Chapter 1
Pokˇmon League village

	15-year old Ash Ketchum of Pallet town was stretching his arms and lying down in bed, 
fully dressed for the next match.  Ash was thinking about the match status at present.  He 
organised the competitionÕs remaining competitors for a moment, scratching out the losers. 
He decided to watch the television to see who came through.  His heart stopped beating for 
a second as he looked at the "competitorÕs table" dictating who won-and who didnÕt with 
W and L.  The table didnÕt scare him-just what it shown:

MATCHES WON:

8-TYPE FINALS:
ASH-WvJAMESON-L 
TIMMY-LvGARY-W	
RICHARD-WvFLINT-L
MISTY-WvSABRINA-L
HIDEYOSHI-LvMELISSA-W
MANDY-LvLICKIMAN-W
TERTRI-WvBRUNO-L
CHANSEYGUY-WvTRACEY-L

QUARTER FINALS:
 CHANSEYGUY-LvMELLISA-W
MISTY-WvTERTRI-L
LICKIMAN-LvASH-W
RICHARD-LvGARY-W

Ash had never won against Richard before, but then again, he had never seen Richard in a period
of 4 years.  Gary, 4 years ago, seemed to be shrugged off by Ash ever since Gary had lost to
multiple pokˇmon league champ, Melissa.  Bruno and the Gym leaders also lost-except for Misty.
Ash looked at the next channel.

SEMI FINALS:
MISTYvASH in 1h 35 mins.
GARYvMELISSA in 5h 35mins.

Ash grinned.  He had known Misty for years, and Ash had Raichu, MistyÕs very weakness.  After 
all, Misty only chose water types.  Except for Wigglytuff-electricity would be weaker against 
Wigglytuff than her other pokˇmon.  So he would use-"Ash Ketchum, you have reached 1h 30mins 
before battle.  Please select your pokˇmon at the front desk."  Ash hopped up out of bed, 
grinning expectantly.

	Ash and Misty were now starting the match, Misty on the green side, and Ash on the red 
side.  Ash didnÕt see Misty for quite a while.  Misty looked better than she did last time Ash 
met her, her red hair was flowing down to a length and Misty wore a black shirt and brown jeans 
instead of what she used to have.  Misty chose her first pokˇmon.  "Golduck, go!"  Out from 
MistyÕs pokˇball came Golduck.  So, Ash thought, does this one have a headache?  Golduck looked 
a lot calmer and smarter than Psyduck, that was for sure.  "Raichu, go!"

Raichu and Golduck were staring at each other from each side of the arena.  The referee took 
two flags up.  "Go!" he yelled.  Almost simultaneously, Misty shouted out her command.  
"Golduck, hydro pump!"  A huge, gushing and almost straight gust of water came out of GolduckÕs 
mouth-most unlike PsyduckÕs pathetic string of water.  Raichu had dodged just in time.  "Raichu,
thunder!"  Raichu jumped up high in the air.  Electricity sparked in huge quantities from 
RaichuÕs yellow cheeks.  A huge bolt came down on Golduck, and Golduck in response didnÕt 
scream, didnÕt spit, just fell down on the ground.  "Golduck is unable to battle!  Raichu 
wins!"  Raichu danced a little, victorious.

	The next battle started.  Instead of Golduck there was now Wigglytuff.  The referee 
took two flags up.  "Go!" he yelled.  Ash yelled out, "Raichu, mega punch!"  "Wigglytuff, double
edge!"  Wigglytuff quickly twirled around in the air and Raichu missed the mega punch.  
Wigglytuff came down on Raichu and didnÕt miss.  Raichu submitted, with Wigglytuff quickly 
thrashing away on Raichu.  "Raichu is unable to battle!  Wigglytuff wins!"  On top of Raichu, 
Wigglytuff bobbed from side to side, looking very agressive.

	Now both Ash and Misty had two pokˇmon left.  Ash chose Venusaur now, and Venusaur 
looked just as nervous as Ash. The referee took two flags up.  "Go!" he yelled.  Misty knew 
that it was her time to shine.  "Wigglytuff, use the Metronome I taught you!"  Wigglytuff 
briefly swayed his stubby arms left and right.  "Venusaur...  Solar beam."  Ash had his fingers
crossed in front of him.  There was half a chance that the metronome would be a weak attack.  
The solar beam came out of Venusaur.  It hit Wigglytuff.  Wigglytuff was blown back, and 
Wigglytuff was covered with smoke, but didnÕt submit, didnÕt lie down, but simply stared into 
space, standing up.  Wigglytuff hands spread out all of a sudden, and a huge green blast of 
energy came out.  The metronome had created a bide attack.  When it hit Venusaur, the bide was 
exactly double the strength of the solar beam.  VenusaurÕs eyes rolled up to its head, and 
Venusaur collapsed.  "Venusaur is unable to battle!  Wigglytuff wins!"  Ash bit his fingers 
hard.

	Ash knew that it was down to the last pokˇmon he would battle with in the match.  He 
would use his strongest.  "Gyarados, go!"  The referee took two flags up.  "Go!" he yelled.  
Gyarados looked at Ash strangely, then at Wigglytuff.  Obviously, it looked like Gyarados knew 
and hated that Wigglytuff somehow.  Without AshÕs command, it used hyper beam.  A yellow sheen 
circled around Wigglytuff.  When the hyper beam had faded away, Wigglytuff was very burnt 
looking, and dazed.  Wigglytuff went out cold.  Misty gasped. "Wigglytuff is unable to battle!  
Gyarados wins!"

	Now both Misty and Ash were down to one pokˇmon.  What would Misty use?  "Togepi, go!"  
Misty was smiling nervously.  Ash was startled.  Half of the crowd was wondering what Togepi was 
doing in a match, the other half didnÕt know what Togepi was.  The referee took two flags up.  
"Go!" he yelled.  "Togepi, sing!"  Togepi was muttering an odd tune to Gyarados.  Ash yelled, 
"donÕt fall asleep, Gyarados!  Use dragon rage!"  GyaradosÕ eyes dimmed, and its snakelike body 
collapsed.  Ash was desperately hoping for some sort of attack when Gyarados, now lying down 
half-asleep, ŌsnortedÕ a dragon rage in front of the tiny Togepi.  Steam came out and Togepi 
fell back suddenly.  Togepi, dazed by the blow and blinded by the smoke, hid inside its own egg.
"Togepi is unable to battle!  Gyarados wins!  Ash is the winner!"  Misty sighed and brought 
Togepi back into the pokˇball while Gyarados snored loudly.

	Jameson was finishing up preparations to leave the league village.  He felt bad about 
his loss and he had also worked hard to get his 8 badges.  The match he had against Ash was a 
close one.  Jameson hoped that Ash would at least remember the match, and that Ash would never 
learn that he himself was James, using a disguise to sneak out of team rocket.  The disguise 
seemed to work, and with it he had won his 8 badges fair and square.  But recently James felt 
that he was in danger.  A woman called Jessica looked staggeringly familiar to James as Jessie 
of team rocket.  A man called Hideyoshi looked exactly like Giovanni, the head of team rocket.  
James no longer felt secure, and with backpack packed, James was about to leave the league 
village.  James could only hope that team rocket didnÕt recognise him.  But the chances were 
low, for if Jessica really were Jessie, she would know who he was.  She could easily pick out 
James in a crowd, and he would be leaving in the open.  About to leave, James put on 
gun-handling gloves and crossed his fingers for a moment...