Chapter no.66 Austin vs Gary

After the chaos with Damien, Austin wasted no time. He personally sent Charmander to Viridian City to his Nurse Joy.

When he described the strange pigment on Charmander’s back, Nurse Joy’s bright demeanor turned serious. She didn’t dismiss it with a smile or a soft pat on the shoulder. Instead, she simply nodded, her voice calm and firm.

“I’ll run a full diagnostic,” she said. “No shortcuts. You’ll get answers, hero.”

He’d trusted her with worse before. He nodded, leaving Charmander in her care.

But the day wasn’t done with him yet.

Back at the Cerulean Gym, the tournament continued and Austin, still carrying the weight of everything he’d done, still managed to carve his way through the bracket. The finals approached faster than he expected. One moment he was brushing dust off his jacket, the next he was standing beneath the roaring lights, staring across the field at a familiar smirk.

Gary Oak.

Of course it was Gary.

Felt like fate. But also… not.

In the anime, Ash had never faced Gary here in Cerulean City. But in the games, Red and Blue clashed at every badge. This? This felt like a ripple. A shift in fate. A domino that had tipped somewhere between canon and consequence.

“Get ready to lose, Ashy-boy!” Gary called from across the battlefield, voice cocky, bouncing with energy. That same smug grin he always wore, the one that said I’m the better trainer, and I know it.

“That’s cute.”

Gary blinked. It wasn’t the comeback he was expecting. No fire. No banter. No spark.

Just a cold, dismissive shrug.

“I’ll let your Pokémon cry into the mud when this is over,” Gary tried again, raising his voice like he was still trying to spark the usual game between them.

Austin adjusted his glove and stared at the battlefield. “Yeah. Sure. Say whatever helps you sleep at night.”

There was no edge in his tone. No playfulness. Just indifference.

Austin sighed through his nose, finally looking Gary in the eyes not with hatred, not even with annoyance.

Just exhaustion.

“Not everything’s a rivalry, Gary,” he said quietly. “Sometimes a battle’s just a battle. Nothing more.”

And then he turned, walking to his podium.

Gary watched him go, his fists clenched at his sides. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He wanted the fire. The shouting. The petty jabs and high-stakes energy.

But Austin… this Ash… wasn’t playing.

And for the first time in a long time, Gary felt the hollow echo of a game he was playing alone.

The crowd still cheered. The field still buzzed but beneath the noise, one boy felt like a trainer and the other felt like a child.

They took their podiums.

Austin drew in a slow, steady breath. A ritual he’d unconsciously built back in Pewter City, forged during the long days of training while strangers watched and judged from the sidelines.

The noise around him dulled, blurring into a distant hum like wind through trees. The brightness of the arena lights softened in his mind, no longer blinding, just background.

He felt the smooth weight of the Poké Ball in his palm. The familiar presence of Pikachu on his shoulder, warm and steady.

Nothing else mattered.

Not the crowd. Not the cameras. Not the noise. Just him. Just the battlefield. Just the fight ahead.

The referee raised the flags. The signal came.

They threw their Poké Balls in unison.

In a shimmer of red, Vee landed softly on the muddy field, black fur rippling under the overhead beams. His red eyes narrowed, and the rings along his body glowed faintly as he crouched low.

From Gary’s side came a sharp bark and a flash of orange.

Growlithe.

Muscular, well-groomed, and ready.

Austin’s eyes narrowed, watching Vee closely not for what he was doing, but what he wasn’t. No bristling fur. No tension in his muscles. No instinctive step back.

Vee wasn’t intimidated. Not even a flicker of hesitation.

Which meant one thing.

Growlithe’s ability must be Flash Fire, Austin thought.

He didn’t need to hear Lily and Violet’s commentary from the booth above… their voices felt like distant fog now. He was already mapping out his plan.

Then the whistle blew.

“Sunny Day!” Gary barked.

