Huffing, puffing, and breathing hard, his breath blowing out visibly in front of his face in the cold, Gary ran with his Egg between his shoulder blades, keeping it between his hands. His knees rose high in turn, his feet slamming down in stomps. It was really hard to run like this, made even more uncomfortable by his tighter coat, but he also hoped this might help stretch it out.
Behind him, Electivire, Charizard, Sabrina, and Deino were also keeping in shape, the Bird Pokemon flying close by the others who were jogging.
Stantler kept beside Gary.
Gary had to tell the other Pokemon to keep their distance as the shy Stantler wasn’t comfortable with the others, including Ranger Kai.
Ranger Kai was matching Gary’s workout routine and had improved upon it, teaching Gary, his willing Pokemon, and even Electivire, how to fix their posture and effort to get the most out of it.
Porygon-Z was floating next to Ranger Kai, swaying side to side, matching the woman’s rhythm while listening to her talk about what Gary had decided to refer to as the Three Bs: Bugs, Butts, & Boos.
“You know, for a Normal type, you’re pretty fun! And a great listener!” Ranger Kai exclaimed.
Porygon-Z cried out with presumable joy and flew a bit into the air, and then swooped back down to continue swaying and listening.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Wallace? Or Juan? They both are talented Trainers in the Hoenn region, but more importantly, they both have some fantastic butts!”
Gary sucked his teeth. He was maybe another couple of hours, or perhaps seconds, away from telling Ranger Kai to just leave him alone already. His politeness was preventing it as much as it could, but his wall of patience was cracking from constant swings with a sledgehammer.
“You know, Gary, if you keep this up, you might end up with a butt like Emmett, or Grimsley,” Ranger Kai told him teasingly, smirking at him.
Gary’s eyes widened and he stared back at her, his face getting hot, and he swallowed hard.
Ranger Kai’s smirk vanished and her eyes widened as she straightened up. “Wait, how old are you again??”
Gary tripped and fell to his face, holding his Egg up out of instinct to keep it from smashing. That really hurt... He groaned and then breathed out, and dirt got into his face, blinding him. “Oh, come on,” Gary complained. He set the Egg down and then stood up to rub at his eyes.
“Gary look out!!” Ranger Kai screamed.
Gary squinted helplessly, his eyes burning and tearing. “Huh?” He blinked rapidly, forcing himself to see the frightening sight of birds attacking each other! Staravia! Gary realized.
There were a bunch of Staravia just attacking each other! Pecking, swinging wings, sending up clouds of dirt and blows of wind at each other!
“Swadloon, use Bug Buzz!” Ranger Kai ordered.
From the trees, Swadloon leaped out with a cry. Red waves came out from her body.
Everyone screamed, including Gary’s Pokemon.
Gary held his ears, wailing out in pain.
“COME ON!”
“WHOA!” Gary was being yanked by the arm by Ranger Kai!
“Dunsparce!”
There was a quaking of the ground and then a BOOOOOOM!! went off as a huge hole appeared underneath the bunch of Staravia.
Screaming and cawing, they all flew off into two separate groups, into the sky.
Ranger Kai, Gary, and the rest of the Pokemon made their way into the safety of some brushes.
“What happened? What wa-?” Gary cut himself short as a slug made its way through the grass, stopping in front of him and chittering gently. “Dunsparce!” He breathed a sigh of relief, realizing the Ranger’s Dunsparce had made the hole to scare off the Staravia. Turning to Ranger Kai, he asked, “What was all of that about?”
“That was nothing. Just two Staravia flocks ran into each other,” Ranger Kai answered. “Just another day for me. Get used to it, considering you’ll be escorted by yours truly.”
Gary kept his eyes on the flocks, even after they had disappeared into the blue afternoon sky.
*
Stantler walked beside Gary, the Trainer tugging gently on his antlers.
“These things are so cool,” Gary said, smiling at the Pokemon. His other hand was balancing the Snorlax Egg that was on his shoulder blades.
Stantler let out a deep, joyous sound, pulling back playfully against his Trainer.
Gary thought to himself about Cas in this moment. I had run into the Stantler that had put me and Electivire and Raichu into an illusion. Cas had saved us with her Sableye, and I ended up catching a Stantler. Right? Why am I not remembering that part? No. It’s because that isn’t what occurred, Gary remembered, stopping.
