"Yes!! Go Ash that was amazing!!!!" Misty was dancing with her Azurill, still on Gyarados's head while Corsola dances with Psyduck, Goldeen froliked with Horsea while Starmie and Staryu span around in the air showering everyone with stars from their swift attacks while Gyarados just tried to concentrate on keeping Misty on his head and out of the water. "Well, like, this wasn't what we were, like, expecting" "Waaaa!" SPLASH. Unbeknown to all watching the TV, three people and a pokemon had appeared at the door. "Daisy? Lily? Violet? What are you doing here, I thought you were in Australia!" "Ummmm yeah, we, like, were, like last week! We got back earlier, you'd have known if you'd have, like, checked your answer machine. But I think we all know what like, really had your attention!" said Daisy, passing a knowing wink to the other "Sensational Sisters". "Yeah! Well I wouldn't have to if you guys had never gone off and left me here to look after the Gym on my own for almost two years! What happened to the original time period!" yelled Misty as she pulled herself and Azurill out of the pool after her second unscheduled swim. "Well, you could at least be like, pleased to see us. Now you can go back and be with your boyfriend again!" "FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME, ASH IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!" screamed Misty. "Who said anything about Ash!" retorted Lily. "..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ash that was awsome! So, how does it feel to know that you are only one match away from being the Hoenn champion?" asked Max when everyone was back in their room. "Very weird and interesting...What do you guys know about Samantha? Not from your book!" asked and threatened Ash as Brock sprung to his side holding his book with all the information on all the female trainers in the competition. Ash was calmer than anyone had expected. After the match, Ash had greeted his friends again, but had become more and more subdued as the evening had warn on. "Well," replied Max, getting out his Pokenav. "She's competed in the Johto League, different time to you I think, she was in the top 4. She's also tried for the Orange League, but couldn't beat the final gym leader, Drake. Indigo top 8...that's all her achievements to date. Throughout all her battles, she's kept four pokemon the same, a Gardevoir, a Combusken, a Ditto and a Poliwrath. The other two pokemon she's used have rotated between a Butterfree, a Gengar, a Skarmory, a Dustox, a Roselia and an Ivysaur." "Thanx, do you know what time the match it tomorrow?"asked Ash. "Yeah, you'll like this, your battle is the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is the mini final to find out who is third and fourth between David and Jordan, the person Samantha beat. You can either train or watch the match. At least it gives you a day to think of a strategy." "Thanx Max..." said Ash, deep in thought, "Hey, I think I'm going to go for a walk. I'll go round the Pokemon Centre and get Pikachu as well." and before any of the others could say anything, he walked out the door. "I wonder what's up with Ash?" questioned May. "I think he's just nervous. I've never seen him this way before. Maybe it's the thought that he could be about to make his dream come true in just a few days has him spooked. Hmmm I think I need to make a phone call too, there may be someone he needs to talk to." said Brock, before he to left the room. "Oh well," shrugged Tyson, "Anyone up for a game of happy families?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh hello Ash, you're Pikachu is all ready to go but I think the others may need a little more time." said the Nurse Joy behind the desk at the counter. "Thank you Nurse Joy, Hey Pika-buddy" replied Ash and Pikachu bounded across the desk to his trainer. "I'll be round to get the others in the morning. Come on Pikachu, I've got a phone call to make." "Oh, and congratulations on your victory today, I'm sure you'll go great in the final!" called Nurse Joy as Ash walked away. Ring Ring...Ring Ring..."Hello? Oh hi Ash, how can I help you?" said the figure on the phone screen. "Hi, I was wondering if you could..." whispered Ash, lowering his voice as people walked past. "Of course, I'll do so right away. Good luck in the final!" said the telephone. "Thank you. Talk to you soon" finished Ash as he put the phone down. "Thanx for keeping watch Pikachu. Anyone we know came in?" "Pi pika pichu pikachuchu" (Nope, all clear let's go!) responded Pikachu who had been keeping watch for prying ears and eyes. "Great, let's go back and get