Bright and early the next day, Gary led the group confidently through Celadon City. Only pausing occasionally to look at the map on Rotom-dex’s screen, not once did he lead them through a wrong turn.

  As soon as they could make out Celadon gym in the distance, Gray proudly complimented his nephew.

  “Well done, Gary! Looks like you won’t be struggling with finding your way in the future!”

  Pleased, Gary flushed with pride before loudly praising his own ventures. Ash, who had managed to lead them wrongly a couple of times yesterday, gruffly congratulated his best friend. But he couldn’t help himself from commenting.

  “Just you wait! I’ll get so good at using a map in the future, I won’t be making mistakes. Uncle! Can I lead us around again after this?”

  Knowing he had dropped a rock on his own foot this time, Gray had no choice but to agree to Ash’s request. Silently in his heart, he resigned himself to waking earlier the next few days just so they could get to places in time.

  Not one to avoid a challenge, Gary bickered with his best friend without abandon, drawing attention from all the trainers around them. His uncle would usually stop to corral them from making a scene, but their sudden return to this unashamed level of enthusiasm had been missing yesterday, so he couldn’t help but indulge them.

  “Have you been here before Gary? So you already knew the way?”

  “Nope! I’ve never been, uncle! I’m just that good!”

  Gray’s attempt at digging into their apprehension towards Celadon was rebuffed carelessly, both boys turning back to their bickering.

  So if he hadn’t been to Celadon gym before, why were they so uneasy coming here?

  They soon stopped without input from their uncle, choking in their words. Gray’s couldn’t blame them.

  Because as soon as they neared the gym, the slight breeze that had been blowing from their backs shifted in the opposite direction, blowing instead to their faces. It caught them all off guard, and Gray had no choice but to wrinkle his nose.

  The scent in the air was sickeningly cloying, an ugly mixture of natural and synthetic aromas that blended horribly. Sylveon and Azumarill, who had more sensitive pokemon senses, had to cover their noses.

  The two boys blanched and gagged from the smell, the sudden intensity catching them by surprise.

  “Do you both want to wear masks? To help with the smell?” Gray asked, already starting to dig into his day bag to bring them out.

  “No need!”

  “Yeah, we can get used to it! I think…”

  His attempt at being a responsible uncle thwarted, Gray felt rather disappointed. All that research he did in making sure he always carried supplies growing boys might need went down the drain because his nephews insisted against it.

  Nevermind then. “Sylveon.”

  Without needing further words, Sylveon summoned a gust of Fairy Wind to blow around the group, immediately dispelling the heavy scent of perfume and flowers. It wasn’t 100% effective, but they could at least breathe without stinging their throats. Both boys showered Sylveon in compliments for his show of skill.

  While the boys did so, Gray looked up to observe Celadon gym.

  The tall building, to put it lightly, was an explosion of flowers and greenery. Not to mention the meticulously pruned pathway aligned with colorful flowers and emerald bushes, even the building itself wasn’t spared the treatment. Against the walls were creeping vines, tastefully interspersed.

  Gray couldn’t claim to be a professional botanist by any means, but he was fairly sure that some of the plant life he could identify were not native to Kanto. He spotted one or two that he was fairly certain had stringent care requirements enough to make a professional gardener squirm.

  But then again, Celadon gym had historically specialised in grass types. Their ability to grow the most challenging of fauna was probably a point of pride to them, a show of expertise that would stump the most learned. Even to the layman it was remarkably beautiful.

  From one look, it was evident that Celadon gym took pride in its position as being the leaders that turned the green city into what it was today.

  If only a crafted sense of aesthetics came with a functional sense of smell. Oh well, not his circus, not his Mankeys.

  When they passed through the front doors of the gym, Gary and Ash couldn’t stop themselves from frowning with an ‘Eugh!’, for the scent coming from the inside was impossibly more sickening. Sylveon had to work double time to keep the smell around them breathable.

  It was only Gray’s (questionable) maturity that had his own face unmoved, as if he was above the smell of the place.

