Lost in their Past

Chapter 3:-Charlus Oak

Gary nearly died of choking when Lisa, his new assistant, said that his father called him.

He had been drinking his afternoon coffee, as black as his soul, a pun he often said whenever Ash was around, when his father called him. 

It was a surprise because he hadn't heard from the old man in at least fifteen years, quite literally.

Truth be told, he hadn't seen him since he was five years old when his mother passed away. He was brought up by his grandfather, who loved him enough for both of them.

"Repeat that, will you honey?" he asked the ginger-haired girl.

"Your father called you." She replied in an extra loud and slow voice so that it sank in perfectly.

Gary knocked his chair down and ran towards Lisa who was sitting two meters away from him. He hurriedly picked the telephone and spoke in a shaking low voice.

"H-hello?"

"Gary..." the voice on the other side answered. It was the voice of Charlus Oak.

"D-Dad, h-how are you?"

"I'm good, son, I'm good."

Son... Gary's heart skipped a beat.

He hadn't heard his voice or seen him for years and yet he addressed him as his son.

A father was something Gary stopped dreaming of since he was five after all his own was a complete asshole. What type of father takes decades to finally contact his son?

It hurt his heart to think that he may have called him because he wanted something from him. But he took the chance anyway.

"What do you want from me?" He asked in a cold voice.

"Straight to the topic, I like it." He chuckled a little, "Come to Kanto, it's important."

"What the fuck?"

The brunet couldn't believe his ears. He was left bewildered by the audacity of his old man, how dare he command his son?

"It's important, Gary."

"So was my childhood but—"

"I need you, Gary... No questions asked."

He would've made a snarky comeback but there was despair in his voice, he clenched his jaw and nodded.

In the end, he was right, after all, his father called him because he wanted something from him. After a long-drawn silence he answered;

"Yes."

He sighed as he put the receiver down.

He was a Pokemon researcher, just like his grandfather. Because growing up he didn't have anyone to shadow except him.

Right now, he was in Sinnoh, he came here with Ash and Lisa but because of an urgent call from Delia, Ash had to leave. That left Gary alone with Lisa and Professor Rowan.

He sighed as looked around his little office which he set in his personal RV. Stacks of papers and pokeballs lying around the floor. A roll of bedding latched on top of a cupboard, a movable table around which were lying their eatables.

He sighed again before saying, "Pack it up, I have to go to Kanto tomorrow."

He didn't know it back then what his father wanted, or rather, 'Who'.

Dawn was doing pretty well until her Piplup knocked down three shelves stocked with clothes, on the ground.

"Piplup!" she screeched while picking the water Pokemon up in her arms, "What did we discuss? No entry in this Boutique or any other in the whole region."