The story’s starting to be exciting...

Chapter 3

We left our heroes resting, gathering strength for the next day, for Ash’s battle.

Everything was quiet and still. The kids and their digimon were all in a deep sleep. Suddenly, outside the window of the bedroom shared by Ash, Tai, Izzy and Joe, there appeared a thick, black smoke. It was midnight and everyone was sleeping, so nobody noticed it. It moved and moved, and took the shape of a mosquito. A very big mosquito. The mosquito slowly entered the room from the window which was left ajar, flew around the room, and left. It visited the girls’ and Matt, TK, Brock and Tracey’s rooms the same way. Once it was out again, it began to dissolve and it disappeared.

A thin, tall lady sat in her armchair, watching the sleeping children in a mirror. When the mosquito left their room, she pointed at the mirror with her index finger, and the image dissolved. The light reflected from the mirror illuminated her blue-black hair and cold gray eyes. She was a beautiful woman. “Very good.” she muttered to herself. “Keep sleeping you brats.”.

“Pii-kaa-chuu!”

“Aaaarghhhhh!!!!”

Ash, who had accidentally hit Pikachu while turning in his bed woke up with a shock. “Pikachu, why did you do this to me?”

The yellow electric mouse looked puzzled also.

“What’s happening here?” Tai yawned.

Joe and Izzy also opened their eyes and looked at Ash and Pikachu.

Ash looked outside the window. It was morning. “Oh, come on, wake up. Today’s the day! I will challenge the gym leader and win my last badge!” he shouted. The others were not sleepy any more. They all got up. They woke the girls and their friends sleeping in the other room, too.

In half an hour, they were in the street, dressed in their new costumes, looking for a place to eat. After walking a few meters, Ash stopped in front of a fast food restaurant. “Well, we could have breakfast here…” he told the others.

Misty opposed as usual. “Oh no, I’m sick of eating in fast food restaurants. You know, those donuts aren’t good for me…”

“Then you will eat salad.” Ash suggested.

“Oh no. I want to have a proper breakfast.”

“I just don’t understand why you’re disagreeing on everything I tell.”

“I’m not, Ashy Boy, I’m just saying donuts and coffee and salad make me sick.”

Tai looked at her angrily. Luckily, Misty didn’t see it. “Such an obnoxious person…” he murmured.

Ash sighed. That red-head always managed to bring him down whenever he felt happy. He didn’t want to fight, he needed to concentrate on his battle.

“But this time…” Misty started. She had also noticed him suddenly frowning. “I can do with a toast. If you want to eat here…we will.”

Everyone looked at her in surprise. Especially Ash. “Just for today, Ash.” she added. “If you didn’t have a battle today, I wouldn’t stand here one more second.”

They entered. After having their breakfast, they were on the street again.

“So, where’s that gym?” Matt asked.

Brock unfolded his map to examine.

“I know!” Ash said quickly. “We will follow this road and…”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we followed the map?” Sora asked.

“Oh, come on, I know where I’m going.”

“You always know where you’re going…” Misty sneered. Ash sweat dropped.

“Won’t you ever stop insulting him?” Tai shot.

“Oh yes Misty, stop insulting me.”

“Tai, mind your own business.” Misty answered Tai coldly. “As for you Ash Ketchum…”

“OK, we go this way, the map says.” Brock pointed at the opposite direction Ash had pointed.

“See?” Misty answered Ash.

On their way to the gym, people kept sending digimon confused looks. What kind of a pokémon were they? Ash was silent, probably thinking about the tactics to beat his rival. Misty was telling the girls how beautiful creatures the water pokémon were, and Brock, Tracey and the others were talking about the difficulties of breeding pokémon and digimon. Then, Misty began walking near Ash.

“Are you nervous?” Misty asked him.

“No…A bit… Yes.” was the answer.

“Well, be careful…”

Ash must have been really nervous, because he got this friendly warning as an insult.