  Their entrance, however, was bound to be eye-turning. Already, Gray’s reputation as a trainer had cemented itself this early into the season. While it usually took time for rep to build up over the course of the league, trainers proving over time how their bonds with pokemon could overcome the hurdle of gym battles as they progressively became harder with each badge collected, Gray was different.

  Gray Oak, with his well-known last name and insistence of challenging a gym leader’s personal team, already had the whole region tuning in to pay attention.

  At this moment, many of the affiliated Celadon gym trainers looked to the entrance and recognised the man on sight. When the two young boys accompanying him expressed their disgust as soon as they entered, their eyes darkened in disapproval.

  Unperturbed by the hostility, Gray led the group deeper into the gym, walking slowly enough to let both boys look around and gawk.

  Celadon gym, it seemed, doubled up as a perfume store. The intense mixture of fauna and synthetically produced perfumes resulted in the cloying scent pervading the vicinity. Gray steered away from a customer who was liberally spraying a perfume to test out, each spritz of the bottle she was holding released a thick pink mist.

  Aisle after aisle of products could be seen, with some products labelled as special, for they were accompanied by in-store promotional shelving designed to include the inspiration behind the crafted scent. One glance at a price label told Gray that Celadon gym was likely as affluent as the city it helped build.

  Gym trainers were scattered all around, acting as sales representatives for the teeming number of customers browsing. In one glance, their identity was apparent.

  Dressed in finery and working kimonos, each gym trainer was meticulously groomed and expertly made up, plump lined lips and lightly blushed cheeks raised as they entertained potential customers.

  Gray would be a fool to miss the animosity they regarded the fairy trainer, as if he was an intruder in their midst. Gray chalked it up to the idea that he was technically here to beat their boss on national television so he dismissed it.

  They weren’t wrong per se, but as long as his bottom lines weren’t touched he would let them be. It made sense why the man from yesterday called the Celadon trainers arrogant.

  At the deepest part of the gym, they could finally make out the area designated for registering gym battles. The people here were evidently different from the shoppers, judging from the frowns on their faces as they subtly tried to fan the air around their noses to keep the thick smell manageable.

  Gray lightly laughed at the looks of jealousy the other trainers shot at Sylveon who was carefully using a pokemon move to clear the air around the group. They would have done something similar if not for fear of offending the gym.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Leading the boys up towards the counter meticulously adorned with flowers, Gray had to clear his throat loudly to get the gym trainer on duty to look up.

  “Hello. I’m Gray Oak. I’d like to schedule a gym battle against Celadon gym within the week. Please let your leader know I’m here to challenge their personal team.”

  The gym staff, a young woman with spidery fake lashes looked up to meet Gray square in the eye. With a customer service worthy smile, she replied.

  “Sorry, but we don’t serve Blue Oak and his family here. Please leave.”

  Admittedly Gray was too distracted by the blatant hostility in the gym staff’s eyes to properly process her words. But when he did, he frowned.

  “Excuse me?”

  “It would seem that Blue Oak’s disregard is genetic. Please leave, Mr Oak. Your brother and his kind’s outlandishness is unwelcome in Celadon gym.”

  After her words, she looked down at young Gary who had more than a passing resemblance to his father. Her ugly and uncaring words were loud enough to attract the attention of the room, and by directing them at the boy, she directed everyone’s attention to him.

  Gary, unused to such levels of hostility, flinched and hid behind his uncle. He pressed Sylveon to his unguarded back, eager to get eyes off his person.

  What on earth was going on?

  Despite the shock racing in his veins, Gray Oak stood up as tall as his last name. He wound an arm around his nephew, taking care to pull Ash in too just in case. His lightly muscled arm was like an oak branch, carefully sheltering his charges under protection.

  “I don’t appreciate your malice. Apologise.”

  His words were clipped, eyes blazing as he stared down the woman in front of him.

