him a small smile of fondness and tilted her head to the side cutely. “Snorlax doesn’t like to wait for his food,” she explained simply.
Gary blinked a few times before a wicked smile appeared on his own lips, immediately understanding what she was referring to. At the Labs they always made sure that the Pokémon get fed at the same time everyday to help them keep a steady routine and to give the Pokémon the best care they could.
“Heh, gotcha,” he said as he took a step back, an arm still around Tracey’s waist as she continued to lean into his chest and grabbed a Pokeball from his belt. He took a moment to glance around at his surroundings, his eyes immediately being drawn to a food trolley they use to carry specially made food for the Pokémon. And fortunately, it still had some food left over from yesterday.
Perfect.
Turning back to Tracey and motioning to the trolley with a sharp nod of the head, Tracey nodded back and stepped away from Gary as he threw his Pokeball into the space in front of him. “Blastoise use Water Canon to push that food cart into Team Rocket’s helicopter!”
As soon as the turtle Pokémon appeared from its Pokeball, it trustingly follows Gary’s orders, aiming its canons to pick up the food cart and then not-so gently, delivered it to the interior of the helicopter, the force of the impact rocking the flying machine.
“Now, why would he do that?” Cassidy queried as she placed her hands on her hips, somewhat annoyed that the interior of their expensive getaway was now ruined from the water.
Butch shrugged as the two of them shared a look. “Must be a twerp thing,” he replied.
“Great job, Blastoise,” Gary said as Blastoise returned to its Pokeball and then turned to Tracey, offering her a smile as she slipped on his shirt to fit her properly. She often threw on one of his shirts whenever she was in a hurry or slept in his room and she looked so good in them.
“Go for it, Trace,” he said as he gave her a wink.
“Right,” Tracey said as she nodded and then placed two fingers to her lips, releasing a loud whistle which momentarily took everyone by surprise. “Snorlax! Lunch time!”
Suddenly, the earth beneath their feet began to tremble, trees shaking and swaying, flying Pokémon hastily taking to the air in fright. Then, out of the thick forest, bursting through the trees came a certain large, round blue Pokémon, an eager and hungry expression on its face.
“Snor!” Snorlax greeted happily, it’s usually closed and sleepy eyes are now wide and open, looking for its beloved food. After all, breakfast, lunch and dinner were its favourite times of the day. Snorlax was always the first Pokémon to arrive on the scene whenever Tracey called out for dinner.
Snorlax could definitely break some speed records if there was a large banquet at the finish line for it.
“Oh no, Snorlax,” Tracey said as she looked up at the large Pokémon with concern in her expression. “Team Rocket has stolen all your food.”
“Snor?” Snorlax snorted before its eyes suddenly took on an evil red colour and it snapped its attention to the two Team Rocket members. It suddenly moved to tower over the two of them, appearing ten times bigger with a lightning bolt appearing literally out of the blue behind it, its eyes still a deadly red colour. “Snor~lax!”
Cassidy and Butch literally leapt into each other’s arms at the loud, booming roar, trembling with fear, clearly scared and intimidated by what this hungry Pokémon could do to them. It was clear that this Pokémon was not a happy little Pokémon at all.
“Er, nice Snorlax,” Butch said with a shaky voice.
“There’s plenty of food to go round,” Cassidy added, which did very little to sooth the raging Pokémon.
While Team Rocket were scared out of their wits, Misty, Ash and Brock simply deadpanned in the back ground, slightly impressed at how the atmosphere seemed to become electric and dangerous all of a sudden.
“Wow,” Misty muttered with a weary half-grin on her lips as she tried to suppress a shiver. “That’s pretty intimidating.”
“I didn’t know Snorlax could do Scary Face,” Ash muttered, equally intimidated as Pikachu clung to his arm in fright. “Pika...”
Brock, however, looked at the scene with a look of interest, appearing in thought as he tapped his chin. “Oh, I get what they’re trying to do,” he said after a moment as he hit his hand with his fist. “That’s really clever.”
“Quick, Snorlax, use Hyper Beam!” Tracey commanded as she threw out an arm, pointing at the two Rocket members.
“Snor...” This was an order Snorlax was happy to follow as it took a deep breath, its mouth opening wide and began to gather energy in its gaping jaws. As soon as it had gathered enough, Snorlax wasted no time in releasing its pent up power straight at the two troublemakers. “Lax!”
If there was one thing Snorlax hated, it was people messing with its food!