Stantler cried out in surprise as he was forced to stop, Gary still gripping his antlers.
It was because this Pokemon tricked me and my Pokemon in Jubilife City, making me think I was with Cas in the woods, Gary recalled, his eyes focused on Stantler’s. I caught him when I chased after him with Primeape and beat him up. Sadness came over Gary as he let go of the Big Horn Pokemon.
Stantler looked away uncomfortably.
“Gary, are you okay?” Ranger Kai asked.
Gary noticed his breathing had gotten heavier, his chest hurting. He made fists as he realized he was shaking.
“Gary!” Ranger Kai moved swiftly over to him.
“Vire?” Electivire watched the boy.
Stantler grunted and turned away from everyone, trotting away several feet. When he stopped, he faced everyone silently.
“I’m okay.” Gary closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m fine. I’m sorry. Don’t worry about me.”
Ranger Kai set a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t look great. What happened?”
Gary stared at the taller woman and shook his head. “It’s fine. Just...” He inhaled and then released his breath. After taking in another breath, he said, “A lot has happened on my journey. Sometimes, moments bring up things out of nowhere. I’m sorry about that.”
“That makes sense. Nothing to be sorry about. Pretty common thing for Pokemon Trainers, but it’s not talked about enough in the mainstream. The facts of mental stress of PTSD, depression, and all other reaches of mental abuse and strain on children is traded off for the glory of becoming a Pokemon Master, instead. The politics behind promoting the Pokemon journey experience, compared to the actual journey, is so disgusting. But what brings in the money? Sending little kids out to master powerful creatures with the power to bring the world to its knees if they weren’t so kind-hearted.”
Gary nodded, looking down. She’s right - but I don’t want her to be. I mean, this just reminds me too much of what Team Solace would say and then flip into some nonsense about why all Pokemon have to die. He breathed out in exhaustion. Closing his eyes, he grabbed his Egg in both hands and set it down on the ground and then sat down next to it, letting out his breath tiredly.
“Gary.” Ranger Kai knelt down beside him. “Gary, you need water.”
“I’ve had water,” he told her as she went through her bag that hung from her shoulder. “I’m just exhausted from this journey, like you said. I’m just stressed out. A lot is hitting me right now. And lugging around this randomly twitching Egg isn’t helping.”
“But it’ll make you stronger, for sure! With more energy from water, you’ll work harder and tire out less, and physically, you’ll be a lot more impressive and gain some muscles on that little frame.”
“Hey, I work out all the time with my Pokemon!” Gary snapped at her.
“Then you need to eat more meat and bread.” Ranger Kai smacked Gary right on the chest.
“Hey!” Gary choked out, surprised at this. He then turned at the sound of snickering and glared at Electivire, who had his head lowered while smiling big, trembling with delight.
“Your chest! Where is it, even? If it weren’t so weird to do, I’d lift your shirt right now, but from what I just hit, I could break your chest with one good punch!”
Gary returned to Ranger Kai with a glare. “No way! You tryna fight or something, Kai?” Getting even angrier, he stood up.
“As if trying to see your chest could get any weirder. I’m not fighting a child.” Ranger Kai crossed her arms, looking up at Gary.
“Then don’t talk like you can!”
“What? You think ‘cause I’m a girl I can’t kick your butt, huh?” Ranger Kai stood up. “You may work out with your Pokemon, but what do you think a Ranger does?” She leaned her face closer to Gary’s. “You really think you’re as fit as me, little boy?”
“Yeah!” Gary shot back at her, but he took a few seconds before saying so.
“Impossible!!” Ranger Kai shouted. “You have no clue what I go through every single day and have only survived due to my physical state!”
Gary went silent. Like being thrown off a mountain and using an Escape Rope and some String Shots to survive, he thought, his eyes on her neck. But I can fight! And I am strong! But I may be going too far thinking I can take her on. Why do I even want to? I don’t! I just let my pride get in the way.
Gary was always insecure about his chest. His other male friends always seemed to have more protruding chests, or at least with some weight on them. Gary’s was completely flat, his stomach even coming out more. It was embarrassing to deal with in situations like playing basketball or rare swimming occasions. He’d usually keep on a T-shirt, even if it didn’t make any sense.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so. Now do some push-ups and get back to carrying that Egg and work out that body, little boy!” Ranger Kai spoke sternly, but suddenly, she was smiling.
