The Oak Family Tree

A Pokémon Fanfiction

By Barb the JavaMaster

Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon and its related characters are the property of Nintendo, Game Freak, 4Kids Entertainment, etc.  No copyright infringement is intended.  No profit is being made from this story.

Author's Notes

I have contemplated why Gary Oak treats Ash Ketchum with such contempt most of the time, and this is my answer.  The story contains some flashbacks to Gary's family life before he left on his Pokémon journey.  The setting is the day Gary returns to Pallet after being eliminated at the Kanto League Games.      

The Story

It had been a long day.  A long, hard day, and one that Gary Oak would prefer to leave in his distant past. 

Head hung low, Gary walked to the doorstep of his house, turning only to smile and wink at the girls in the red convertible double-parked on the street.  A blonde seated in the back, Patty, smiled and winked at Gary.  He pretended to be flattered.  With a wave, he let himself into the house and locked the door behind him.  Hearing the roar of the convertible's engines outside, Gary finally let the tears that had been threatening earlier flow freely down his cheeks.  He fairly ran to the bathroom and sobbed like he hadn't since he was a child.  He clutched onto the sink and steadied himself.

Loser.  The one word echoed in his head.

Loser.  The epithet he'd applied to his former friend, Ash Ketchum.  The same Ash Ketchum he'd grown up with and played with and teased because everyone knew that Ash had a crush on Gary's sister, May.  The same Ash Ketchum who at this very minute was playing in the 5th round of the Kanto League Games.  While he, Gary, the great one, sobbed in the bathroom like a baby. 

Loser.  What Gary's dad had called him since childhood. 

Gary wiped his eyes and nose and tried to compose himself.  He heard a soft rapping at the door. 

"Gary?  Hello?"  his grandfather's voice calmed him.

"I'm in here, Grandpa.  I'll be right out."

"Okay, Gary.  I have lunch ready for us."  Gary heard footsteps as his grandfather walked away.  Gary turned on the cold water and splashed it onto his face, washing away the memories of his defeat at the hands of a girl on the Rock Field.  Gary opened the door and walked slowly down the hallway to the kitchen.  His grandfather had prepared rice balls, miso soup, and tea.  "Please sit down, Gary."  His grandfather said.  Gary obeyed but did not speak. 

"I'm very proud of you, Gary.  You battled well today."

"Please…"Gary's voice trailed off.  His grandfather eyed him curiously.

"Please what, Gary?"

"Please, don't try to make me feel better.  I lost.  I'm a loser, just like dad said I was.  Okay?"  Gary's voice took on a hard edge.

His grandfather ate a rice ball and regarded Gary for a moment or two.  "Gary, you did lose today.  But that does not change the fact that you battled well.  Your Rhydon is exceptionally well trained.  As is your Arcanine."

"That still doesn't change the fact that I am a loser." Gary spat out the last word.

"Only you are saying that you are a loser, Gary.  No one else thinks so."

"My dad does.  I bet Ash does.  My cheerleaders think so, too.  They still haven't stopped crying."  Gary glowered at his plate.  His grandfather sighed.  He sipped his tea slowly before answering.  "How many times must I repeat these simple words to you, Gary?  Winning isn't everything."

"It is to me!" Gary fairly shouted.  A glance from his grandfather silenced and shamed him.  "Winning is important, Grandpa.  You can't become a Pokémon Master if you lose every match."

"But you did not lose every match, Gary.  You won many battles.  You earned 10 badges in the Kanto League.  Surely that is worth something."   Silence was Gary's reply.

***

His grandfather, Samuel, sighed.  Gary's family traditions did not lead to happiness and that was a fact to which Samuel was an eyewitness, as was Gary.   Gary had once wandered into Samuel's lab, crying after another argument with his father.  Will I ever be happy, Gary had asked.  Samuel was beginning to wonder that himself as he considered his grandson picking at his food. 

The Oak family is solid, someone once said.  Solid on the outside maybe, but eaten away and rotting inside, Gary had decided.  His sweet mother was an alcoholic, and he'd last spoken to her before he'd left for the Indigo Plateau.  He carried the conversation ably since she slurred her words and forgot to hang up the phone when they had finished speaking.  She later called him and ranted about the sky-high telephone bill she'd received.  Gary realized Kay couldn't return to Pallet Town to congratulate him in person.  She was persona non grata since she had confessed to having an affair with a man named Jay.  Jay Ketchum to be precise, as Gary had found out from May one hot summer evening last year.