Of course, the Hyper Beam was true to its aim, striking the helicopter dead centre, a huge explosion soon erupting afterwards, the craft with two humans and two Pokémon flying gracefully through the air.
“Who knew that the first person to remember my name would be an intelligent girl like her?” Butch commented as he flew through the air, his hair and clothes singed from the attack, their helicopter that was blown to a million different pieces of the force of the attack floating around them.
“Oh, put a sock in it!” Cassidy yelled, squirming in midair as she was not looking forward to the sudden stop at the end of their flight. “Wait until I see that twerp again! I’ll make her pay for this!”
“Team Rocket is blasting off again!”
Ding.
“Great job, Snorlax,” Tracey immediately congratulated the still seething Pokémon, walking unafraid over to it and giving the large Pokémon a bright smile, clearly proud of how well he handled the two trespassers. “You were amazing.”
Snorlax suddenly slumped forward, waterfall tears running down its face as it turned to Tracey, giving her a sad and pathetic look. “Snor...” it whimpered, its lips quivering.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you something to eat right away,” Tracey quickly reassured the large Pokémon, patting it on the stomach in a soothing notion. “You’ve definitely earned it this time.”
The large blue Pokémon immediately perked up, returning to its happy and blissfully sleepy state before yawning widely and falling backwards, hitting the ground with a loud, earth trembling thud. It fell straight to sleep, soft snores being emitted at intervals.
“Right after you have a quick nap,” Tracey giggled, momentarily forgetting that one of her biggest secrets was just exposed.
“Brilliant idea, Trace,” Gary said as he made his way over to her, looking at the sleeping Pokémon with a sense of fondness of his own. “I doubt Team Rocket will be back for a while.”
“I think we’re forgetting something,” Brock’s sullen voice suddenly interrupted and Tracey turned around to face him, only to see Ash looking at her with betrayal in his eyes. It suddenly dawned on her about the bandages around her chest and she immediately pulled Gary’s shirt tighter over her chest.
“You...lied to us,” Ash said softly, uncharacteristically serious and sombre.
Tracey could have sworn her heart just stopped. “No, I...” she stuttered as she shook her head, tears once again pricking at her eyes.
Gary instantly bristled at the accusation and pulled Tracey protectively against his side, his blue eyes dark and narrow as he held her in his protective grip. Umbreon also hissed and moved to stand in front of her, hackles raised in an expression of displeasure. Umbreon was fond of its master’s mate as she was nice and gave her special treats. Besides, she also made Gary, its master, very happy.
“She did no such thing,” Gary snarled back, forcing Ash to reel back slightly in surprise and give him a look of shock and confusion.
“But...” he started, but paused when Tracey drew in a shaky breath and hastily rubbed at her eyes.
“No, he’s right,” she said as she ran a hand over her face, trying to stop tears from escaping her eyes. “It’s understandable that he’s upset. I...”
“Let’s talk inside, ok?” Brock suggested as it was clear as day that the newly ousted female was becoming very upset, which was very understandable.
“After she gets changed and prepares herself,” Gary quickly interjected, his grip not wavering or loosening at all. “I won’t have you gang up on her when she’s not ready.”
Tracey sunk against his side, tiredly wrapping her arms around her body in a sense of self-comfort. “Gary...” she whispered as she hid her eyes with a veil of dark green hair. Suddenly, one of her Pokeballs popped open and after a quick flash of light, a certain mouse Pokemon appeared in all its cute glory, appearing as because it could feel Tracey’s anxiety.
“Marill!” the water mouse said as it frowned at the three humans with disapproval and quickly paddled over to Tracey, jumping up effortlessly into her arms, snuggling into her chest. Tracey immediately pulled Marill close, nuzzling against her for comfort. “Marill...”
“Let’s go,” Gary said to Tracey as he began to lead her away, his narrowed eyes of frustration never leaving Ash’s face. He was annoyed with his childhood friend/rival and his reaction to Tracey’s true gender. He thought that after all the adventures and wondrous sights he’s seen, he’d be a bit more open-minded.
“They can wait in the lounge room,” he continued to whisper words of comfort with Umbreon hot on his heels but then paused when he was about to pass Brock, nailing him with a glare. “If they say a thing against her, I will know.”
If Brock was intimidated by the glare, he didn’t show it. Instead, he simply nodded his head once. “I doubt that they will, but I’ll make sure either way.”