He looked down at first and breathed out, relaxing. When he looked back at her, he gave her a smile. “I’m sorry, Kai. I know I’m-”
“It’s fine! It’s nice to see that you’ve got some fight in you, but you do need to learn some respect for your elders. Especially those who can whoop your butt. Not that I’m looking at it. You’re a child, after all.”
Gary frowned, starting to feel uncomfortable with her mentioning his butt and chest so much. Or perhaps self-conscious. He couldn’t tell if there was even a difference. Now he was looking her over, considering some things about her body, and recalled when they first met that she had on black short shorts and a very fitting black shirt. Yeah, she did look good in that outfit, Gary told himself, but I’ve never really considered her... pretty. She’s not ugly, but, I don’t find myself wishing she were my- Wait! What am I even thinking about right now?! He shut his eyes and turned from her. “Come on. Let’s keep moving, okay?”
“Ssshh!” Ranger Kai held a finger to her mouth and pointed with the finger on her other hand. “The Bunnelby,” she whispered.
“Huh?” Gary stared ahead to see a rabbit at a far distance.
The little creature was mostly gray, its neck surrounded by brown fur, a few brown spots on its legs, along with brown toes. Its long, long ears were digging at the ground, the tips also brown.
Bunnelby. The Digging Pokemon. A Normal type Pokemon. This Pokemon can be found digging holes for burrows at all hours of the night.
“Oh, cool!” Gary smiled.
“Bun?” Bunnelby stared at the group and then dug even faster before leaping into the hole. More dirt was tossed out of the hole as Bunnelby continued to dig away to its escape.
“That’s so kawaii!” Ranger Kai gushed.
“Ka... Huh?” Gary asked.
“Kawaii!” Ranger Kai repeated.
“Oh... Right,” Gary conceded. Her accent threw me.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
*
Gary’s back was straightened as he stomped through the grass, carrying his Egg between his shoulder blades. This time, he had taken his coat off. He couldn’t get used to the discomfort and restriction it was handing him and just took on the cold with a strict, determined attitude, for his Pokemon behind him, and Stantler ahead of him.
The weight of the Snorlax Egg was getting to him, but he kept right on, determined not to let Stantler get too far ahead.
Behind Stantler, but in front of Gary, was Electivire running.
Behind Gary was Deino, Riolu, and Charizard, all running as well, Sabrina soaring beside them.
Gary needed to keep an eye on Charizard and Electivire’s rivalry. All of this responsibility made him feel like a real man, running in the brisk, cold air. In fact, he wasn’t cold at all! He was truly showing everyone how it gets done. That’s how he perceived it all in his mind, anyway.
Ranger Kai was running off to the side, Swadloon in her arms.
Ranger Kai’s Galvantula and Ariados were with June’s Galvantula, but Gary didn’t know where, having last seen them high up in the trees.
Gary did keep hearing the leaves above shake and branches snap. This creeped him out badly and he kept shuddering in disgust.
Dunsparce was out, digging through the ground, disappearing underneath it and then popping back up. She was far behind everyone else.
Ranger Kai didn’t seem to be paying attention, chatting away to Porygon-Z.
Gary had to keep shouting at it to keep it floating by him, but it wouldn’t be long before it was back with the Ranger.
Trying to do as Ranger Kai had instructed, Gary did his best to focus on pacing his breathing and maintaining good form as he kept moving.
“Say, you guys don’t celebrate any holidays, do you?” Ranger Kai suddenly asked loudly. “It’s gonna be Christmas soon.”
“Isn’t that still some time away? Is it really December already??” Gary breathed out.
“It is, but-”
Gary lost his balance and landed on his face in the dirt.
The Egg had trembled hard, taking Gary down.
He groaned. “I’m okay,” he mumbled unclearly.
“Gary!” Ranger Kai and the others moved over to him.
The kid raised his head, keeping his grip on the Egg on his back. He spit out and then gasped.
Porygon-Z lowered itself down in front of him, whining lightly.
“Porygon-Z. Please. Just please!” Gary begged. “Whatever you’re thinking of doing, whatever it is! Just don’t and stay still!”
“That’s not a nice thing to say to your Pokemon,” Ranger Kai frowned.