***

"Gary!  Stop!"  May was screaming at him again, her voice becoming more shrill as she raced to catch him.  Gary ignored her cries and ran faster to the cliffs.  He stopped when the ground did, watching the pebbles fall hundreds of feet down beneath him.  When May caught up to him, he was backing slowly away. 

"Leave me alone!"  he yelled and moved closer.  "I swear, May, I'll jump!  I swear!"

May stopped, tears streaming down her face.  "Please—Gary—please just listen to me."

"No!  You're a liar, May.  You have no proof!" 

"Read this, then," May offered tonelessly.  A tattered piece of paper fluttered in her hand.  To read it, Gary would have to back away from the cliff's edge.  May gestured to him, but Gary remained rooted to the spot.  May hesitated before walking closer to him, mindful of the edge.  "Read it, Gary."  She handed the paper to him. 

Sighing, Gary took the piece of paper,  tattered and slightly worn at the edges.  A birth certificate, issued by the Office of Marriages and Births, Kanto Region.  A baby girl had been born in Viridian City Hospital 17 years ago to a mother named Kay Oak.  The father's name was Jay Ketchum.  Gary knew, even as tears clouded his vision.  May was Ash Ketchum's half-sister.  

"This is a fake," Gary announced, wiping his eyes.

"No, it's not, and you know it.  Hell, Gary, Ash and I even look alike!" May exclaimed.

"No, you don't!  You're my sister, not his!  You're my best friend, not his!"  Gary fell to the ground, still crying.  May knelt beside him and hugged him, listening to him continue, "You're mine, May, not Ash's…"

"Gary, please listen…" May trailed off as Gary continued sobbing.  The wind blew fiercely around them as they hugged.  May pulled away first.

"Gary, you will always be my brother.  Nothing, no piece of paper, no person, nothing can ever change that."  May gripped his shoulders.  Gary looked at her and nodded.

"I love you, Gary, and I always will."

"I love you, too."  Gary wiped his nose.  "Does Ash know?"

"Not yet.  I don't know how or when to tell him." May ran her fingers through her jet black hair. 

"He'll figure it out someday." Gary said.  They hugged again, listening to the Spearows return to the trees, to their homes, and knowing in their hearts that their lives had been forever altered. 

***

"I have always thought that we came from a pretty crazy family, myself," Samuel said.  Gary grinned. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, we have a family history of alcoholism, mental illness, and politeness.  The Oak triad, I called it.  Everyone has it:  my parents, my parents' parents, and so on."

"But you're normal, Grandpa."  Gary said teasingly.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly normal for someone who spends half their time in a lab studying Pokémon.  Someone who spends more time with invertebrates than with people."  Samuel grinned and so did Gary. 

***

Gary usually came home from school to find either one or both of his parents drunk or asleep.  Gary's love turned to hate quickly, as he saw his mother's light being extinguished by this man.  Robert and Kay used to play a child's game together: rock, paper, scissors.  When Robert played it, it became vicious.  There is a point in the game where you can slap your opponent with two fingers.  Robert developed the two-finger slap into a painful blow that would leave a bruise on Kay for two days. 

Another time Kay had lit Robert's cigarette in a way she deemed sexy.  Robert deemed this incorrect, and sent her sprawling.  An eight-year-old Gary then tackled his father from behind, tripping him up.  Robert sat down laconically and finished his scotch and soda.  Then he kicked Gary away, sending him flying onto the hard-tiled kitchen floor.  He'd laughed as Gary slid into his mother, making her lose her balance and grab onto the counter for support.  She cursed as she dropped her scotch, the lead glass smashing into tiny pieces, covering Gary.  Kay had cleaned the kitchen up but Gary was still bleeding.  The doctor had explained to the two parents that Gary had a piece of glass caught in his throat and it needed to be removed.  They had nodded stupidly and agreed to the surgery.  Robert lost a fight, Kay lost a drink, and that night, Gary lost a portion of one of his vocal cords.  This left him with a nasally voice that he grew to loathe almost as much as he did his parents. 

Whenever Robert saw Gary after that episode, he would grab the iron poker from beside the fireplace and say, "Shove off," an invitation that Gary and May frequently accepted.

Gary became lost in the world of Pokémon about that time.  He eagerly looked forward to going on his own Pokémon journey not so much as an adventure, but an escape.  He and May watched many battles on television.  They had mock battles in the yard until one morning they woke Kay up from a particularly bad hangover and she threw a Pokéball at them.  It landed near Gary and a bright white light poured out.  Gary shielded his eyes and started mute at the Growlithe that appeared. 

