A grape by any other day is just as sweet...

Friday

A.N: Hello, Chii here. No longer a baby garbage bag: I more or less evolved into a not-so-baby-probably-teenage-but-definitely-not garbage bag, HAHAHA! Still a garbage bag though. Maybe I'm a fail version of Garbodor. Like a Trubbodor. ...I need to draw that out...

And speaking of garbage, Trubbish has finally shone for me, for those who care enough LOL. (638+ encounter, yep, it was awful) I'm not exactly in my Pokémon phase anymore but le me brings you Friday! One more chapter, yay!

Thanks for being here, and I hope ya like it!

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Fifth day and still no grapes. The days were getting repetitive.

The sun was just about to reach its peak in the sapphire sky when little Ash sighed, flicking through pages of his favourite comic book. He already had enough for a Charmander plushie, but his mother usually took him to the shops in the late afternoon when the people didn't crowd around as much. It was Friday and he was just so, so excited. He'd finally have a Pokémon toy of his own!

Already expecting his new neighbour's presence, Ash placed another plastic seat next to the picnic table for Gary to sit on. When the boy made his appearance, he gladly took the chair and busied himself with his own video gaming device. It was especially hot that day so he was dressed in a thin blue short-sleeved shirt; as was Ash, albeit in a red one.

"Got my grapes yet, Ashy-boy? I'm not going to leave you until you do, you know."

The ravenette looked up from his comic. "I told ya not to call me dat!"

"And who's gonna stop me?" Gary bit back, not even paying attention to Ash as he knocked his video game opponent out.

"Arrrghh. Why are you so mean to me, I didn't do anyfing to you..."

"...And you still haven't answered my question from yesterday; why is it that you're running a stand anyway? Are you trying to buy something?"

"And what if I am? 'M not telling ya! And I'm running a stand cos it's hot and people need cool drinks! Unwike you, I'm twying to be nice."

Gary turned the device off to face the younger boy completely. "Are you saying I can't be nice?" He looked at the younger boy with his, "is-that-a-challenge" kind of look, Ash eyeing him with just as much firmness.

"Well, you aren't! And I still dun have gwapes but Mommy will take me to town today!"

Heated stares and challenging glares took up most of their time until Ash had enough of it and went back to reading his comic. Moltres Man was the coolest ever; maybe someday he'd get a real Pokémon and travel Kanto Region as well... Of course, there was no way he'd tell Gary this because he'd probably just laugh at him anyway. He'd pick Charmander, or maybe Bulbasaur, or Squirtle because they're all so cool! He was still four years old but he knew his mommy would let him have a Pokémon of his own by then.

A short arm reached out for a cup of lemonade, downing it in one go. He laughed at one of the comic acts, catching the five year old's attention.

"Only young kids would read comics like you. I read real Pokémon stories, like that one Rhydon who protected a flock of Doduo from a hostile Primeape. It happened last year, and I know this because Gramps gives me some of his past projects to read over."

Ash thought that was really, really cool, but he tried not to sound so interested. "Oh. That's cool. Yeah! Cool." Let it be known that four year old Ash Ketchum was not a master of subtlety.

"Hmph. I'd tell you all about it but you still don't any grapes. Maybe tomorrow, though." Gary got up and smirked, jade orbs still glued to the screen of his device. Ash got up as well, closing the book. He was waiting for Gary to walk away, and the hazel-eyed child already learned not to try to offer the boy another cup because he wouldn't want one anyway. Beads of sweat were actually forming on his face due to the heat when Gary surprised him this time, reaching out for one of the last full lemonade cups and throwing five quarters on the table. "I don't know how much this is worth or whatever you're buying is, but I can be nice, end of story."

Always had to have the last word, that one. How would Ash deal with having him around for the rest of his Pallet Town life?

~o~

Ash had never been so excited to go the shops in his life. He chose to follow his mother to the supermarket for supplies first, planning to head over to the kids shop he loved so much to purchase that one coveted Charmander plushie displayed outside the shop window when they were finished. Upon arrival, he immediately took off to the fruits section, checking over his shoulder every now and then to make sure his mother was following him. Hazel eyes scanned over the filled counters one by one: Watermelons, oranges, strawberries - ah. There they were. Freshly picked bunches of grapes, all lined up together in its sweet-smelling berry goodness. The black-haired boy dashed over to the counter but found he couldn't reach it without his mother's help.

"So, Gary likes grapes, Ash?"

"Ya! He says he'll keep coming over if I dun get him some. He still calls me Ashy-boy and I don't wike it. He's not being mean to me now, though." Ash thought of the five extra quarters sitting in his pocket along with the rest of his hard-earned Pokédollars.

"That's good to hear." She beamed proudly. "Maybe you'll be able to play with your new Charmander toy with him if you want to. I hear he's very smart. You can ask him to teach you about Pokémon as well..."

Though the thought of being friends with an annoying meanie like Gary didn't sound good to Ash, he really did want to learn more about Pokémon. There wasn't anyone around the neighbourhood that was about his age too - the kids were mostly a lot older than himself. If Gary could really be nice, then Ashy was yet to see how nice the brunette could be. At least he'd know tomorrow because by then he'd actually have real grapes to give him. Funny how he had bothered to get a person grapes just to be friends with them.

Checking out of the supermarket couldn't be any longer. The shops weren't near closing time, but Ash had been waiting a whole week to get this toy in his hands. And in all fairness, he worked hard to earn it himself as well. He ran past the doors, attentively looking left and right, looking back to check on his mother and dashing past the none-too-many pedestrians here and there. The last few turns almost made his mother lose sight of him until she caught up, eventually, the two of them disappearing inside the wonderful, wonderful store.

.

.

.

"I'm sorry. We're already out, little boy. There'll be a new shipping next week, maybe you can wait till then?"

The hazel-eyed boy was super devastated. When they talked to the owner about it, he told them that the Charmander plushie had ran out of stock. It would take another week for Ash to wait for it, causing his heart to sink even more. He worked soooo hard and was sooo nice. He had enough to buy one, really; he counted all the coins with some help last night! Delia offered to get him another toy, sad to see her little baby frowning so much but he was already out the door before he could hear of it.

It just wasn't fair.

What had little Ash done wrong?