Growlithe threw its head back and howled. A glowing orb shot upward, crackling with golden heat, and exploded above the field like a miniature sun. The thick, humid air instantly changed. Mud hissed and dried beneath its light, steam curling up from the battlefield as the terrain hardened into cracked, sun-baked earth.

Austin didn’t flinch. “Confuse Ray.”

Vee’s red eyes narrowed. The central ring along his forehead pulsed, then glowed with eerie multicolor light. A beam of distorted, prism-like energy arced across the field and struck Growlithe square in the chest.

The Fire-type stumbled, blinking wildly as its legs wobbled beneath it. The once-disciplined movement devolved into an awkward, staggering trot like a puppy learning how to walk on ice.

“Quick Whips!” Austin went for a combo move.

Vee blurred forward in a streak of silver light his form flickering with the speed of Quick Attack. But instead of striking head-on, he began weaving in and out around Growlithe, his sleek tail whipping the Fire-type’s flank again and again with sharp cracks. The confusion made Growlithe unable to predict or dodge the hits, its body tensing and muscles slackening as its defenses dropped.

“Flame Wheel!” Gary countered.

Growlithe gritted its fangs and suddenly righted itself mid-stumble, its fur igniting in a spiral of flame. The confusion was overwhelmed by pure instinct as it roared forward, a fiery blur cutting across the sun-scorched mud.

“Hidden Power!”

Umbreon skidded to a stop and lowered his head. A silver orb formed between his teeth, pulsing with strange energy. He launched it at the ground where it detonated with a concussive boom, releasing an omni-directional shockwave of dark-tinted force.

The moment the wave collided with Growlithe’s Flame Wheel, something changed.

The flames flared violently… no longer orange, but blue. The wheel exploded forward, faster, hotter.

Austin’s eyes widened. That’s not Flash Fire. That’s something else.

The blue flames tore through the shadow burst and slammed into Vee, launching him back.

“Fire Fang!” Gary roared before the dust could even settle as Growlithe leapt through the aftermath with fangs bared its mouth glowing with cerulean fire.

Growlithe clamped down into Vee’s nape, biting deep, blue fire surging along its jaw.

Umbreon let out a pained snarl, his paws dragging against the dirt as his legs locked from the shock.

“Vee!” Austin shouted, already reaching for his next command when Vee’s eyes snapped open and did something Austin hadn’t trained him to do.

A deep, growling power surged in Vee’s throat. With a sudden lurch, he opened his mouth wide and roared. Rings of deep purple and black-red energy exploded outward, distorting the air around them. The sound alone rattled the air like a shockwave. Growlithe was blasted off his body, rolling back in a trail of scorched earth.

The referee’s whistle blew loud and sharp.

“Illegal move!” the announcer’s voice rang through the arena. “Umbreon has used a fifth move… resulting in a penalty!”

Austin stared in stunned silence.

On the commentary box above, Lily’s voice cracked in with concern.

“Oh no! It looks like Austin’s Umbreon accidentally activated a fifth move mid-fight. That’s a rules infraction.”

Violet followed. “Yeah, probably an emotional response… poor thing was in real pain. That was definitely Snarl, which sharply lowers Special Attack and deals Dark-type damage.”

“Which triggers Justified,” Lily added. “Growlithe’s Hidden Ability! Its Attack rises when it’s hit by Dark-type moves!”

The referee stepped in front of him, holding a red penalty card.

“You have two options,” he said firmly. “Withdraw Umbreon now… or allow Growlithe one uncontested strike.”

The arena buzzed with tension. The heat of Sunny Day still baked the air.

Austin’s mind whirled.

Pull out Vee and give Gary a clean shot in the finals… or risk it all on a hit that could knock Vee out completely especially with Growlithe now powered up.

“Damn it,” Austin hissed.

The commentators kept going laying out the stakes for the crowd. For him. It felt like the world was spinning faster, pressing in until a voice cut through.

“Umbreon!”