“Be careful? Misty, when will you stop humiliating me?”

“What did I say? I was just giving you some advice…”

“You always give advices.” Ash shouted. “I wish you would just shut up…”

“Ash…” Joe interfered. “Misty didn’t say anything bad…”

“No, Joe. She’s always doing that. You’re always discouraging me, Misty. You just…”

“Shut up, Ash!” Misty shouted back. “I didn’t say anything. Forget it, OK? But never say anything relating to me being mean to you all the time, because you deserve it. When I try to be friendly, you start shouting at me. I…”

“Guys…” Brock the angel interrupted their argument. “We’d better get going…”

“With her taunting me all the time?” Ash shouted.

Misty hit the ground with his foot. “Fine, then.” she yelled. “Go wherever you want. I’m not coming. If you don’t want me to, I won’t watch you battling. I can spend my day, doing better things.” She turned around to go.

“Fool, look what you’ve said…” Ash said to himself. “Of course I want her to support me…”

“Misty!” Sora caught Misty’s arm. “Come on…” she tried to take her towards the gym.

“No Sora, I won’t come. I can’t stand his…”

“Come on.” Sora whispered in her ear. “We all know he wants you to come.”

“He shouldn’t have said those things, then…”

“You know he didn’t mean that. Try to be sympathetic. He is a bit nervous…”

“Come on, sis.” Brock told Misty. “Let’s go.”

Misty made a sound showing she didn’t want to come at all, but she was there because Sora and Brock had wanted her to.

Tai was watching Sora all that while. “She is so understanding…” he thought. “And a very good friend. And so beautiful…” He really liked that girl. He just couldn’t tell her.

They all kept walking. Misty was at the very back with Brock and Mimi. She was murmuring to herself angrily. At the front, Ash was talking to Tracey, he too, was muttering angrily.

Finally they arrived at the gym. It looked scary, there seemed to be no one living inside. The walls were so dirty, and the garden was in a mess with wild flowers and herbs and ivies everywhere.

“Uh… Brock, are you sure we have come to the right place?” Tracey asked.

Brock was holding the map close to her face, examining it. “Well, yes, there are no other gyms.”

Tai and Izzy walked towards the man standing in front of the garden door and asked him: “Excuse me sir…” Izzy started.

The man gave them an indifferent look.

“Is it the Lemon Island gym?” Tai asked.

“Yes.” said the man in an unconcerned tone.

“Is there a gym leader inside?”

“If there wasn’t, it wouldn’t be called the Lemon Island Gym, right?” the man answered.

“Uh, right.” Both Izzy and Tai sweat dropped. Tai told the others to come.

“Is this the gym?” Ash asked, with an unbelieving tone.

“Yes.”

They walked towards the gym, passing the messy garden.

“Oh, look at this, Sora, it’s a beautiful flower!” Mimi shouted, showing a wild pink rose.

“Oh, yes.” Sora agreed.

Pikachu, who had become quite good friends with the girls, sent a spark, picked up that flower and gave it to Mimi.

“Thanks Pikachu. You’re such a gentleman.” Mimi thanked him.

“Unlike his trainer.” Misty added under her breath.

They arrived at the door. It was made of iron, and looked orange because of oxidation. Ash pushed the door. It opened without any noise. They all entered.

The corridor was cold and spooky. Kari grabbed Tai’s hand, while TK crouched under his brother’s arms. There was another door at the end of the corridor.

When they arrived, they heard a low scary voice. “Who is that? Another trainer?”

Ash gulped and answered: “Yes…”

“Oh, that’s very good. Do you have friends with you?”

“Yeah…”

“Then tell them to take that corridor to left and sit and wait in the tribunes.”

Ash didn’t need to tell his friends as they had all heard what the voice said.

“And you, open the door and come in.”

The others left Ash alone, wishing him luck. Ash took a deep breath and pushed the door.