"Hello?" Gary asked the slightly confused Pokémon.

"Growll.." [Where am I?] it had responded, shaking its head.  It regarded Gary for a moment before stepping forward tentatively and sniffing.  Growlithe licked Gary's cheek in a gesture of love and affection and they had been inseparable ever since. 

***

Gary wasn't sure where everything had gone wrong.  For that matter, neither was Robert.  They sparred physically and verbally, with Robert being the victor.  Gary wanted to love him but ended up being Robert's nemesis. 

"I still don't know what happened between us," Gary offered.

"Neither do I, Gary.  I still wonder why Robert missed out on something that actually could have been wonderful for you both."  Samuel agreed.  "You know, Gary, you are nothing like your father."

***

What had made it worse was the fact that Robert wasn't totally evil.  When an eight-year-old Gary developed a high fever, it was Robert and not Kay that spent half the night up with him.  Robert ran Gary a bath, changed his sweat-soaked pajamas, and read him bedtime stories.  Robert waited for Gary's fever to break patiently, and eased Gary through his nightmares and deliriums.  Robert sponged Gary's forehead with a cool washcloth while singing a children's song to him.  Two days later Gary's fever broke, and Robert was back to his old drunken self. 

***

"Why does everything that could be so good go so wrong?" Gary intoned softly.  He had tried to be a good Pokémon trainer, captured as many Pokémon as he could, and entered the Kanto League Games.  Then Gary straightened up.  Just because my father is, doesn't mean I have to be.  I have a choice.

"Grandpa, can I use your phone?"  Gary asked.  Seeing the change in Gary's demeanor, Samuel nodded.  And smiled to himself as Gary walked out of the room.  He'd survive, even succeed, with help. 

Gary wanted his father to share in his victories and his defeat.  He wanted Rober to know that his evil hadn't affected him.  Despite his bravado, his throat went dry while dialing Robert's number.  Robert answered on the second ring.

"Hello?" he rasped.  "Gary?  What do you want from me, boy?"

"Dad, I just wanted to tell you that I've returned from competing in the Kanto League Games.  And I've gotten my Pokémon license from Grandpa.  I've caught over one hundred Pokémon, you know."

"Shut the hell up, Gary.  You're full of it."

"I'm going on vacation with May and Grandpa tomorrow.  We're heading to Tangelo Island."  Gary willed himself to stay calm.

"You're a liar, Gary, and always were.  If you're so fucking great then explain why you're talking to me right now.  I'm watching these fucking games on TV and you're not in them."

"I—" Gary composed himself, "I lost to a woman named Melissa in the third round.  Her Golem beat my Rhydon." 

"I knew it!  You are a such a loser, Gary." The voice that had taunted Gary most of his life became louder. 

"I know that you hurt Mom.  And you hurt me.  But you haven't destroyed us.  Not by a long shot, Dad."

"Get over yourself, Gary.  You are a loser."  The last word, stretched into almost three syllables, made Gary clench his fists.  The scales of justice were being balanced slowly.

Gary could tell that his father was drunk—he could hear him slurping something in the background—but Gary liked to think that Robert was sober enough to understand. 

"I competed, Dad.  That's more than you've ever done in your pathetic little life."

"Go to hell, Gary."  The voice was softer now, words being slurred.

"I know that you know that I am telling the truth.  Now, we can both shove off for good.  I've won."  Gary's final words had their telling effect.  A long pause on the other end of the line, rattled breathing.  The Arbok had no more poison.  Gary could hear his father trying to form a word, but for some reason, his tongue was stuck.  Robert's mouth was as dry and lifeless as his heart.  The fight ended and Gary hung up.  Gary swallowed for a moment, feeling elation course through his veins.   He said, "Yes," quietly to himself, as a wave of calmness flowed through him.  Maybe Robert had given him something, a gift to be remembered.  Robert had taught Gary that love—like the most stubborn flower—can blossom amidst a field of hatred.  Samuel knew this too, as did May.    May and Gary had ridden bikes together, collected flowers together, and played together.  May had shown Gary the power of love and friendship. 

As he walked back into the kitchen to see his grandfather, Gary stopped to look at the needlepoint his grandmother had made so many years ago.  Carefully woven into the picture were these words: "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love."   Gary heard his grandfather greet his sister, May.  He took a deep breath and went towards the sound of their voices, feeling glad that the shaky roof over his head had not caved in.

The End