some food! Race you, and no attacks!" said Ash as he ran off out the pokemon centre door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ring Ring...Ring Ring...Ring Ring.... THUD! "OWWWWW! Brock will you get off me!" screamed Ash in the middle of the night as the room telephone went off. "It's not going to be a Nurse Joy or an Officer Jenny wanting to go on a date with you!" About half an hour after Ash had returned the previous night, so had Brock who had remained as cryptic as Ash as to where he had been for the past hour. It was now the middle of that night and everyone was asleep, until the phone rang. *Yawn* "Hello?" said May as she picked up the phone. "Yeah, this is Ash Ketchum's room. Who is it? hmm Ash, it's for you, Officer Jenny I think." said May as she held out the phone for Ash. "oh, why is she calling for Ash when she knows that I can be her only true love!!"Cried Brock from the floor in despair. "Yeah, hello?...err, sure I'll come down Officer Jenny. I'll be there in 10 minutes. Bye" and Ash put the phone down before getting out of bed and putting his jumper and hat on. "Apparently, there's someone at the gates to the Ever Grande Trainer's Village trying to get in cos they know me. Dunno who though. Back in half an hour." "Pika pi Pikachu?" (Shall i come?) asked Pikachu from the bed with the blanket half over his head. "No, you stay here and get some rest buddy, we've got some hard training to do tomorrow." said Ash. "Pi" (Good) and with that he turned over and went back to sleep. "See you guys later" and Ash walked out the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "When I get a hold of Brock I am going to kill him!!" screamed and rampaged the girl in one of the cells at the Trainer's Village police station. She was furious that not only had she been locked in the cell, but her pokemon had all been taken away from her to prevent her from trying to escape. "Hi Officer Jenny *yawn* you needed to see me?" could be heard from the front room. "Oh great!" grumbled the girl as she slumped down on the seats provided. "I need to know if she is who she says she is. I'm sorry for all the hassle, but we've had to step up the security after the attempt to steal the Flame of Moltres. Only competing trainers and people who are friends of those trainers are allowed in the trainer's village." said Officer Jenny as she and Ash came through the door. "She's in here." "Misty?!?" cried Ash as he saw who it was. "Um...hi Ash! Sorry to get you up at this time, BUT WILL YOU GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" screamed Misty, obviously furious. "he he, yeah, I know Misty, we used to travel together, you can let her through, the only dangerous thing about her is her temper" said Ash, his hand behind his head. "Watch it Ketchum!" glared Misty as the door to her cell was opened. "Can I please have my pokemon and things back Officer." "Of course, I am truly sorry for all this, we're only trying to keep everyone and their pokemon safe from unwanted company." apologised Officer Jenny, handing Misty her backpack. "That's alright, see you later Officer Jenny" said Ash as he exited the building ahead of Misty. "So Ash, where's Pikachu? asked Misty. "He rolled over and went back to sleep! So what are you doing here?" questioned Ash, looking intently at Misty. "Well, I was watching your battle earlier in the Gym and my sisters came back just at the end and saw that you had won and insisted that I came over to help support you." replied Misty, starting to turn a little red. "Then Brock called not long after, also wanting me to come. However much I tried to stay, after that, it was useless as my sisters bundled me off to the local Teleportation Office and send me here with an Abra." "Oh, so you didn't want to come?" asked Ash, looking slightly crest fallen. "No, no, of course I did, I was just nervous of leaving the Gym with those 3. I'll get back to find no badges left (again!) The Gym in dissarray and goodness knows what state the pokemon would be in! If I could've, I wouldn't have been here from the start of the competition, rather than just for the end!." hurridly said Misty, beginning to go redder. "Thanx Mist, that means a lot." replied Ash, smiling softly at her. "Hey, do you wanna get something to drink? I'm up again now, can't sleep, unless you want to sleep now of course." "That would be nice, thanx Ash."replied Misty, "Hang on, let me get out Azurill, it's still not used to being in a pokeball for long! Plus, she really wanted to meet you. Azurill, go!" "Azu, Azurill!!" trilled the happy baby pokemon estatic at being let out of it's ball. "Well hello there little one" said Ash, holding out his hand and bending down to see the little pokemon. "Where did you get it?" "Tracy gave it to me, she his Marill's baby." responded Misty. "I can't wait to get back after this contest, it will be great to see Mum, Tracy and the Professor again. Though might be dangerous when Bayleaf sees me!" chuckled Ash as he picked up Azurill before handing her back to her mummy. "Now what was that about a drink?