He was shocked when he entered. The room he was in was so different from the corridor. It was neat, clean, new-looking. Walls were covered with gold and silver. There were expensive carpets and very comfortable armchairs in the place for spectators. The armchairs were covered with silk. Heavy velvet curtains were hanging from the windows.

“Welcome.” the voice spoke. There was someone sitting in the armchair on the other side of the room with its face turned to the wall.

“Hi.” Ash could say.

“Who is that trainer challenging me?”

Pikachu was hiding behind Ash. “I’m Ash Ketchum, and I need one more badge to compete in the Orange League.”

“Nice to meet you, Ash.” The owner of the voice turned to Ash. Ash and co. had another shock when they saw the leader.

The owner of the voice was a girl. She must have been about Ash’s age. She was dressed in a white stripped black jacket and trousers which looked like mafia costumes. She was also wearing a hat.

That love-struck expression appeared in Brock’s face. “What a girl!”. Misty slapped him.

“My name is Marlene.” the girl introduced herself. “I’m the leader of this gym.”

“Nice to meet you, too.”

Marlene looked at the spectators and the digimon.

“Umm, they are my friends.” Ash introduced them. “Misty, Brock, Tracey, Tai…”

“Isn’t it difficult to travel with such a crowded group?” Marlene asked.

“Well, in fact, I’m traveling with Misty, Tracey and Brock. Then we met those guys here…”

“They have very interesting pokémon.” said Marlene.

“We are not pokémon.” Agumon spoke.

Marlene looked at them in surprise.

“They are digimon.” Izzy explained. “We were sent here accidentally from the digi-world…”

“Can we start this battle now and chat later?” Ash looked nervous.

“Oh, right, dear.” Marlene told him.

“Dear?” Misty frowned.

Marlene took off her hat. She had wavy, long, black hair. She was a beautiful girl.

“So, is it your last badge, dear?” Marlene asked Ash.

“Yes.” Ash answered.

“OK. And which types have you chosen?”

“I’ll have Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Pidgeot battle. Electric, grass and a flying pokémon.”

“Fine. Which one do you want to start with?”

Ash looked at his pokéballs and Pikachu. Pikachu took one step forward. “You wanna go first, Pikachu?” Ash asked him. Pikachu nodded.

“Oh, how cute…” Kari said.

“Go Pikachu, you’re very brave!” Mimi cheered. Pikachu smiled.

“OK. Go, Electabuzz!” Marlene threw her ball. “But I must first warn you, dear.” she continued. “If you beat me, you’ll have the badge. But if I beat you…”

“What?”

“I don’t even want to think about it. See the guards standing there?”

Ash looked at two men standing in front of the exit door. They were really strong, well built. Very well built. He gulped.

“You mean if I lose…”

Marlene nodded.

“Anyway, let’s have this battle started. I don’t have any other choice…”

“You may give up now, dear, if you wish…”

“Is she aware what she’s saying?” Misty murmured. The others looked at her confusedly. “Ash never ever gives up. He’s very stubborn…”

“Give up?” Ash shouted. “I never give up…”

“As you wish, dear. Let’s start…”

“I want a battle, too…” Brock drooled.

“What?” Tracey asked.

“I’d do anything for her to call me dear…”

“Now…” Marlene pushed a button on the arm of her armchair. The wall on her left, opposite of spectators parted. There appeared a strange, large machine with lots of cables and bulbs. It was so large that you would have enough space to run inside the machine. “This is the track our pokémon are going to compete in…” she explained. “The inside of the machine is empty. They will get in there, and stay there for 3 minutes. The pokémon which lights the most bulbs will win.”

“It is easy…” Ash said.

“Ash, don’t be over-confident…” Joe shouted.

“I know, Joe…” Ash shouted back. “You’re acting like that scrawny redhead!”

“As for your information, Mr. Pokémon Master, there are two redheads! Me and Sora!” Misty yelled. “And I’m not here because I’m too eager to watch you…” she continued.