Austin snapped his gaze to Vee.

The moonlight Pokémon stood shaky, bruised, but proud. He gave Austin a nod. A fire in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

Austin blinked… and smiled. “I forget how much of a tough bastard you are, Vee.” He turned to the ref. “Let Growlithe take the shot.”

The crowd gasped.

Gary’s grin sharpened like a blade. “Flamethrower!”

Growlithe inhaled deeply then unleashed a wide arc of blazing, sun-fueled fire straight at Vee.

Umbreon lowered his stance. The fire hit engulfing him in red-orange flames and then, from inside the inferno, he moved.

Charging through the flames, body burning, using the fire itself as cover, Vee turned into a bullet of glowing speed. Quick Attack, cloaked in agony and defiance.

CRASH!

He slammed into Growlithe mid-stream, the impact sending the Fire-type skidding back through a newly-hardened patch of earth.

Both Pokémon collapsed at once.. Growlithe struggling to rise, Vee already down.

The referee raised a flag. “Umbreon is unable to battle!”

Austin clenched his jaw, returning Vee to his ball with quiet hands. “I’m sorry for the sloppy play,” he muttered. “We’ll make it up to you.”

He looked up across the field.

One loss. But the battle wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

Austin said nothing as he tossed the Poké Ball. The rage storming behind his eyes spoke louder than words.

In a burst of light, Spearow landed hard on the battlefield not in the air, but with both clawed feet planted in the baked mud. His feathers were ruffled, not from wind, but from instinct. His wings spread slightly, twitching with anticipation. He looked back once and locked eyes with Austin.

“I want you to crush him.”

Spearow nodded.

The referee’s whistle split the air.

“Flame Wheel!” Gary called, doubling down on his powered-up Growlithe. The Fire-type howled and spun into a blue-flamed tornado, charging forward like a burning comet.

“Aerial Wing.”

Spearow launched forward, not soaring but sprinting claws tearing across the cracked terrain, wings glowing like sharpened steel blades. Aerial Ace surged through his muscles as he picked up blistering speed, and the glow of steel Wing gave his movements a slicing edge.

The two Pokémon collided mid-field but there was no struggle.

There was impact.

Spearow hit hard talons gripping the ground, body low and coiled like a spring. He rammed through Growlithe’s spinning flame, absorbing the heat with a screech of pain but never slowing. The collision sent Growlithe flying, blue embers trailing from its fur as it crashed into the wall beneath Gary’s podium with a heavy thud.

The Fire-type struggled to get up… but it was too late. Vee’s tail whips had lowered his defenses. Spearow had shattered it.

“Growlithe is unable to battle!” the referee called.

Gary returned his partner wordlessly.

“Strong,” he muttered, barely audible. His eyes narrowed.

Then he threw out his second Poké Ball releasing an Abra.

The moment it materialized, it raised one finger toward Spearow. The middle one.

Austin blinked. “…Alright, I like this one.”

Spearow didn’t laugh. He looked like he wanted to kill the psychic type.

The whistle blew.

“Aerial Ace!” Austin barked.

“Teleport,” came Gary’s calm response.

Spearow darted forward in a blur but pop Abra vanished just as Spearow’s wing carved through the air where it had been. He reappeared five meters away, seated like a monk, expression unreadable.

Austin’s eyes narrowed. Is he trying to tire us out?

“Hidden Power!”

Spearow skidded to a halt and released an orb of swirling fire, intensified by the still-blazing Sunny Day. The orb exploded mid-air, sending an omnidirectional pulse of flame across the arena. But before it could hit, a green shield shimmered into existence around Abra. The flames broke harmlessly around the edges.

Austin clenched his teeth.

He’s using Protect too… but he didn’t even call the move and then it clicked.

Gary is letting Abra read his thoughts. The boy concluded gazing upon Abra since it was doing nothing just… calm.

“Calm Mind,” Austin whispered.