  Already charged from their trainer’s treatment by an unknown, Sylveon and Azumarill wasted no time. Azumarill stepped forward, his round body surrounded by a thin layer of water, prepared to move at a moment’s notice. Sylveon, still being pressed against Gary to protect their flank, raised his nose higher in the air. The Fairy Wind that had been protecting their group from the smell increased in intensity. His beautiful ribbons danced in the air, opening steps and a prelude to defend if needed.

  The woman froze, eyes wide in disbelief, as if she hadn’t expected Gray to be so hostile with her. It irked Gray. She was clearly the instigator here, so why was she acting as if it was Gray who wasn’t following the script?

  “I’m not sure what issues you have with my brother Champion Blue, but whatever the case you have no right to be so unprofessional here. We’re here to register for a match against Celadon gym’s personal team, yet you refuse. Your hostility in this space is poor form and reflects terribly on your gym.”

  Gray sneered at the woman who had rapidly reddened at his implications. He wasn’t wrong and she knew it.

  Major Gyms, as the head honchos in their respective cities, protected their reputations religiously. To deny Gray a match against their gym leader’s personal team made them look weak, skiving away from a challenge.

  If people were to find out that Gray Oak, who had been making waves challenging gym leaders at their strongest, was denied a match in Celadon…

  The gym staff looked around her, cursing inside that it was her own loud voice that attracted attention in the first place.

  Gray expected her to retreat and lick her wounds, but one glance at the young boy behind him had her eyes hardening to become resolute.

  “It matters not. You are the brother of Blue Oak, and are thus not welcome here.”

  Surprised that the woman would double down on her stance, Gray’s mind raced.

  What exactly had happened here?

  Growing up with Blue, Gray knew that his brother wasn’t a paragon of virtue and kindness. The man was infuriating at the best of days, failing to censor his mouth and actions because he didn’t believe in lowering himself to fit the mold.

  Blue Oak grew up hearing he was special, so he acted without concern for the people around him.

  In his younger years, a few older folks might have been displeased with the arrogance he displayed. But even his strongest detractors had kept their mouths shut after his first year as a trainer where he and his best friend took the world by storm.

  Sure, people could point out that despite his talents, he fell behind Red in his first year, but did it matter that much when it was him who clamored for Red to get that chance too? After all, he had won the conference first and insisted on Red getting a chance against the Elite Four too. Blue beat Red in the conference then Red beat Blue during the championship match.

  And so what if Blue and Red took trades beating each other over time — they were so far above the rest of the competition, of course they could only compare themselves against one another.

  So it was cemented that despite how grating Blue could be, he had the right to act however he wished because his pedigree and talents as a trainer were as blue as the sky.

  Yet, in spite of how many feathers Blue Oak had ruffled, Gray could think of no instance of him acting irredeemable enough to warrant this level of hostile treatment.

  What had transpired in the years Gray was away that would allow for this random nobody to have the spine to attack his character in a public setting?

  Gray didn’t know, but at this very moment it did not matter.

  “Are you saying that Celadon gym would like to go against Professor Oak’s laboratory? You refuse to treat me with the respect that I deserve and instead have tarnished a member of my family in this manner. If Celadon gym wishes to go against my entire family, by all means. I look forward to seeing how you and yours will fall in the years to come.”

  Murmurs rose around the vicinity as trainers began to discuss the implications of Gray Oak.

  To publicly declare against the Oaks was social suicide. It was undeniable that Professor Oak was the premier pokemon professor of the region, conducting research that constantly pushed the pedestal up. Other pokemon professors, whilst respected, were forced to play catch up to the sheer genius of Samuel Oak.

  With each finding, he elevated understanding of pokemon, forcing the world to move up.

  Blue Oak’s generation proved that the trainer strength of the Oak family did not wither over time. Instead, it blossomed into the next generation who managed to take the pinnacle of pokemon training in his first year.

  And now, even if he was late to the party, Gray Oak was moving towards the same peak as he gallivanted around Kanto, challenging gym’s at their very best and beating them at their own game.

  Could Celadon gym afford to against them?

  The gym receptionist began to tremble under Gray’s intense brown eyes. She tried to open her mouth to reply, but all that came out of was a rush of air that betrayed her nervous mind. Mustering up the courage again, she attempted to find her voice when a heavy aura suddenly filled the entire room.