“Will you stop?” Tracey interrupted.

Ash turned to Marlene. “Ladies first.” he said.

Marlene nodded. “OK, Electabuzz. 3, 2, 1, go!”

Electabuzz got into the machine. Every now and then, they could see a bulb being lit.

“14-15-16…” Tai counted excitedly.

“Look at it! It’s so strong…” Tracey murmured.

“How many seconds left?” Kari asked.

“Very good, Electabuzz!” Marlene cheered.

Pikachu was taken aback with Electabuzz’s performance. It looked anxious. Ash saw his little friend getting nervous. He kneeled down near him, petted his head, and said: “Don’t worry Pikachu. You’re better than Electabuzz.” Pikachu just moved his ears.

“5-4-3-2-1-stop!” Marlene shouted. “You can come out, Electabuzz…” The electric pokémon came out of the machine. Marlene hugged it and thanked.

“I wish I was Electabuzz…” Brock whispered. Misty hit him with her mallet. “Ooww… That hurts… Love hurts also…”

“The number of bulbs Electabuzz has lit is…” Marlene read the instrument on the side of the machine which showed the number of lit bulbs. “27! Well done, Electabuzz. And now…” Marlene turned to Ash and Pikachu. “It’s your turn, dear…”

“OK Pikachu. Let’s do it…” Pikachu walked towards the machine.

“Go Ash! You’re the best!” Mimi, Sora and Kari shouted. Misty scowled.

Just as Pikachu was about the enter, behind the audience, fumes and sparks appeared. Everyone screamed.

“Prepare for trouble.”

“Make it double.”

“To protect the world from devastation.”

“To unite all people within our nation.”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love.”

“To extend our reach to the stars above.”

“Jessie!”

“James!”

“Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light.”

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!”

“That’s right! Meowth!”

“Guess why I’m not surprised?” Tracey said softly.

“Who are you?” Marlene asked.

“Didn’t you hear? We’re Team Rocket.” Jessie answered.

“Won’t you ever leave me alone?” Ash sighed.

“We can’t. It’s our job.” Meowth replied.

“What do you want this time?” Brock shouted. “Sorry, you can’t steal Pikachu.”

“Oh, we aren’t here for Pikachu, this time. These pokémon…” Jessie pointed at Agumon and Palmon. “Or whatever they are… We’re gonna take them to the boss.” explained Jessie. “Isn’t it so, James?”

“…”

“James? Hey James!” Jessie turned around to look at his partner. James was gawking at Marlene. “You fool!”

“Hi, milady… What’s your name? What a beauty…”

“You fool!” Jessie hit him with her paper fan.

“Jealous, are you?” Tracey teased.

“Me? Oh, I’m never jealous of him.” Jessie explained in a hurry. She was blushing.

“Oh, sure… Then why are you blushing?” Misty grinned.

“Hey, can we continue our match?” Ash shouted from the pitch.

“No you can’t! Meow… We’re stealing pokémon here…”

“Oh, my dear God!” Marlene shouted. “There are criminals here, in my gym… Call the police…”

“By the way…” Jessie spoke to Marlene. “The outer walls need some cleaning and repairing…”

“But you sure don’t need any…” James dreamily spoke.

“Meow! You stupid! You’re making me angry!” Meowth scratched James’s face.

“Ooww… Hey, what’s happening?” James turned to Digi-destined. “Give us the digimon.”

“Welcome back…” Brock murmured.

“Of course you can’t take them.” Sora told TR.

“Really? Go, Arbok!”

“Go, Weezing!”

“Go Pikachu!”

“No Ash, we can handle it.” Brock shouted. “Go, Zubat!”

“Go, Staryu! No, not you, Psyduck!” Psyduck had emerged from Misty backpack. Also, Togepi, who was sleeping in Misty’s bag woke up and started crying.

“Arbok, poison strings!”

“Weezing, give out smoke!”