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Chaaaaaaa" stretching, Pikachu woke up first that morning and looked about himself on the end of Ash's bed. "Pikapi, Pikapi?" (Ash, Ash?) he said, turning to look at the person in the bed with him before realising that something wasn't quite right...'that's not Ash! Intruder!!' thought the pokemon before "Pikaaaaaaaaaaaaaachuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" and released a strong thunderbolt attack. "YAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" screamed the person in the bed, leaping in the air as hundreds of volts flowed through their body, waking everyone in the room up. "PIKACHU!" came from behind the pokemon. "Pikapi?" halting the attack, he looked questioningly at his trainer who had been sleeping on the couch. "ARGH PIKACHU!!" the person he had shocked awake sat up and glared at him. "Don't you ever look before you shock!" "Pikachupi!!" squealed Pikachu before leaping into her arms. "Oh, hi Misty, when did you get here?" asked Brock in the next bed. "YOU!" and before Brock could react he was stuck down on the floor with a huge bump on his head and Farfech'd flying round his head. "YOU were supposed to leave my name at the gate so that I could get in to the trainer's village without all the hassle we had to go through!" screamed Misty. "Heh heh, I'm glad I'm not Brock right now!" chuckled Max, rubbing the back of his head. "Nice to meet you again Misty." "Yeah, hi Misty!" said May from her bed near the window. "This is Tyson and Morrison." said Ash as he introduced Misty to the two boys. "Hi" "Hello there" After putting on his glasses, Max looked towards Ash. "So, Ash, what happened to that "I'll be back in half an hour"?" asked the boy, an evil glint in his eye. "he he, we, um went to get a drink before comming back." replied Ash, starting to turn red while rubbing the back of his head. "Misty has an Azurill." "Oh my god!! please can i see it!!" squealed May "I love Azurills!!" "Sure," replied Misty, putting her mallet away and reaching for the small blue pokemon who had fallen on the floor under her blanket when she had been rudly awaken. "Azu Azurill!" squeaked the pokemon. "Hmmm nice save" murmered Brock to Ash while May cooed over Azurill. "Errrr Who wants breakfast?" Asked Ash, extremely keep to get off the topic of last night. "Sure, bet I can eat more pancakes than you" responded Morrison. "I seriously doubt that" repiled Ash, putting on his shoes, "But I know I can beat you there! come on Pikachu!" "Pika" and with that they ran from the room. "Aaargh! I'll get there before you!" cried Morrison running out the room after Ash before getting dressed. "Errr, are they always like that?" asked a puzzled Misty. "Of course, you know how competitive and stubborn Ash is" replied Brock, beginning to get dressed "Morrison's the same, just more so!" "Ok, well everyone ready?" asked Tyson 5 minutes later. "Sure, let's go." Before they could open the door, it flew back on it's hinges as Morrison burst in "Waaaahh!!" and hid under the bed clothes "Wonder what that's about? should we ask him or just go to breakfast?" asked May, her stomach rumbling, causing her to blush. "Breakfast!" came the unanimous reply from the others. When they arrived at the breakfast hall for residential trainers, they found Ash and Pikachu at a large table eating pancakes and ketchup respectively. "Come on guys, dunno what happened to Morrison, he was right behind me til we got in here." The others burst out laughing before explaining to Ash about the lack of suitable clothing Morrison realised he had been wearing when he had entered the busy breakfast hall. SPLAT! Pikachu had been laughing so hard that he'd squeezed his ketchup bottle too hard, sending the red liquid not only all over himself, but also over Ash and Misty, who was walking behind Pikachu's seat to take the space on the other side of Ash. Pikachu was thrilled by his new coat, now he could eat wherever he went. However, Ash and Misty weren't so thrilled. "Pikachu! You got ketchup on my best hat/top!" accused Ash and Misty at the same time, causing the two to blush, not