  If anyone had missed Gray Oak before, they would have certainly registered him now.

  The cloying scent that stuck to the room vanished, replaced by a heavy static that caused one’s skin to immediately become clammy. The faint smell of ozone and power froze the entire room, everyone fearing that one unintentional move could cause the fragile balance to shatter, dooming them all.

  Sylveon stood erect, his ribbons unnaturally stilled as he continued to release Fairy energy around the room. His nose lifted as he stared the receptionist down, daring her to say another word of disrespect against his trainer.

  Technically, Gray should have taken the step in reigning in his starter for it was in bad form for a pokemon to act this way without a word from their trainer.

  But all the younger Oakson did was tilt his head to the side in askance, his silvery hair falling just so against his eyes that they left shadows across face. Like Sylveon, he stared the receptionist down unblinking.

  Because why should he care for propriety in a building that had been hostile towards him?

  Ash and Gary fidgeted around their uncle and his pokemon as they looked around in confusion. What was going on? Why was everyone else in the room holding their breaths?

  Onlookers couldn’t help but swallow their terror when they realised that their predicament was contained to themselves only. Despite how heavy the pokemon type energy was in the air, Gray Oak’s dependents were completely spared from it, highlighting a level of control in Sylveon that could only be found in elite pokemon.

  “What is going on here?!”

  A shrill voice pierced against the bubble of tension, drawing attention away from Gray and Sylveon.

  Two adult women strode forward, their gait steady as they made their way towards the reception desk. Gray would commend them for their courage, but he could see how their hands were trembling the closer they got.

  A little girl followed behind them silently, a tiny waif of a thing that seemed only a few years older than his nephews. Like them, she was spared the intensity of Sylveon’s anger. She kept her eyes firmly on the ground, refusing to look up.

  In the end, the two women had to stop a distance further than socially acceptable, unwilling to take a step closer to the wall of power. Their knees nearly threatening to give way in the process.

  The woman who spoke was vaguely familiar to Gray, her long brown hair stopping mid back. Her kimono was a vibrant turquoise and well-fitted, perfectly complimenting her pale skin. Her delicate features, however, were marred by an ugly scowl directed at Gray.

  Gray struggled to place this woman, but he was sure he knew her somewhere. “And you are?”

  The fairy trainer’s inability to recognise her darkened her frown further, causing her to spit. “A few years away and suddenly you’re too important to recognise me? I should have known. All you Oaks have arrogance in your blood.”

  His nephew flinched at the woman’s venom, an action that was surprisingly mirrored by the little girl accompanying both women. All at once, this arrogant woman’s identity mattered very little to Gray.

  “Or perhaps you’re too unremarkable to be worth remembering. Whoever you are, you’re nobody to me and my family.”

  To Gray’s surprise, the woman simply chortled in an ugly manner.

  “Leaf, you shouldn’t bother with this man and his family. It simply isn’t worth it.” The other adult woman lightly chastised her companion, drawing Gray’s attention.

  With her verdant green kimono and severe bob, placing this woman wasn’t difficult for Gray. Erika, the Celadon gym leader, stood ramrod straight. Her manicured hands daintily clasped in front of her body shook as she paid Gray no mind.

  “You’re Leaf? What in the distortion world happened to you?”

  Before the woman could reply, Gary pulled on his uncle’s shirt before whispering loud enough to be heard by the room. “Uncle Gray, that’s my mom.”

  “Your mom?!”

  Gray looked back up to the woman, who was now smirking at him like a Meowth who got the cream. Her nose rose fractionally up in the air, as she did her best to look down at the fairy trainer from beneath it.

  She stood triumphantly, poisonous eyes daring Gray to say anything further, confident that her revealed identity as his nephew’s mother would curb him.

  “So? Her last name isn't Oak, right? So she doesn’t matter.”

  Gray’s sharp, decisive words took the wind out of Leaf’s sails, causing her to gape at him.