As you may have guessed, I’m nowhere near up to date with the actual anime,
having not seen any episodes since halfway through season 3; any help in the
form of the pokemon owned by any of the main characters would greatly
appreciated; please email me at: timthesuprememaster@hotmail.com .

A warning, its about to get AAMRN-y.

And now, on with the story:
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Back in Dewford port, the group were all seated at a table in a restaurant,
with Officer Jenny. She looked on in amazement as Ash devoured his lunch at
an inhuman rate. Glancing across at Brock, she saw that he was still just
staring dreamily at her, and so she turned to the two girls, Misty and May
for some conversation.

“So, you want to know about the artefact, the Golden Band?” she said. “Well,
not much is known about it at the moment, save that it was constructed long
ago, apparently for the purpose of controlling the legendary pokemon. At the
moment, no-one knows how to use it, or if it even works. Thanks to you, it's
been returned to the Dewford Research Centre, and even as we speak, teams of
scientists are working to uncover it's secrets.”

By the time she’d finished speaking, Ash had already finished his meal, and
slouched back in his seat, satisfied. “Thanks for the meal, Officer!” he
said.
“No problem, Ash. What’s worrying is this news about Team Shadow. Although
the three most well known criminal gangs, Team Rocket, Team Aqua and Team
Magma make the majority of attacks, and commit the majority of crimes, it
seems that Team Shadow might well be the most dangerous of the lot. We don’t
know enough about them…”

However, these glum thoughts were interrupted by a booming voice, “There you
are!”
Ash almost fell out of his seat in surprise. He turned round to see Jo, the
gym leader. “I never did give you this Flame Badge. You really earned it!”
Ash grinned proudly, and made his little victory sign, which just made the
others, including Pikachu, groan. “I’ve got ten badges! YES!!!! Now I can 
compete in the
advanced league!” He was jumping up and down in a crazed manner, and was
drawing looks from all the other diners.

When he finally calmed down, Jo wished him good luck in his quest, and left.
Then Officer Jenny said, “I have something for all of you as well…” She
reached into a pocket, and drew out some slips of paper. “These are First
Class tickets for the luxury cruiser the S.S. Anne-Marie, which features
several large swimming pools, tennis and badminton courts, several bars and
restaurants, as well as a full size golf course! And it’s sailing directly
to Hoenn City, which is where the Advanced League takes place! It’ll get you
there in plenty of time, after all there are still three weeks till the
League begins. The cruiser leaves tonight, at 6.00pm sharp”

They all gratefully accepted the tickets, except for Gary. “Thanks for the
offer, Officer, but I’m going to go by a different route; I’ve already
booked a ferry to Slateport City; I need some more badges!”

After they all left the restaurant, and said their goodbyes to Officer
Jenny, they walked down to the port. “My ferry leaves in about half an hour,
so I’ve got to go now!” Gary announced.
“Uh…well, thanks for all the help, Gary!” Ash said, somehow stuck for words.
It seemed strange, but he felt as if he’d bonded with his rival, and renewed
their old friendship.
“I only came back because I knew you losers wouldn’t be able to manage
without me! But even you should be able to survive a simple pleasure cruise.
I’ll see you in the Advanced League, Ashy boy!. Smell ya later” And with
that, he left and boarded his ferry.

“What a jerk!” said May, as they walked towards the centre of the city,
killing time.
“Yeah, he’s still sore that I knocked him out of the Johto League. He’s so
stubborn, and such a bad loser!” said Ash.
“Not at all like a certain some one standing not too far away from where I
am right now!” Misty said sweetly.
Ash looked confused for a moment, and then realisation dawned on him. “Hey!
I’m nothing like Gary!” he complained, to general laughter from the others.
He was about to try and defend himself when Misty and May caught sight of a
huge shopping mall. Dreamy looks were pasted on their faces.
“Oh no! You know what this means!” groaned Ash, turning to Brock, only to
find a similar look on his face!
“Yeah! Loads of beautiful women!”
“Heeeeeelp!” cried Ash, as he was dragged in by the other three.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Later that evening, on board the S.S. Anne-Marie, the group were all sitting
out on deck by a huge swimming pool, watching the retreating island, framed
beautifully in the golden-red sunset. Basking in the orange glow, they all
felt peaceful, and no-one said anything for a while.