that anyone could see due to the ketchup on their faces. "I...I think you...you should go change!" cried Max, now rolling on the floor laughing. "Blech, fine, but I won't be cleaning your coat afterwards!" said Ash to Pikachu, standing up and taking off his hat. "May, could you look after Azurill for me?" asked Misty, offering the little pokemon to the younger girl. "It likes strawberry jam on toast for breakfast." "I'd love to, come here you little cutie!" replied May, taking Azurill who had somehow remained clean during the whole ketchup incident. "You'd better be finished when I get back Pikachu, we've got a day of training ahead!" called back Ash as he and Misty left the room. "Aren't you going to watch the mini final today?" said Misty, following Ash back to the room. "Nah, I want to get everyone out and practising today, who knows, might be worth it!" said Ash over his sholder. "I guess, wanna have a battle?" "What? and give me an easy win? think I'll ask May, she must be strong enough to put up some kind of a good battle, better than I'd get from you anyway!" replied Ash, turning so Misty couldn't see his face and smiled before bracing himself for... "Ash Ketchum, are you suggesting that I'm weaker than HER!?!?!?" screamed Misty. "Well, yeah, you are last time I checked" "I am not weaker than her!" "Yes you are!" "No I'm not!" "Are" "Not" "Are" "Not" "Geez, I could hear you guys from down the corridor, do you always argue like this?" Both teenagers turned from each other, to see Morrison standing next to them, fully dressed. Realising they were no longer alone, both pulled away from each other as their faces were only inches apart, causing them to turn red behind the ketchup, least no one knew! "errrr well, um....sorry gotta change bye!" and with that Ash shot off into their room and closed the door leaving Misty to field the question. "Ummm..." stuttered Misty, "I think the others are waiting for you in the breakfast hall." Seeing that this wasn't going to get rid of Morrison, she remembered one of his characteristics. "I think Ash ate only 5 pancakes, I'm sure you can eat more!" "He only ate 5! The light weight, I'll show him!" and took off in the direction of the stairs. Turning back to the door, Misty remembered more important matters, such at the fact that she was covered in ketchup, stuck in the middle of the corridor and Ash was the one hogging the room. "Ash," she called, hammering on the door, "will you let me in" Silence. "Ash...ASH!" now she was really thumping the door, a fact Ash didn't seem to notice as he opened the door at just the right moment to get a hit in the face. "Wahhhhhh!" as he flew back in the room. "I think your hits have become a lot stonger!" came from the floor where he lay. "Serves you right for not opening the door, now get out so I can change!" Bowing to Misty and keeping his face on the floor he quickly backed out the room, "Yes, Oh great one!" "Now that's more like it!" said Misty, enjoying the flattery. "Too bad you're weaker than May!" "WHAT!" Too late, Ash had already sped off down the corridor and out of sight. "Immature brat!" muttered Misty as she closed the door and ran to the bathroom, hoping that ketchup would wash out of her hair. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hello Nurse Joy, have my pokemon finished healing?" asked Ash as he stepped up to the main desk at the tournament pokemon centre, Pikachu still liking the ketchup off his paws and therefore banned to the floor. "Of course Ash, please hang on one minute." and Nurse Joy dissappeared into the back to retrieve the revitalised pokemon. "If we come back before 7pm tonight, will they all still be able to fully heal after a full day of training?" asked Ash, keen that his pokemon be as energetic and fresh as possible before the most important match of his life so far. "Of course they will be, as long as none of them catch a fever or become seriously injured." replied the kind Nurse. "Thank you, well see you later!" said Ash as he fastened the pokeballs to his belt. "Oh, just one thing, you had a phone call" said Nurse Joy, handing a piece of paper to Ash. Glancing at the paper, he immediately reconised the number. "Thank you very much Nurse Joy" and he ran off to the phones before she could reply. "Pikachu, can you keep watch for me again?" "Pi pika" (of course) said Pikachu, looking up from the task of cleaning his paws and coat of the remaing ketchup. "Hello, it's Ash, Nurse Joy said you rang earlier" whispered Ash to the telephone reciever, deciding to leave the video screen off to stop others seeing the recipient of the