“Good. If she cries, I’m kicking their ass,” he said stiffly before pulling Tracey closer against him and lead her gently back inside, out of the sight of the others.
Brock waited until the Oak grandson was out of sight before releasing a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “She wasn’t kidding when she said he was protective,” he muttered under his breath before a look of understanding appeared on his face. “Then again, I would be too.”
“Brock?” Misty gently prodded with her elbow.
“Let’s go inside and wait,” Brock said as he straightened his posture, giving Ash a look that was a mixture of being disappointed and understanding. “Let’s give her some room.”
-----------------------------------
To say Gary was livid was an understatement; he was literally seething in his skin. As he helped Tracey back inside, his heart clenched when he felt her body tremble under his hands even though she tried to suppress it.
As soon as they stepped into her bedroom, Gary closed the door and pulled her in for a kiss, successfully halting a sob from escaping her throat. They stayed like this for a few moments, their lips simply pressed against each others as Tracey clung to him, her quivering body slowly lessening.
“Thank you,” she whispered as she pulled away, nuzzling her cheek into his shoulder.
Running a hand through her hair, Gary leaned down and brushed his lips against her ear. “It’ll be alright,” he soothed. “I’ll be there.”
“I know,” Tracey said as she reluctantly pulled away and gave him a weak smile before she turned away from him completely to set to the task of finding a set of clothes to wear.
Gary watched as she pulled out a simple aqua green singlet top followed by a dark blue sleeveless hoodie to wear over it. She then set about removing the shirt that he had given her and then her own tattered shirt, but it was a difficult process as her hands were still trembling from the intensity of her frayed nerves.
Wordlessly, Gary walked over to her, helping Tracey to remove the article of clothing, letting her rest her hands against his chest as he began to remove the loathsome bandages from around her bust. The beige coloured bindings fell to the floor at their feet, neither of them bothered by the fact that Tracey was now naked from the waist up.
Instead, she simply pressed herself against Gary’s chest, nuzzling her head under his chin once again. “Gary, this wasn’t supposed to happen,” she whispered with a hiccup in her voice.
“I know,” Gary replied as he ran soothing hands up and down her bare back, holding her as close and as tightly as he could. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t help it,” Tracey sniffled, biting back a sob as she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her palm. “It’s just...”
“I know,” Gary said again as he kissed the top of her head before pulling her back to look into her eyes, giving her a look that was full of reassurance and defiance. “I won’t let them betray you, Trace.”
The corner of Tracey’s mouth twitched into a small smile and she leaned up on tiptoes to place a soft kiss to his lips. “Thank you,” she said as she once again pulled away only to take the moment to slip her chosen articles of clothing over her naked body, a new sense of optimism and strength appearing in her chest.
If they so much as say a thing against Tracey or make her cry in front of them, Gary won’t hesitate in banning them from entering Oak Labs ever again. And it would take some time for them to gain back Gary’s trust.
Now, Tracey thought as she slipped on her top. Here comes the hard part.
Summary: With Tracey a female in hiding, and now his girlfriend, Gary has a hard time keeping his hands off her with his grandfather away...but then Ash and Co just had to pay a visit. When will they leave?
Pairings: Gary/Tracey
Disclaimer: I don’t own the series Pokémon or any character associated.
Warnings: Tracey is portrayed as female in gender in this story. Yes, I know he’s a guy, and yes there have been episodes where Tracey had been shirtless, let’s just pretend that never happened for the sake of it, ok?
AN: Hello again everyone. Yep, I decided to use Butch and Cassidy simply because they don’t get used much in other fics and in the Anime they were always interfering with Oak Labs. Glad they were received so well ^^ I also hope you like this chapter as it has a tiny bit of action and drama.
Suggestions and comments are always welcomed. Hope to hear from you all again very soon.
-
Chapter 7:
Feeling Gary’s shielding arms wrap around her and pull her flush against his chest, Tracey immediately pressed herself closer to him, ducking her head under his chin for a sense of comfort. She could feel the material of his shirt around her shoulders, offering her more protection, giving her a small sense of dignity back. She curled her fingers around the material of Gary’s shirt, tears pricking at her eyes when she realized that Gary was having a small argument with Ash about her. She could hear them but she could not pay them very much attention for the disbelief of what just happened.
She could not have predicted this scenario where Ash and Misty finally learnt of her true gender and wished in vain that this was just some sort of a weird dream.