Before Weezing made its attack, Kari took one step forward. “Do we need to fight?” she asked TR, with an innocent look on her face.

When he saw Kari, James’s eyes filled with tears again. He couldn’t order Weezing to attack.

“Hey James! Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Jessie asked him.

“Oh Jessie…” James started. “Who could attack such an innocent little girl?”

“Don’t be silly, James…”

“Oh Jessie… I can’t… Look at those pure eyes… I feel as though I’m attacking my sister…” And James began crying anime style.

Everybody looked at Kari. Kari shrugged. She was perplexed, too.

“Hey, she’s my sister!” Tai shouted at James.

“Sniff… I don’t know…” James was now squirting tears.

“Oh no. I have to attack alone. Go, Arbok!” Jessie sighed.

“You’ll never steal anything in my gym! Electabuzz!” Marlene shouted.

“Zubat! Supersonic waves!”

Psyduck had begun running around madly.

“No, comeback!” Misty called Psyduck back with a sweat drop on her face.

Suddenly, everywhere was covered with sparks and smoke. No one could see anything for a while. They just heard Jessie, James and Meowth shouting: “Looks like Team Rocket’s blasting off again!”

When the smoke was dispersed, Marlene spoke: “Oh, thank you all. Especially you, Brock, dear…”

Brock blushed and bashed his head. “Y-y-your welcome… Honey…”

Marlene smiled. Then she turned to Ash. “How do you know them?”

“Oh, they are following me ever since I began traveling. I see them and beat them everyday. Not something to worry about… Let’s get back to battle, please.”

“Yes. Now, it’s Pikachu’s turn. Get into the machine Pikachu.”

“Do it, Pikachu!” Mimi shouted. Pikachu waved at Mimi, then got in the machine.

“3-2-1-go!”

“Come on, Pikachu!” Ash shouted.

Tracey was again counting lit bulbs. “8-9-10-11… come on, faster!”

TK had run to the front row and begun jumping.

“Takeru, be careful.” Matt warned him.

Misty was clenching her fists, hardly preventing herself from showing her excitement.

“30 secs… 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-stop! Pikachu, you can come out.”

The yellow electric mouse ran towards his trainer.

“Nice job, Pikachu.” Ash hugged it.

“OK. Number of bulbs Pikachu has lit is… 30!”

“We won!” Ash yelled.

“They won!” Tracey, Brock and Tai shouted in unison. Even Misty was smiling.

“Congratulations, dear.”

“Pikachu! You’re the best!” Mimi shouted.

“Now, the next battle… Grass pokémon will be competing.”

“That’s OK.” Ash said, and he sent out Bulbasaur.

“Bulbasaur, huh?” Marlene said. “And I’m sending… Bellossom!” The furry purple pokémon emerged from Marlene’s pokéball.

“You wonder what our pokémon will do, I guess, dear.” Marlene spoke to Ash. Ash nodded. “Now…” Marlene pushed another button on her armchair, and this time, the floor parted, and revealed the grass underneath. The wall opposite the spectators also parted, so that they had a large grassy area.

“Traps are hidden between this grass. Our pokémon are going to walk through this area, they’ll try to arrive at the finish line,” Ash saw a distant white line at his right, “While traps will try to slow them down. You’ll tell your pokémon what to do. The one who arrives first will win. This time, you go first, Ketchum.”

“Alright.” Ash nodded. He then whispered to Bulbasaur: “Do your best, Bulbasaur.”

“Please stand behind that line, Bulbasaur, dear.” Marlene showed the starting line.

Bulbasaur walked towards the line.

“3-2-1-go!”

Bulbasaur began to run. Suddenly, a model Ivysaur emerged from the behind of a rock. It didn’t let Bulbasaur go any further.

“Use vine whip, Bulbasaur!” The little pokémon obeyed his master. The Ivysaur disappeared.

