Lost in their Past

Chapter 17:-Broken Joker

Grace was getting listless, she kept tapping her foot on the carpet until it started to annoy everyone.

"Please stop," Joanne begged. "Stop tapping your foot."

Grace scoffed, "I'm sorry," she mocked. "I didn't know you were uncomfortable otherwise, I would've tapped both of them!"

Joanne groaned and slumped back. Ailsa was taking a walk around the manner, doing some calculations, and pulling some string. Gary was walking around the parlor and Dawn was in the bathroom. Only Grace, Joanne, and Delia were sitting in the room.

Delia badly wanted to ask Grace something but she couldn't find the courage to do so, the only reason she didn't get cut by Dethany was that she was her friend. But after the 'abandonment' issue between them, It was clear they were no longer friends.

But somehow, she still asked her, "What did Serena mean when she said that you left her for years?"

Delia instantly regretted her decision, Grace shot her a wild glance and continued to stare for a minute or two before saying, "When she left for Hoenn, she tried contacting me but I didn't respond."

"But why?" Joanne asked. "She's your daughter!"

Grace's nostrils fumed with anger, "Because I knew something was wrong. Someone was tailing me, and I didn't wanna endanger my only ray of sunshine." Silence once again filled the living room.

A little far away from it, in the parlor, Gary was examining the antiquities and the furniture. The curtains in the parlor were made of some exquisite material that he'd never heard of. They were of lilac color embroidered with golden thread. There were two antique sofas present along with a Baroque chaise lounger. The wallpaper was a light shade of meri gold and had embroidered flowers present. Gary was about to touch what looked to be an ancient Unovan vase when someone said;

"Careful, that at least a thousand years old."

Gary turned back with a jerk, "Holy Arceus!" He exclaimed. "You gave me a heart attack."

Dawn smiled as she walked in, "This parlor alone is worth millions of pokedollars."

"Oh yeah?" Gary mocked as he sat on the lounger. "How do you know?"

Dawn scoffed, "I'm a designer, it's my ingrown talent to figure out worth."

Gary understandingly nodded, "Weren't you a performer."

Dawn sadly smiled as she sat next to him, "I quit."

Gary laughed as he clapped his hands. "That's a nice way to put it, didn't Serena kick you out of business?"

Dawn scoffed and fumed her nostrils in anger, "If your dad is half as arrogant as you, then I know exactly why my mother hates your dad."

Gary scoffed, "They don't hate each other."

"She called him a bloody bastard."

"Got it," Gary said as he got up and walked towards the wall covered with picture frames. They were arranged in a neat manner, unlike Gary who threw what little he owned under his stack of clothes. The pictures were decorated inside a thin golden frame, they were symmetrically arranged in a square and not a single one was out of order.

The first one showed two teenagers, and without even taking a second look at it, Gary freaked out. "Sweet mother of Arceus what the hell am I doing with Ash?!

The picture did in fact showed a much younger Gary and Ash. Ash had a tooth missing and was showing off his nine badges which Gary recognized were from the indigo plateau, Gary, on the other hand, was holding eight badges from the Silver conference. Ash was wearing a red cap and red jacket, his Pikachu was on his shoulder and he looked a little different, Gary had the same spiky hair and mischievous grin. But despite the similarities, the boy in the picture couldn't have been him, because, at the age of ten, Ash was his arch-nemesis, also, he didn't remember posing like this with him.