But the sound of Ash’s voice holding a sense of anger caused her to wince and realize that there was nothing she could do. Team Rocket had unintentionally exposed her secret and it seemed that Ash wasn’t taking the news particularly well. Not that she could blame him, of course.
Suddenly, the realization that Team Rocket was still here and still a threat to the Pokémon caused Tracey to momentarily snap out of her shock induced trance and focused her attention on what was really important; protecting the Pokémon.
She will deal with Ash and Misty’s questions later on.
Pushing ever so slightly away from Gary’s chest, Tracey swallowed thickly when she noted the angry and annoyed expression on his face, his eyes glaring hatefully at the two Rocket Solders before them. “Gary?”
Gary immediately looked down at her and reluctantly loosened his grip, making sure his shirt stayed around her shoulders as coverage from prying eyes. “What?” he asked in a low and gentle voice, the one he only ever used when she was around or with his Pokémon.
“I have an idea,” Tracey explained as she kept her voice low as well, not wanting Team Rocket to overhear them. “They won’t stand a chance.”
This intrigued Gary as Tracey wasn’t normally the one for battles, but then again, she was a Pokémon Water who was able to come up with some great strategies just by observing. “What is it?”
“Well, it’s nearing lunch time, isn’t it?” Tracey said as she quickly looked at the watch sitting on her wrist, noting that it was in fact a mere few minutes away from twelve o’clock.
“So?” Gary said as he raised a sceptical eyebrow, wondering what the time has to do with anything.
Tracey merely gave him a small smile of fondness and tilted her head to the side cutely. “Snorlax doesn’t like to wait for his food,” she explained simply.
Gary blinked a few times before a wicked smile appeared on his own lips, immediately understanding what she was referring to. At the Labs they always made sure that the Pokémon get fed at the same time everyday to help them keep a steady routine and to give the Pokémon the best care they could.
“Heh, gotcha,” he said as he took a step back, an arm still around Tracey’s waist as she continued to lean into his chest and grabbed a Pokeball from his belt. He took a moment to glance around at his surroundings, his eyes immediately being drawn to a food trolley they use to carry specially made food for the Pokémon. And fortunately, it still had some food left over from yesterday.
Perfect.
Turning back to Tracey and motioning to the trolley with a sharp nod of the head, Tracey nodded back and stepped away from Gary as he threw his Pokeball into the space in front of him. “Blastoise use Water Canon to push that food cart into Team Rocket’s helicopter!”
As soon as the turtle Pokémon appeared from its Pokeball, it trustingly follows Gary’s orders, aiming its canons to pick up the food cart and then not-so gently, delivered it to the interior of the helicopter, the force of the impact rocking the flying machine.
“Now, why would he do that?” Cassidy queried as she placed her hands on her hips, somewhat annoyed that the interior of their expensive getaway was now ruined from the water.
Butch shrugged as the two of them shared a look. “Must be a twerp thing,” he replied.
“Great job, Blastoise,” Gary said as Blastoise returned to its Pokeball and then turned to Tracey, offering her a smile as she slipped on his shirt to fit her properly. She often threw on one of his shirts whenever she was in a hurry or slept in his room and she looked so good in them.
“Go for it, Trace,” he said as he gave her a wink.
“Right,” Tracey said as she nodded and then placed two fingers to her lips, releasing a loud whistle which momentarily took everyone by surprise. “Snorlax! Lunch time!”
Suddenly, the earth beneath their feet began to tremble, trees shaking and swaying, flying Pokémon hastily taking to the air in fright. Then, out of the thick forest, bursting through the trees came a certain large, round blue Pokémon, an eager and hungry expression on its face.
“Snor!” Snorlax greeted happily, it’s usually closed and sleepy eyes are now wide and open, looking for its beloved food. After all, breakfast, lunch and dinner were its favourite times of the day. Snorlax was always the first Pokémon to arrive on the scene whenever Tracey called out for dinner.
Snorlax could definitely break some speed records if there was a large banquet at the finish line for it.
“Oh no, Snorlax,” Tracey said as she looked up at the large Pokémon with concern in her expression. “Team Rocket has stolen all your food.”
“Snor?” Snorlax snorted before its eyes suddenly took on an evil red colour and it snapped its attention to the two Team Rocket members. It suddenly moved to tower over the two of them, appearing ten times bigger with a lightning bolt appearing literally out of the blue behind it, its eyes still a deadly red colour. “Snor~lax!”