call. "Yes, it was just to say that it arrived last night and is currently regaining it's strength. When do you want it?" came from the reviever. "I'll call again at lunch. Thank you." and finished the conversation. "Come on Pikachu, lets get going before the others come!" and the two friends ran out of the pokemon centre, too excited to notice the person that followed behind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Alright, Grovyle, Leaf Blade Glalie, Glalie, Headbutt! Cawphish, vicegrip Swellow, Swellow, Ariel Ace! Torkoal, flamethrower Pikachu, Pikachu, Iron Tail!" called Ash to all his pokemon, taking charge of three battles at once. "Good, good everyone" as Grovyle hit Glalie, Swellow hit Cawphish and Pikachu sent Torkoal flying backwards. "Ok everyone take a break." All the tired pokemon flopped down to the ground, tired but happy to oblige their trainer in the fierce training session in the woods,away from prying eyes. Ash and his pokemon had been out for 3 and a half hours, enduring a tough and rigorous training session. Pikachu had noticed that his trainer appeared more tense and was pushing them all harder than normal. Pikachu understood that the upcomming match meant a lot to his trainer, more than any other and he had a sneaking suspision that Misty's appearance had only heightened his trainer's anxiety to perform well. Before he had any more time to contemplate these thoughts he was pulled up and back into training. "Alright, I want to be ready for any attack and find a way of defending against any attack. Let's try, Grovyle against Torkoal, Torkoal you're attacking and Grovyle is defending. Torkoal, flamethrower! Grovyle, Leaf Blade to protect." At their trainer's command, Torkoal unleashed a stream of fire at the grass type, and naturally weak Grovyle who powered up it's leaves and crossed it's arms in front of it, deflecting the flames to either side of it's body. "Good, good, now I want you two to go and practise with Grovyle using your attacks to defend against the flamethrower with Bullet Seed, Leaf Blade and dodging with Quick Attack. Torkoal, keep following Grovyle, use Overheat only a few times. Are you ok with that?" "Grovyle" "Torkoal Tor" affirmed the two pokemon before wandering off to the other side of the clearing to practise their exercise. "Alright, Swellow, you're against Glalie who's attacking. Glalie, Ice Beam, Swellow, Ariel Ace and Quick Attack dodges." The two pokemon did as ordered with Swellow dodging the Ice Beam with Quick Attack. "Good, keep it up, Swellow, work out ways to dodge Glalie's Ice attacks." and the two pokemon moved themselves to more space to practise. "Ok, Pikachu, thunderbolt Cawphish, Cawphish use Crab Hammer to deflect the attack, GO!" Cawphish successfully deflected Pikachu's attack, sending it off into the bushes. "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" All the pokemon and Ash stopped what they were doing as a figure lept out of the bushes, electrocuted by Pikachu's deflected attack. "Ooops!" said the figure from the floor, realising that their cover had been blown. "Hi Ash!" "Misty, what are you doing there?" "Errr nothing...just admiring the scenery?" she struggled to reply. "Sure, just one thing...why won't you leave me alone? I told you I was going to train alone today." "It's just, I was curious to your training techniques." she replied. "Right, well do you mind leaving us alone? I just want to make sure that there are no ways that anyone can see any strategies. Want to at least have some suprises." he said, a glint of mischief appearing in his eyes. "Oh really? Well I sure a little battle right now won't give too much away! Come on, loser buys lunch!" said Misty, reaching for her pokemon. "You're on! Double battle and you can choose first!" said Ash, retreating to the other side of the clearing, his pokemon following to stand behind. "Gyarados, Staryu go!" cried Misty, realeasing the blue dragon like water pokemon along with his starfish friend. "Gyaaaaar" "Hiya!" "Alright then, Swellow, Glalie, time to get or free lunch! You're up" and the two pokemon flew and levitated to stand between their opponents and their trainer. "I'm sure you'll be the gentleman and allow me to attack first!" cried Misty across the battle field. "Gyarados, twister Swellow and Staryu, rapid spin Glalie" "Swellow dodge with Ariel Ace, Glalie, Double Team." called Ash as his pokemon evaded both attacks with lightning speed. "Alright, Glalie, Ice Beam Gyarados and Swellow, Peck Staryu!" "Gyarados, twister the Ice Beam!" The twister caused the ice beam to be reversed back towards Glalie with