Abra’s body glowed faintly, a tranquil hum echoing in the air as its mind sharpened, power growing more refined by the second.

“Break it. Aerial Wing!”

Spearow didn’t wait. He surged forward wings like steel sabers, body low. He tore through the hardened mud, each stride heavy, clawed feet kicking up stone as he closed the gap.

He hit the Protect barrier hard cracking it with the force of a battering ram. But Abra teleported again vanishing in a flicker and reappearing behind him.

Electricity sparked across its fist. Thunder Punch.

“Behind!”

But Spearow already knew.

He twisted bringing up his wing just in time. Steel Wing met the punch midair, but lightning danced across the feathers, searing into him. The hit hurt but Spearow held firm. He ground his claws into the dirt, and his glare burned.

Austin didn’t hesitate. “Assurance!”

A black aura erupted from Spearow’s claws. Before Abra could teleport again, Spearow lunged like a fighting rooster in the pit, slamming his beak into Abra’s chest, then gripping the psychic type by the neck.

BAM!

He drove Abra into the ground. Dust exploded upward in a choking plume.

Gary’s voice finally rang out. “Thunder Punch!”

Still crackling with power, Abra obeyed landing a desperate, sparking punch against Spearow’s side.

Spearow snarled. The electricity arced through him but he held on.

“Again!”

Another assurance. Another shockwave.

Both Pokémon were engulfed in the thick dust cloud as the crowd fell silent.

Then the dust cleared.

Abra lay limp, eyes spinning.

Spearow stood over him…and collapsed.

The whistle blew.

“Both Pokémon are unable to battle!”

The crowd erupted in a roar.

Austin quietly returned Spearow, eyes low.

“You fought like a demon,” he whispered. “Exactly what I expected.”

The battlefield was cracked. Scorched. Mud turned to clay, then to dust under the relentless sun.

Austin and Gary stood at opposite ends eyes locked, breaths steady, hands clenched around their final Poké Balls.

This was it. They didn’t say a word. Their hands moved as one.

Two Poké Balls cut through the air like comets.

Flashes of white light.

Rattata on one side. The quick claw around her neck shimmered faintly, twitching with energy.

On the other side, Nidoqueen.

Towering. Powerful. Her hide gleamed under the artificial sun that still hovered above the arena. Each breath she took was a quiet promise of destruction.

Austin’s heart sank a little. Fuck.

“Final Pokémon,” the announcer called.

The whistle blew.

“Superpower!” Gary shouted immediately.

Nidoqueen’s muscles bulged as a blue aura exploded around her. She roared an earthshaking sound and charged, each footfall cracking the ground.

Austin was already shouting. “Quick Attack! Move and dodge!”

Rattata flickered out of the way, her Quick Claw flaring. She darted left, then right, a blur on four legs as Nidoqueen’s Superpower slammed down BOOM crushing the baked mud into rubble where she’d just been.

“Don’t stop, use the debris!” Austin yelled. “Jump and Sword Strike!”

Rattata shot up the broken chunks of earth like a blur, springing off each slab with impossible precision. Midair, she twisted tail glowing silver and brought it down like a blade, aiming right for the top of Nidoqueen’s head.

“Poison Fang!” Gary countered.

Nidoqueen turned with brutal speed fangs glowing with venomous purple energy. She caught Rattata’s tail in her jaws mid-strike and slammed her down.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The ground trembled as Rattata’s small body was whipped into the mud again and again not hard enough to break her, but enough to kill her momentum. Her Iron Tail flickered out as the venom sank in, pulsing under her fur.

Austin’s fist clenched. “Assurance!”

Rattata growled her claws glowing black with dark-type energy. She twisted just enough to slash at Nidoqueen’s face.

The hit landed.

Nidoqueen stumbled back, the force of the blow knocking her back several feet, gouging up earth as she skidded. The crowd gasped.

But when the dust cleared… she stood tall. Bruised, but barely.