Cassidy and Butch literally leapt into each other’s arms at the loud, booming roar, trembling with fear, clearly scared and intimidated by what this hungry Pokémon could do to them. It was clear that this Pokémon was not a happy little Pokémon at all.
“Er, nice Snorlax,” Butch said with a shaky voice.
“There’s plenty of food to go round,” Cassidy added, which did very little to sooth the raging Pokémon.
While Team Rocket were scared out of their wits, Misty, Ash and Brock simply deadpanned in the back ground, slightly impressed at how the atmosphere seemed to become electric and dangerous all of a sudden.
“Wow,” Misty muttered with a weary half-grin on her lips as she tried to suppress a shiver. “That’s pretty intimidating.”
“I didn’t know Snorlax could do Scary Face,” Ash muttered, equally intimidated as Pikachu clung to his arm in fright. “Pika...”
Brock, however, looked at the scene with a look of interest, appearing in thought as he tapped his chin. “Oh, I get what they’re trying to do,” he said after a moment as he hit his hand with his fist. “That’s really clever.”
“Quick, Snorlax, use Hyper Beam!” Tracey commanded as she threw out an arm, pointing at the two Rocket members.
“Snor...” This was an order Snorlax was happy to follow as it took a deep breath, its mouth opening wide and began to gather energy in its gaping jaws. As soon as it had gathered enough, Snorlax wasted no time in releasing its pent up power straight at the two troublemakers. “Lax!”
If there was one thing Snorlax hated, it was people messing with its food!
Of course, the Hyper Beam was true to its aim, striking the helicopter dead centre, a huge explosion soon erupting afterwards, the craft with two humans and two Pokémon flying gracefully through the air.
“Who knew that the first person to remember my name would be an intelligent girl like her?” Butch commented as he flew through the air, his hair and clothes singed from the attack, their helicopter that was blown to a million different pieces of the force of the attack floating around them.
“Oh, put a sock in it!” Cassidy yelled, squirming in midair as she was not looking forward to the sudden stop at the end of their flight. “Wait until I see that twerp again! I’ll make her pay for this!”
“Team Rocket is blasting off again!”
Ding.
“Great job, Snorlax,” Tracey immediately congratulated the still seething Pokémon, walking unafraid over to it and giving the large Pokémon a bright smile, clearly proud of how well he handled the two trespassers. “You were amazing.”
Snorlax suddenly slumped forward, waterfall tears running down its face as it turned to Tracey, giving her a sad and pathetic look. “Snor...” it whimpered, its lips quivering.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you something to eat right away,” Tracey quickly reassured the large Pokémon, patting it on the stomach in a soothing notion. “You’ve definitely earned it this time.”
The large blue Pokémon immediately perked up, returning to its happy and blissfully sleepy state before yawning widely and falling backwards, hitting the ground with a loud, earth trembling thud. It fell straight to sleep, soft snores being emitted at intervals.
“Right after you have a quick nap,” Tracey giggled, momentarily forgetting that one of her biggest secrets was just exposed.
“Brilliant idea, Trace,” Gary said as he made his way over to her, looking at the sleeping Pokémon with a sense of fondness of his own. “I doubt Team Rocket will be back for a while.”
“I think we’re forgetting something,” Brock’s sullen voice suddenly interrupted and Tracey turned around to face him, only to see Ash looking at her with betrayal in his eyes. It suddenly dawned on her about the bandages around her chest and she immediately pulled Gary’s shirt tighter over her chest.
“You...lied to us,” Ash said softly, uncharacteristically serious and sombre.
Tracey could have sworn her heart just stopped. “No, I...” she stuttered as she shook her head, tears once again pricking at her eyes.
Gary instantly bristled at the accusation and pulled Tracey protectively against his side, his blue eyes dark and narrow as he held her in his protective grip. Umbreon also hissed and moved to stand in front of her, hackles raised in an expression of displeasure. Umbreon was fond of its master’s mate as she was nice and gave her special treats. Besides, she also made Gary, its master, very happy.
“She did no such thing,” Gary snarled back, forcing Ash to reel back slightly in surprise and give him a look of shock and confusion.
“But...” he started, but paused when Tracey drew in a shaky breath and hastily rubbed at her eyes.
“No, he’s right,” she said as she ran a hand over her face, trying to stop tears from escaping her eyes. “It’s understandable that he’s upset. I...”