Gary ignored her. Just shut up, he thought. Don’t say a word. Don’t screech. Or zap me. Or-
Porygon-Z made a move, jabbing its beak right into Gary’s eye!
Gary released his Egg, exploding in pain, his voice echoing through the woods.
*
Gary now had his Egg in front of him, holding it in his arms and leaning back to get the best hold while walking. This was easy at first, but soon he was wondering if on his back wasn’t the best way.
“When you’re ready, this is what you can become if you choose.” Ranger Kai held up her Caterpie to Gary’s Butterfree.
Butterfree floated by the Ranger, her wings flapping.
Porygon-Z floated over everyone’s head, dipping lower and later ascending whenever it felt like it.
Gary’s Paras was on the woman’s back.
Ranger Kai’s Kricketune was rubbing his arms together and letting out a rather haunting and yet beautiful melody while walking beside his Trainer.
“Magikarp! Magikarp! Karp!” Gary’s special Magikarp flopped along after his Trainer.
Gary had seen this type of treatment used as a means of Training for the sturdy Pokemon, with few detractors these days. He still felt a little bad, but stuck with it.
Electivire was trailing behind everyone, staring at Magikarp blankly. He actually seemed worn out, his arms hanging loosely at his sides.
Having been urged by Ranger Kai with the persistence to run a Torkoal out of its shell, Gary used his Pokedex to transfer over a few Pokemon for a brief time.
In all honesty, he was really glad to see Butterfree again, but he was scolded by Ranger Kai for still being uncomfortable around the Pokemon. After Butterfree fluttered her wings, excited to see her Trainer, Gary yelled out and stumbled backwards, tripping and landing in a sitting position. Seeing Ranger Kai’s judgemental eyes, he attempted to redeem himself by petting Butterfree but instead ended up awkwardly bowing before her. Seeing the continued disapproving look on Ranger Kai’s face, Gary hung his head in shame and defeat.
After this, Ranger Kai took over and kept Butterfree by her, which upset Gary. It felt like a punishment. He loved his Pokemon. All of them! It wasn’t fair or his fault that he had a phobia of bugs and Bug type Pokemon.
“You know, I got this friend at a village during a Kricketune contest,” Ranger Kai explained to the Pokemon. “This one was the winner and I traded my Genesect for him.”
“Genesect?” Gary mumbled the name, thinking it sounded familiar.
“Oh my gosh is that A Dell and A-Mac?” Ranger Kai gushed out, pointing ahead.
Kricketune stopped playing his music and everyone came to a stop altogether, except for Gary.
He didn’t understand what was going on, but then he saw them and also stopped.
Off to the side was a man smoking on a pipe, swaying his body while smacking his hands on a pair of large congas.
Beside him was a Jynx whose body was moving with a lot of emotion and gyrations, a lot of effort conveying what could be seen as some kind of statement.
It actually made Gary feel a little uncomfortable and embarrassed watching the Pokemon.
Along with the dancing, Jynx was mumbling words that weren’t English. The language was unrecognizable, but sounded suspiciously human for something a Pokemon would be saying.
There were phones set up against trees, filming the duo using the front cameras.
What’s going on here? Gary wondered.
The duo stopped at once and turned angrily to Ranger Kai and her companions. “Come on, y’all! Y’all broke mah concentration!” the man complained, speaking in a gravelly, chill voice, but sounding aggravated. His face was covered by his long, wavy brown hair. He wore a yellow shirt that almost reached his feet, which were in the very popular Croconaw brand shoes; big, rounded shoes topped with fake spikes designed after the spikes on the back of the Pokemon Croconaw’s body, and real Croconaw teeth.
Gary found the brand to have arguably the ugliest shoes he’d ever seen in his life.
The legs of the man’s white pants were just barely visible under the shirt. “You can’t see us tryna cool out here and make slide?” the man went on.
Slide? Gary questioned and looked to Ranger Kai.
“Were you in the middle of a music video?” she asked as the guy walked to one phone and took it from between some low-reaching branches he had positioned it on.
“What’s it look like, fools?” he snapped. “Man, move on! Come on! This is a private shoot!”
Gary looked around. There’s no tape or anything indicating this is private... Who even is this guy?