Across the field, Rattata panted hard, one paw down on the ground, body trembling, venom already taking hold.

Austin’s stomach sank.

That’s the difference, he thought bitterly. First stage versus final.

He looked at her his scrappy little survivor and felt the words rise in his throat.

“…We’ve done enough,” he muttered. “Let’s take this loss and go. We got what we came for. You proved enough.”

Whap.

Austin blinked.

Pikachu had smacked his ankle with his tail.

The electric mouse pointed toward the battlefield. Rattata; bruised, poisoned, panting was still on her feet.

She didn’t even glance back. She didn’t need to. Austin exhaled, heart thudding. She’s not done. Not even close.

“All those nights training… all those days we pushed past our limit…” he muttered. “You’re right.”

He raised his voice.

“Rattata!”

She turned slightly, eye gleaming. “How bad do you want to win this?”

“Rat-TATA‼” she screamed.

Austin smiled. “Then let’s take it. Move fast! Sword Strike!”

“Flamethrower!” Gary yelled.

Nidoqueen opened her jaws wide, a stream of red-orange flame ripping through the battlefield, intensified by Sunny Day. The heat warped the air itself.

Rattata ran into it anyway.

Austin’s eyes widened. What are you—?

Brilliant, golden light burst from her body mid-charge. She glowed brighter than the sun above.

Evolution.

Her body grew in mid-stride, legs longer, fur thickening, limbs bulking with hardened muscle. Her tail extended, claws sharpened, eyes narrowed with burning focus.

Raticate.

The light shattered and she was already moving.

But not forward.

Down.

She melted into the shadows under the heat-rippled ground.

Gary’s eyes widened. “What—?”

A blur exploded upward.

Raticate emerged beside Nidoqueen’s head, mid-leap, her clawed paw cloaked in black-and-red energy.

BOOM.

She sucker punched Nidoqueen across the face, the giant reptilian Pokémon reeling from the unexpected angle. Raticate landed in front of her, body tense, eyes burning.

And then Austin saw it.

The red glow pulsing around her.

Guts.

The poison wasn’t slowing her down anymore. It was making her stronger. The burn of venom, the sting of pain, it fueled her.

Nidoqueen staggered, bruised and battered but she stood.

“Superpower!”

Nidoqueen roared, muscles flaring as that pale-blue aura surged across her body again. Earth cracked beneath her feet as she pushed forward. Across the battlefield, Raticate dug her claws into the dirt.

“Sucker Punch!” Austin commanded.

Raticate vanished into a blur of motion, cloaked in darkness. But Nidoqueen was too close.

Her eyes locked onto the darting shadow and she threw a brutal punch just as Raticate reappeared.

It happened in a blink, a heartbeat between commands, a flicker of instinct over strategy.

The Quick Claw hanging from her neck flared bright like a strike of lightning. Guts pulsed through her like wildfire. Sucker punched beneath Nidoqueen’s guard, her claws glowing pitch-black and crimson aura of Assurance.

Every advantage crashed forward into a single, perfect slash.

At the exact same moment, Nidoqueen’s fist connected with Raticate’s stomach, the shockwave cracking through the floor beneath them.

BOOM.

A burst of light and energy exploded between them as if the air itself couldn’t handle the impact.

Austin sprinted forward just in time to catch Raticate as she spiraled backward through the air. The impact knocked him flat on his back, grunting as his spine hit the ground with a dull thud.

Raticate lay limp in his arms.

“…Hey,” he whispered, eyes clenched. “Looks like I’m buying you more shampoo for that ridiculous hair.”

She didn’t respond.

He smiled softly and returned her to her Poké Ball.

“Both Raticate and Nidoqueen are unable to battle!” the referee declared.

Lily’s voice rang out from the booth, practically vibrating with excitement. “That means… this tournament ends in a draw!”

“Both trainers win!” Violet followed. “Austin and Gary Oak!”