Ash broke the silence. “Wow, it’s nice to just be able to relax for a while!
And I’m ahead of Gary for once!”
Misty cut in, “Yeah, but he got his first 6 badges in a week! You should
have seen him, his pokemon were really powerful! You’re gonna have to train
hard when we get to Hoenn City if you want to beat him!”
“I know that!”snapped Ash.
“Yeah, Ash beat that last gym easily enough!” May stood up for Ash. “What
makes you think that that stuck up, arrogant nobody can beat him?”

Misty was about to say something, when a beautiful Vulpix bounded over.
“Vuuuulpix!” It seemed to yawn, and then trotted over to Brock. He quickly
reached into his pack, and brought out some food for it. As it ate, Brock
stroked its soft, velvety fur. “This sure is one cute pokemon! I wonder who
owns it?”
Suddenly, they heard a voice call out, “Vulpix! Where are you?” They turned
to see a pretty young girl, who looked to be 17, with long brown hair, and
startling green eyes.
“Excuse me, have you seen my…oh!” she started, and then saw her Vulpix with
Brock. It bounded back over to her.
“That sure is a lovely Vulpix you have there!” said Ash.
“Uh…Thank you…” she muttered, just gazing at Brock, in the same way that he
usually reserved for Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny…or any attractive young
woman, in fact.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, all that Brock did when confronted with
this novel situation was to start asking her about brush types and fur
cleaning techniques.
The others were shocked.

“What’s going on?!” Ash couldn’t quite believe his eyes. “Is something wrong
with Brock? Why isn’t he acting like a lovesick idiot?”
Misty simply shook her head in disbelief. “And is it just me, or does she
really, really seem to like him? Could it be that our ‘love professor’
hasn’t noticed?”
"Pika pi?!" Even Pikachu seemed stunned by Brock's abnormal behaviour.
“….and you’ve kept the fur wonderfully smooth. Oh, I’m sorry, how rude of
me! My name’s Brock, I’m a pokemon breeder,
that’s Ash, Misty and May. What’s your name?”
“…Brock! Uh, my name? er…sorry, um, yes, my name! Yes! I’m Selina! Wow,
you’re a pokemon breeder! You’re so amazing!”

Finally, Brock seemed to get the picture. “Aha...haha…I wouldn’t go THAT
far…” he began nervously, somewhat unsure of what to say.
“Brock, will you do me the honour of...being my partner in the tournament
tomorrow?”
“Uh…erm…”
“Please say yes! It would mean so much to me!”
“Ok! Just one question…what tournament?”
“Oh, didn’t you know? There’s a pokemon tournament starting tomorrow. The
winning trainers get a mystery prize, but there’s all sorts of cool prizes
for the runners up as well!”

At the mention of pokemon battles, Ash was shaken out of his numbed shock.
“A tournament? Well, I’m gonna win it!”
“Oh, but you need a partner…Beech? Maple? Sorry, what was your name again?”
“Ash!” Ash growled. “ My name's Ash! And what do you mean I need a partner?”
“The battles are all two-on-two, and you need to have a female trainer to
battle with! Just the rules of this tournament, I suppose, I don’t really
know why…” Selina replied, before turning back to Brock, who started to back 
off nervously.

This seemed to dampen Ash’s spirits. "Where am I going to find a girl to be 
my partner at such short notice?"he wondered.
“Grrrrrr!” Misty whacked him with her mallet. “I’d be delighted to be your
partner Ash!” she said, smiling angelically as Ash spasmed on the floor.

The group said goodnight to Selina, who had taken all their entries for the
tournament, and promised to enter them. They headed towards their rooms. Ash
grinned in anticipation of the upcoming battles. “You said I needed to train
hard, Misty. Well, this should be good!”
“Yeah, well, I want to win this mystery prize, so you’d better not lose it
for me!”
"Hey, I'm not the one who's gonna lose anything!"
The sounds of their continued bickering floated into the night sky.

The weary travellers were soon all asleep, dreaming of what tomorrow might 
bring.
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And there it is; please R&R, and stay tuned for part 9, the start of the
tournament!