double the speed. "Icy wind!" Just as in the match against Morrison, the icy wind reflected the ice beam back at Misty and her pokemon. However at this moment Swellow was between the Ice Beam and Staryu, going in for his peck attack and was too slow to dodge, reciving a full blast, sending it flying into a tree. "No, Swellow!" cried Ash, devestated at having hurting his pokemon with one of his own attacks in a tag team battle. "Swe-e-e-low!" cried the bird pokemon as he struggled up into the air again. "Staryu, finish Swellow with a Water Gun!" knowing that there was little way of eventing the attack hitting Swellow, Ash grimaced but still called for a double team. Due to Swellow's weak state, he was only able to summon a few clones, but avoiding the water gun none the less. "Gyarados, hydro pump all Swellow clones!" cried Misty with a smile. "Gyarrrrrrrra!" "Swello-o-o-o-w!" Unfortunatly, Swellow had been the clone closest to Gyarados when the attack hit, recieving the full blow and falling to the ground, out of the match. "Well done Swellow, now return!" cried Ash, unsure of how to progress now that he only had one pokemon left against Misty's strongest two pokemon. 'Well, we'll just have to focus on Staryu' "Glalie, Ice Beam!" "Again? Fine, Gyarados, twister!" "Use headbutt on Staryu!" "Ha hyaaa!" "What!" cried Misty flabbagasted at the direct hit scored on Staryu. "Great thing about double battles, gotta have you concentration everywhere!" gloated Ash. "Double Team!" "Gyarados, Hyper Beam them all!" cried Misty, furious for allowing Staryu to get hit. "Gyaaara!" The Hyper Beam sliced through ever Glalie on the field, but where was Glalie? "Now Headbutt!" cried Ash, ordering his pokemon to crash right into Gyarados from his hiding place in a tree directly above Gyarados, sending the huge pokemon crashing to the ground. "Ice Beam!" Just as Glalie was about to hit his fallen opponent, when he was hit flying through the air by a rapid s pin from Staryu. The Ice Beam went soaring into the air and out of sight before falling back down straight on Glalie, freezing it to the ground. "You wanna keep going or quit now?" taunted Misty as they watched Glalie struggling to free himself from the ice. "Glalie, use headbutt to get out!" called Ash. "Gla-gla-glale-e-e" replied the prisoned pokemon as he struggled against the ice. "Fine, have it your way Ash," called Misty, "Gyarados, finish this with a Hyper Beam!" Golden yellow energy formed in Gyarados's open mouth. Luckily for Glalie, the ice had begun to crack just moments before, allowing him to break free and use Double Team to evade the attack. "Grrr, Staryu, water gun!" "Ice Beam Gyarados!" This time, Glalie avoided Staryu's attack and struck a direct hit on Gyarados while he was unable to move and fight back. Gyarados was frozen solid and unable to continue. "You were fantastic Gyarados, return" said Misty to her fallen pokemon. "Well Ash, that was impressive, but you're still going to be the one buying lunch!" "Oh yeah, well we'll just see about that!" responded Ash, his enthusiasm rekindled after knocking out the large and powerful pokemon. From the sidelines Pikachu, Grovyle, Torkoal and Cawphish cheered on their firend and trainer. "Glalie, headbutt!" "Rapid Spin!" The two pokemon met in mid aid, causing billows of dust all around the clearing. "Hi-iya!" and Staryu came flying back to it's trainer's side of the arena while Glalie failed to move. Disbeliefing, Ash held up the pokeball and called for Glalie to return. Returning Staryu after thanking it, Misty walked over to Ash. "Come on Ash, let's go get some lunch, you lost the battle, so free lunch for me!" "He he, yeah alright then. Where would you like to go?" chuckled Ash. "Umm...let's go back into the trainer's village and have a look around!" she suggested. "Sure, I think May has been to all the places avaliable so if we get stuck we can always ask her for the best place." he said with his back to her, returning all bar Pikachu. "Can't we just find our own place?" asked Misty tentativly, antisipating the company of others. It wasn't that she didn't like the others in the group, it was just she wanted to spent a little more time with Ash. Alone. Together. "Of course. Come on!" Together they made their way out of the clearing towards the trainer's village and lunch. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well Ash, I heard about your battle with Misty today" gloated Morrison over the table that evening. Ash and Misty had enjoyed a quiet lunch, ketchup free luckily for them as Pikachu had been admitted to the pokemon centre along with the rest of Ash and Misty's pokemon. The rest of the afternoon had been spent watching the mini final in which David had lost to Jordan, the loser to Samantha. Later, after meeting up with Tyson, Morrison, Max, May and dragging Brock away from the Officer Jenny's staff meeting they had settled down in the hotel's dining room to a buffet dinner. "She won due to pure luck and the fact that my pokemon were already tired from training!" responded Ash before stuffing his mouth with another large slice of pizza. "Yeah, but we all know that if it had been me and my pokemon in the same position, we all know I would have easily won!" boasted Morrison. "Alright then, I challenge you to a match!" said Misty from behind who had just come back from the salad buffet, her plate loaded with lettece, tomoato and other wonderful food stuffs. "Errr sure Misty..." replied Morrison after recovering from choking on his food. He had never really intended to battle her. "This should be good" murmered Ash to Brock. "Yeah, but who do you think will win?" "Misty, easily!" "Wanna bet?" "Sure, a month's worth of pancakes says Misty wins." and the boys shook hands and turned away from each other before anyone else could over hear their conversation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Girafarig is unable to battle, Corsola wins! The victor of this match is Misty" announced Tyson to the assembled friends and Pikachu. "He he, told ya" chuckled Ash to Brock, "Now when do I get those pancakes?" "What was that?" Unbeknown to Ash, Misty had appeared right behind him. "Err...nothing Misty!" he said holding his hands up in surrender. "Oh really? A little pokemon told me about a little bet someone had. Now, I'm sure neither you nor Brock know anything about that, right?" challenged Misty, slyly. "Of course, I would never make a bet on a pokemon battle!" "Yeah, we wouldn't dream of doing something like that!" replied Brock as he also held his hands up in surrender. "Oh really? Pikachu, what do you think? "PIKACHU" "Answers that question, what shall we do now?" said Misty and she turned to the rest of the group, leaving Ash and Brock smoldering on the ground, twitching. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the group re-entered the pokemon centre, chatting amongst themselves, they were confronted by a frazzled looking Nurse Joy, "ASH KETCHUM!" she screamed, freezeing the group in their tracks as she marched up towards Ash, "I am not your personal secretary!" and she threw many pieces of paper at the terrified trainer, "Can you please tell all your...FANS to stop using me as a personal message taker!" Before she stormed off back behind her desk. "What was that about?" said May. "I'm not sure, here Ash" said Misty as she picked up some of the pieces of paper from off the floor and offered them to him. "Oh my goodness, I think I can see why she's annoyed, look, you've had calls from Erika, Sabrina, Norman, Harrison, from the Silver Convention I think, Richie, your mum, and...GARY!" She looked at this last message in shock before reading out "'Hey Ash, Well done in the semis, drop by next time you're around, Gary.'" "Yeah, well I guess it's cos I've done better than he ever has! I wonder how he's getting on as a pokemon re-searcher..." replied Ash, picking up some more messages from Pikachu. He scanned the top one before announcing, "look, there's someone I've got to call, now, can I catch you guys up later?" "Sure, but who do you need to call?" asked Brock. "Oh, just a friend" he replied mischeviously before walking back out the way they had all come. "Hmmm he's up to something..." murmered Tyson, already contemplating what his rival might be up to. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What do you think Pikachu, is the coast clear?" "Pika" "Great, let's go, hope Nurse Joy doesn't yell at me again!" said Ash as Pikachu jumped up onto his sholder before they re-entered the pokemon centre after making sure all their friends had left the main atrium. "Nurse Joy?" he cautiously approached the main desk. "Can I have my pokemon please?" "Of course Ash, please hold on one moment while I fetch them." she replied sweetly, no trace of the anger that had previously crossed her visage. "Least she's not yelling at me again." he remarked to his pokemon, who also agreed. "Here you are Ash and good luck for tomorrow!" "Thank you Nurse Joy!" he said before leaving quickly for the telephones least she become angered again. Ring Ring...Ring Ring..."Hello?" "Hi, it's me" whispered Ash into the reciever while Pikachu watched out again, "You said it's ready?" "Of course..."