Bulbasaur kept running. Suddenly, ropes hanging from the trees caught it. Bulbasaur couldn’t walk again. “Bulba!”

“Use razor leaves!” Ash commanded. Next second, Bulbasaur was free to go again.

It took about 5 minutes for Bulbasaur to reach the finish line. Once it was finished, Ash ran to his pokémon and thanked it.

“4 minutes, 38 seconds!” Marlene announced.

Next, it was Bellossom’s turn. Bellossom’s run was more or less the same with Bulbasaur’s. He finished at about the same time, too.

Everyone was very excited. Misty had seized the sides of her chair. She was moving left and right.

“It took Bellossom…” Marlene started. “4 minutes 25 seconds to finish!”

Everybody sighed. “No problem.” Ash whispered to Bulbasaur. “You’ve done your best.”

“Are you ready for the next stage?” Marlene asked Ash. “Or are you giving up now?”

“Never! Let’s go!”

Tracey was speaking to himself. “Go Ash. You’ve got to win this time.”

Marlene explained the next step. “Our flying pokémon are going to fly until the finish line. While flying, they’ll meet stones, insects, and etc. in the air. They shouldn’t hit them, or even touch them. Three touches, and it will lose. No time limits.”

“Alright. I choose Pidgeot.”

“And I choose…” Marlene threw her pokéball “Noctowl! Go!” Te owl pokémon emerged from Marlene’s pokéball. Marlene pushed a button again, and this time the ceiling parted, so they could see the sky.

When he looked more carefully, Brock realized stones, butterflies, and moths swimming in the air.

The pokémon flew, and began waiting.

“Get set… Go!” Marlene shouted.

Both Pidgeot and Noctowl began to fly at maximum speed. They were making sharp turns to avoid stones and creatures.

“Pidgeot, create wind with your wings so that you could avoid stones more easily!” Ash commanded.

Marlene was commanding her pokémon also. It was an exciting struggle, no one could guess who would win. The swishing of the wings created such a wind that because of the dust in the air, nobody could see the pokémon for a while. Next time they saw their pokémon, they were crossing the finish line.

“Pidgeot has won!” Tai jumped.

“No, it is Noctowl who has won.” Brock spoke in a serious tone.

Marlene pointed at the air and explained: “Spearow will tell us. He waits at the finish to see who is first.” The bird flew towards Marlene, and told the result to her. Marlene nodded, then turned to Ash. “Sorry, Ash, dear. The winner’s Noctowl, Spearow says.”

“Oh no…” Ash’s friends all looked down. And mostly, Misty.

Pikachu jumped to Ash’s shoulder and patted him.

“Maybe next time, dear. But now, we have to obey the rules of the gym.” she called to the guards waiting at the door. Ash gulped. Spectators’ eyes widened with surprise.

Two guards seized Ash’s arms and began dragging him outside.

“No!” Kari screamed.

“Marlene, what are you doing?” Izzy asked.

“Rules.” Marlene answered. However, she didn’t look sorry at all.

Ash was dragged outside. “No!” Misty screamed. “No, no, no! Ash! If anything happens to you, I’ll… Fool! I’ve got to help him.” She ran for the door. The door was locked.

“You can’t help him.” Marlene told Misty.

Misty punched and kicked the door. She frantically tried to open the door. Finally, Matt grabbed her wrists and held her back. “Calm down, Misty. Quiet.” he was whispering all the time.

“I have to go.” Marlene left the room, too. She entered to the room where Ash had been taken to.

“Let me go, Matt. She is going to kill Ash!” Misty yelled while she tried to go desperately. She was really worried something would happen to Ash. She got angry at him, teased and taunted him all the time, but she also… “Ash, what will I do without you?” she was thinking to herself. Again she tried to open the door. It finally opened. She stormed outside, with Togepi in her arms.

“Prii?”

“Don’t worry Togepi. We are going to save Ash.” She began running. The others followed her.