The crowd erupted. Cheers shook the gym. Spotlights flared, banners dropped. Confetti began to rain down from above.

Austin chuckled quietly, still on one knee.

“I really thought he had it…”

But as he stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants, he caught sight of movement.

Gary.

Already turning away, walking off the battlefield toward the side hallway.

Not smiling.

Just leaving.

“…What the hell?” Austin muttered, jogging after him.

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“Oi! Gary!” Austin called as he caught up. “Where you going?”

Gary didn’t stop walking. “Pokémon Center.”

Austin frowned. “Yeah, I know. But dude, we’ve got people for that. They’ll take your Pokémon in for you. We’ve got a ceremony to attend. Winner’s prize. Photos. Confetti. You’re gonna let me soak all that in alone?”

Gary slowed… but didn’t turn.

Austin added, “I think we should split the prize.”

“You can keep it,” Gary muttered. “I don’t want it.”

Austin narrowed his eyes. “Alright, what’s up? You seem… off.”

Gary finally turned and the look on his face wasn’t angry. It wasn’t smug. It was confused. “You’re what’s off.”

“Excuse me?”

Gary stepped closer, voice quieter now. “You didn’t rise to my taunts. Not once. During the battle, you weren’t freestyling like usual you were planning. Mapping things out. And when your plans didn’t work, you froze. You didn’t feel like Ash.”

Austin said nothing.

Gary went on, eyes scanning his old friend. “I thought this ‘Austin’ thing was just some edgy nickname. Something to impress Misty or Violet or—whoever. But now… now I’m not sure.” His voice dropped. “Are you even the same person I grew up with?”

The hallway was quiet.

And Austin, for a rare moment, didn’t dodge the question. “You remember how our rivalry started?”

Gary blinked. “Yeah. You and I fought after I broke your dad’s GS Ball. You swore you’d beat me someday. And I said we’d see who was better in the League.”

Austin chuckled softly and thought. Right. That’s not how it happened on TV, but sure. Close enough.

Austin exhaled. “Let’s just say I’ve… seen a lot. Lived through a lot. More than you’d believe. So, yeah… the Ash you knew? He’s not exactly the one standing in front of you right now.”

Silence stretched between them.

Gary’s voice softened, hesitant. “So… what about our rivalry?”

Austin looked at him. And remembered every moment of that battle: the taunts, the growth, the pride in Gary’s voice even as he fell short.

He smiled.

“It’s still on,” Austin said. “I’m still going to beat you in the League. And I’m still getting that GS Ball back.”

Gary blinked and suddenly rubbed at his eyes, quickly turning away.

“Geez,” he muttered. “Dust or something…”

Then he spun back around and just like that, the arrogance was back.

“Like that’s ever gonna happen!” he snapped. “You think you’re on my level? Ha! I wasn’t even using my strongest Pokémon!”

Austin grinned. “Then I look forward to facing your best.”

He turned, heading back toward the gym doors. “But for now… we’ve got a crowd waiting. You coming?”

Gary nodded, falling into step beside him.

“…Also,” Austin added, smirking. “I’m taking seventy percent of the prize money because I had to listen to your emotional monologue.”

Gary gave him a sideways glare. “Seriously?”

“What? I’m a high-value man, Gary.”

Austin opened the door, basking in the sound of cheers.

“I’m just messing with you,” he added. “You earned half. Fair and square.”

Gary bumped his shoulder as they stepped through the doors. “Don’t let it get to your head. Next time, I’m taking all of it.”

Austin grinned. “Looking forward to it…” He paused. “…Gary-bear.”

Gary choked. “You better be… Trash-tin.”

Austin blinked. “Really?”

Gary scowled. “Shut up, I’ll find a better nickname to insult your nickname. Just give me time.”

Austin smirked. “Take all the time you need, Palet-Town’s Number Two.”

Gary’s eye twitched. “You’re lucky we’re walking into a crowd right now.”