“Let’s talk inside, ok?” Brock suggested as it was clear as day that the newly ousted female was becoming very upset, which was very understandable.
“After she gets changed and prepares herself,” Gary quickly interjected, his grip not wavering or loosening at all. “I won’t have you gang up on her when she’s not ready.”
Tracey sunk against his side, tiredly wrapping her arms around her body in a sense of self-comfort. “Gary...” she whispered as she hid her eyes with a veil of dark green hair. Suddenly, one of her Pokeballs popped open and after a quick flash of light, a certain mouse Pokemon appeared in all its cute glory, appearing as because it could feel Tracey’s anxiety.
“Marill!” the water mouse said as it frowned at the three humans with disapproval and quickly paddled over to Tracey, jumping up effortlessly into her arms, snuggling into her chest. Tracey immediately pulled Marill close, nuzzling against her for comfort. “Marill...”
“Let’s go,” Gary said to Tracey as he began to lead her away, his narrowed eyes of frustration never leaving Ash’s face. He was annoyed with his childhood friend/rival and his reaction to Tracey’s true gender. He thought that after all the adventures and wondrous sights he’s seen, he’d be a bit more open-minded.
“They can wait in the lounge room,” he continued to whisper words of comfort with Umbreon hot on his heels but then paused when he was about to pass Brock, nailing him with a glare. “If they say a thing against her, I will know.”
If Brock was intimidated by the glare, he didn’t show it. Instead, he simply nodded his head once. “I doubt that they will, but I’ll make sure either way.”
“Good. If she cries, I’m kicking their ass,” he said stiffly before pulling Tracey closer against him and lead her gently back inside, out of the sight of the others.
Brock waited until the Oak grandson was out of sight before releasing a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “She wasn’t kidding when she said he was protective,” he muttered under his breath before a look of understanding appeared on his face. “Then again, I would be too.”
“Brock?” Misty gently prodded with her elbow.
“Let’s go inside and wait,” Brock said as he straightened his posture, giving Ash a look that was a mixture of being disappointed and understanding. “Let’s give her some room.”
-----------------------------------
To say Gary was livid was an understatement; he was literally seething in his skin. As he helped Tracey back inside, his heart clenched when he felt her body tremble under his hands even though she tried to suppress it.
As soon as they stepped into her bedroom, Gary closed the door and pulled her in for a kiss, successfully halting a sob from escaping her throat. They stayed like this for a few moments, their lips simply pressed against each others as Tracey clung to him, her quivering body slowly lessening.
“Thank you,” she whispered as she pulled away, nuzzling her cheek into his shoulder.
Running a hand through her hair, Gary leaned down and brushed his lips against her ear. “It’ll be alright,” he soothed. “I’ll be there.”
“I know,” Tracey said as she reluctantly pulled away and gave him a weak smile before she turned away from him completely to set to the task of finding a set of clothes to wear.
Gary watched as she pulled out a simple aqua green singlet top followed by a dark blue sleeveless hoodie to wear over it. She then set about removing the shirt that he had given her and then her own tattered shirt, but it was a difficult process as her hands were still trembling from the intensity of her frayed nerves.
Wordlessly, Gary walked over to her, helping Tracey to remove the article of clothing, letting her rest her hands against his chest as he began to remove the loathsome bandages from around her bust. The beige coloured bindings fell to the floor at their feet, neither of them bothered by the fact that Tracey was now naked from the waist up.
Instead, she simply pressed herself against Gary’s chest, nuzzling her head under his chin once again. “Gary, this wasn’t supposed to happen,” she whispered with a hiccup in her voice.
“I know,” Gary replied as he ran soothing hands up and down her bare back, holding her as close and as tightly as he could. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t help it,” Tracey sniffled, biting back a sob as she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her palm. “It’s just...”
“I know,” Gary said again as he kissed the top of her head before pulling her back to look into her eyes, giving her a look that was full of reassurance and defiance. “I won’t let them betray you, Trace.”
The corner of Tracey’s mouth twitched into a small smile and she leaned up on tiptoes to place a soft kiss to his lips. “Thank you,” she said as she once again pulled away only to take the moment to slip her chosen articles of clothing over her naked body, a new sense of optimism and strength appearing in her chest.
If they so much as say a thing against Tracey or make her cry in front of them, Gary won’t hesitate in banning them from entering Oak Labs ever again. And it would take some time for them to gain back Gary’s trust.
Now, Tracey thought as she slipped on her top. Here comes the hard part.