They ran for some minutes, looking for Ash. All the doors of the rooms they tried to get in were locked.

“Pika!”

When they heard Pikachu’s voice, they ran towards that room. “Wait Ash, we will save you!” Tai shouted.

They opened the door, luckily, it was unlocked. They stormed into the room. They were surprised at the scene.

Ash didn’t look as if he was beaten, or was about to be beaten. He was OK. He was sitting with Marlene and Pikachu, eating and drinking.

“Ash! Oh, thank God you’re OK!” Misty directly ran to Ash and hugged him. Ash noticed the tears in her eyes. “I was afraid they would… they…” Misty couldn’t speak anymore, but hugged Ash even more. Ash returned the hug, but it was obvious he didn’t know what was going on.

“Oh, aren’t they so sweet?” Mimi asked.

When they parted, Ash noticed the questioning looks of his friends. They were also smiling.

“Ash, when the guards took you outside…” Brock started.

“And after what she said before the match…” Izzy pointed to Marlene with his head.

“We thought they would beat you… Or maybe worse…” Tracey completed.

“Oh no, that’s all my fault.” Marlene shook her head. “And I was wondering why you sweethearts were so upset when he lost… If he is beaten by me for 3 times, then he will have to endure the consequences…”

“Really?” Misty smiled. “Thank you…”

“What are you doing, then?” Sora asked them.

“I was just giving him some advice. I do it after all matches. I try to help trainers as much as possible.”

“Yeah, she’s right.” Ash approved, swallowing a piece of cake. “And I was gathering the strength I lost.” He didn’t look sorry at all, and it surprised Misty, Brock and Tracey, who knew him well.

“You’d better go now, Ash, dear.” Marlene told Ash.

In 15 minutes’ time, they were outside the gym, heading back to the hotel. Misty was walking near Ash. They were at the back of the group. Ash was now revealing how upset he was.

“I can’t believe I lost.” he sighed. “If only I had taught Pidgeot to be faster… Or I could have commanded Bulbasaur better…”

Misty put her arms around Ash. “Oh Ash, that’s no problem. We all know you can do it. You just need some practice. I was so frightened something bad would happen to you.”

“Would you be sorry if such a thing happened?” Ash asked her in surprise.

“Of course I would. Cause I lo… I mean, you’re my…”

“What?”

“You’re… Ehm… You’re my best friend. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Oh, thanks Misty. You’re my best friend, also.”

Tai, who had seen Misty getting delirious when they thought Ash was in trouble had began to change his mind about Misty. “Sora, do you know, maybe she’s not that bad at all.” he told Sora.

“I’m glad you’ve began thinking logically.” Sora answered.

“Would you do the same for him?” Piyomon asked Sora. Tai looked at them.

“I guess… yes…” Sora answered, blushing a bit. Tai blushed, too. Piyomon winked to Agumon.

“Hey Ash.” Brock came near Ash and Misty. “Where do we stay now? We can’t afford to stay in the hotel until you win your badge.” he told them.

“Of course we will stay at the Pokémon Center.” Misty frowned.

“But Misty… I thought you…” Brock stammered.

“I know. But as we don’t have enough money… We don’t have other alternatives.”

“Thanks Misty.” Ash grinned.

After taking their stuff to the Pokémon Center, and settling in their rooms, they went to the beach, while the girls sunbathed and Ash practiced. “It’s not such a bad day after all.” Ash thought. After being very nice to him, Misty had returned to her usual mood, but Ash knew she cared.

A giant mosquito was flying high above them. It then disappeared in mid air.

I know, it was a long chapter. How do you like it? You can send feedbacks to lucky_sans@hotmail.com . Before I forget, I own none of these characters except Marlene. They all belong to the producers and creators of Pokémon and Digimon. Thank you!

Next: Will Ash beat Marlene? Who is the lady TR met? Who will win Marlene’s heart, Brock or James? What does Jessie think about it? Why is James so impressed by Kari?…