“I’m such a huge fan of you and A Dell. I’ve followed you both since your underground albums Pineapples on Pie and One Two Three! Jynx! A Mac, can I see your butt? I just wanna see something,” Ranger Kai pleaded.
“Excuse me?!” A Mac responded, sounding reasonably shocked.
“Your butt. You can keep your pants on. I don’t mind either way actually.”
Gary gasped, looking back and forth between the two in shock. Is she insane??
A Mac looked infuriated and pointed at the group. “A Dell! BLIZZARD ATTACK!!”
“Jynx JYYYYYYYNNX!!!” A Dell sent out a furious flurry of wind, snow and Ice to blow away the entire group!!
*
“Mewtwo, use your Shadow Ball! Right now!” Gary ordered his Pokemon.
“Darkrai! Dodge it and use Dark Void!” The owner of Darkrai, none other than Tobias, the mysterious man who was the current Champion of the Sinnoh region and owner of the Mythical Pokemon Darkrai, commanded his Pokemon.
Gary’s Mewtwo charged up a black and purple ball with black static sparking around it between his hands.
Darkrai formed a purple and black ball between its hands and threw the attack to Mewtwo!
“Mewtwo, dodge!” Gary demanded.
“Darkrai, GET OUT OF THERE!” Tobias ordered, one arm waving out, making the black cloak that covered his entire body swing open. What was revealed was nothing but darkness.
The crowd roared with excitement from the bleachers as the two Pokemon attacked and avoided the other’s move.
“Darkrai!! End this with Dark Pulse NOW!” Tobias pressed on.
“Mewtwo!” Gary was stuck, struggling to think up a good counter to this.
Darkrai formed a ball of black and purple circles between its hands. After a sharp spin, it held out one hand, holding the orb, and fired a beam of black and purple circles out at Mewtwo.
“Mewtwo, charge up Shadow Ball but don’t fire it! Just stand still!!” Gary thought up. Ghost is strong against Dark... So... No, wait! Dark is-!
Mewtwo charged the move and held out both hands, keeping Shadow Ball in his hold.
Darkrai’s Dark Pulse came for Mewtwo, but was stopped! The attack hit Mewtwo’s Shadow Ball, but the move was being absorbed!
Gary’s mouth dropped wide open, the entire audience at the Sinnoh League gasping in surprise.
The Shadow Ball was growing bigger by the second!
“It would appear that due to Mewtwo being the most powerful Pokemon in the world, despite Dark type moves like Dark Pulse technically being stronger than a Ghost type move like Shadow Ball, Mewtwo’s Shadow Ball is overpowering the Dark Pulse!!”
With a furious roar from Mewtwo, his Shadow Ball flew forward, bigger than a yoga ball, and took Darkrai down.
Darkrai didn’t stand back up.
Tobias watched his Pokemon, his grayish-blue hair covering one eye, his revealed eye wide in disbelief.
“Darkrai is unable to battle! Mewtwo is the winner!!” The referee raised the red flag to Gary.
The crowd exploded in celebration.
“The winner of this match, and the new, official Sinnoh region Pokemon Champion, is GARYYYY from the Kanto region’s own PALLET TOOOOOOOWWWNN!!!” the referee concluded.
Gary ran up to Mewtwo and they gave each other a high five. “That was great, Mewtwo! We really showed Sinnoh what Kanto can do!”
Mewtwo smiled and nodded back silently.
“Congratulations, young Gary.” Tobias was now in front of them, clapping gently, his Darkrai behind him. “You’ve proved your worth for all to behold.” He waved to the sky where helicopters were hovering, news reporters covering the battle. “You are now a Pokemon Master! Do you have any words for the world?”
The crowd quieted down for the young Trainer to speak.
He stared around at everyone, and suddenly Tobias was holding a microphone out to the boy’s face.
“Uh.” His voice was, obviously, a lot louder and echoed. “I... I did it?”
The crowd cheered like mad at these simple words, Tobias applauding and laughing.
“But, how?” Gary questioned. “That didn’t even make any sense! That’s not how Shadow Ball works! Is it?”
This made everyone laugh!
Tobias clapped the boy on his back hard. “Just goes to show, no matter how experienced you are as a Pokemon Trainer, there is always something more to learn! A ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Still confused, Gary scratched his head. I guess so... he accepted. “HEY!” Gary was being yanked!
“End of this nonsense!” It was none other than Ranger Kai! “We both know full well that no one deserves the Champion title in any region other than Wallace! Lest a better butt make itself known on a more skilled Trainer.”
“Kai, what’s going on?? What are you doing??” Gary complained. And then, “Actually, where are we??”
“That’s the first thing you should have been wondering, Gary. We’re in Mismagius territory, and they love them some tricks and illusions.”
“Mismagius??” Gary cried.
“That’s right. They’re awesome, super kawaii Ghost type Pokemon who just get enjoyment out of making people happy!”
“Happy?”
Gary was being yanked towards the stadium exit. He looked back at Tobias, his hero, Tobias’ Mythical Darkrai, and Mewtwo, his favorite Pokemon of all time, all looking at him sadly. The boy felt a mournful pain in his chest, but this soon turned into anger. “So none of this is even-?!” He breathed out as he was taken through the exit and everything got blindingly bright. He was breathing hard now, looking around the wooded area he was in and realizing he was in a sitting position.
Around him stood Ranger Kai and Swadloon, her other Pokemon, Electivire, and the rest of Gary’s Pokemon.
Gary placed his hand on his heart. It was like waking from a nightmare. Before completing his circle of vision, he spotted a Nurse Joy! “NO WAY!!” He was on his feet in an instant, running for Nurse Joy. While smiling, tears were also running down his face, his body juggling a mix of emotions. “Nurse Joy!! Boy, am I glad to see you after-ooof!” He collapsed on his face.
Everyone gasped.
Well, almost everyone.
Gary raised his head covered in leaves and dirt and he got to one knee. He placed one hand to the side of one cheek and sighed, a couple of tears falling out of his eyes.
“Oh, no! Did you trip? Are you alright?” Nurse Joy got down on both knees in front of him.
Gary couldn’t help but notice her smooth legs, knees, and a bit of thighs as the dress rose over them. He also didn’t really care at the moment.
“Gary, what was that?” Ranger Kai was approaching.
Gary looked back.
The Ranger stopped walking. “Gary. Are you crying? Did you hurt yourself?”
Gary wasn’t staring at Ranger Kai, looking past her to Electivire.
Electivire was staring back in silence. Upon their eyes meeting, he turned his back on the child.
Gary rubbed his cheek, remembering the haunting sting he would have received from Hitmonchan if things had been different.
*
Having left the Pokemon Center in the middle of the woods and continuing on through the night, the group walked a rocky path alongside a river.
Gary had his Egg on his back.
Electivire was beside him.
Ranger Kai had Swadloon in her arms, Gary’s Butterfree on her shoulder, Gary’s Paras on her other shoulder, and Porygon-Z resting on top of the woman’s huge bag.
Dunsparce was nowhere to be seen, but Ranger Kai had definitely let her go ahead on her own.
Gary couldn’t help thinking about his day with the Ranger. This whole day has been... eventful, fun, and a little shocking at times, but nothing more than another day in the life of a Pokemon Ranger, he told himself. Though he hated to admit it, a big level of respect was growing for her.
“Vire?”
“Hm?” Gary stopped at the sound of Electivire and saw that the big guy was looking behind them at something. He made fists, sniffing the air, and then started growling, looking around from side to side.
“What’s going on, now?” Gary narrowed his eyebrows and set his Egg down before he took a step closer to Electivire.
“Oh, no!” Ranger Kai said. “Gary, get back!!”
Gary stopped and turned to her. “Huh?”
Ranger Kai wasn’t even looking at Gary. She was facing a towering threat.
A familiar threat!
Ranger Kai looked away, her eyes shut hard. “GARY! DON’T LOOK!!”
“CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARBOOOOKKAAAA!!” an Arbok raged.
Now, Gary was frozen. He tried to shut his eyes, but he was stuck, witnessing the frightening face. Suddenly, his breath was cut short. He couldn’t make a single noise.
Arbok had its entire body around the child, strangling him!
Gary stared the Cobra right in the face, Arbok leering back, its tongue flickering rapidly. It’s you, isn’t it, Gary knew. The same Arbok. You’re the one I’ve been seeing since I got to this region. Who’s been following me. There’s no way, but... Why?
Gary couldn’t think anymore. He couldn’t breathe. This was it for him, and he knew it.
As his body went limp.
And his vision darkened.