The Heart of the Cards, part 1: Welcome to Titian City! "Goodness, how much further do we have to go?" Misty complained as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. "It's boiling hot, my feet hurt, and I'm thirsty!" She hurried over into a grassy field and sat down in the grass nearby a stream. "Can we pul-lease stop and rest?" she begged, undoing her sandals and dipping her toes in the water. "I'm hot too, but it's too early to stop and rest." Brock assured Misty as he fanned himself with his map. "Besides, we only set out an hour ago, and it's 11:30 now." "An hour???" Misty cried. "It feels like we've been walking for a day!" No sooner had she said this, a huge splash of water stung her face. "What the..." She rubbed the water out of her eyes only to discover Ash standing nearby, laughing with delight. "Geez, Ash, what was that for?" she asked, exasperated. "You said you were hot, so I figured that would cool you off!" Ash replied, still giggling at the sight of a soaked Misty. "Oooooh...." Misty stomped over to Ash and rolled up her sleeves. "I'm gonna cool YOU off as payback for doing that!" With that, she pushed Ash into the water with a splash. "Pika pi..." Pikachu looked down into the stream for any sign of Ash, but all he could see was the bubbling, foaming water. "Pikapi!" he called again, hoping for an answer. After a few seconds, Ash emerged from the water, coughing and sputtering. "Pikapi!" Ash coughed a few times. "I'm all right, Pikachu...it's just that I couldn't see you very well, and I couldn't hold my breath very much longer." He blew a stream of water from his mouth and coughed some more. "Here..." Brock ran over and threw a towel around Ash. "There you go...we can at least sit here and let you dry off...it's too hot to be traveling right now, anyway...." He leaned back against a tree and began to set out food. "Food!" Misty ran over and helped herself to a sandwich. "I was getting hungry, anyway!" "Help yourself, there's plenty for everyone." Brock assured her. He continued to study his map as the others ate. --------- "...we climb up this hill, and there it is: Titian City." Brock explained as he showed the others his planned route. "We should get there by sundown." "Sundown?" Misty complained. "Why did you have to pick the long way there?" "So? What's wrong with enjoying nature as we travel?" Brock asked. "There's lots of nice views out this way..." "The only view I want to see right now is Titian City...I'm tired of all this walking!" Misty sighed as the group got back on the main path. "Well, if you're bored, we can always sing a song!" Ash suggested. He began to sing as he skipped ahead of the others. "We're on the one road, sharing the one load, we're on the road to who-knows-where...We're on the one road, maybe the wrong road...but we're together, so who cares? North wind, south wind, take us all! Kanto, Johto, Houen, through it all! We're on the one road, swingin along! Singing a trainer's song!" "We have had our quarrels now and then..." Brock chimed in. "Now's the time to make them up again! Why we're going, and where, I don't know how...but we've got to stick together, now!..." "We're on the one road, sharing the one load, we're on the road to who-knows- where..." Ash led the others into the chorus. "We're on the one road, maybe the wrong road...but we're together, so who cares? North wind, south wind, take us all! Kanto, Johto, Houen, through it all! We're on the one road, swingin along! Singing a trainer's song!"...... -------- "...We're on the one road, sharing the one load, we're on the road to who-knows- where..." Ash continued to sing as the group trudged up a hill. "Uh, Ash? We're actually on the road to Titian City." Brock explained, pointing out the marked place on his map. "So? It's only a part of the song!" Ash protested. "We've been hearing you sing that for the last hour." Misty complained. "Can't we sing something else?" "Well, there's always '99 Bottles of Juice on the Wall'!" Brock suggested. "NO!" Misty screamed. "ANYTHING but that!" "Let's just talk for a while, okay?" Ash sighed. "I ran out of songs an hour ago..." "Why are we going to Titian City, again?" Misty asked. Everyone looked at Brock, eager for the answer. "Titian City is well known for its card players..." Brock explained, "so millions of people come to Pokemon Dome to watch the tournaments and get tips on their decks from the card masters." "Pokemon cards?" Ash was curious. "Here, I'll show you a few." Brock unzipped his pack and got out a small tin with a picture of a Geodude on the top. He opened the tin, got out the deck inside, and fanned out the cards before Misty and Ash. "What do you think?" "Pika!" Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder and looked at the cards, interested in the beautiful pictures. Suddenly, he grabbed a Pikachu lv. 14 card out of Brock's deck. "Pikapi, Pikachu!" he announced, displaying the card to Ash. "I see..." Ash replied. "I'd really like to learn to play with those cards..." "Well, there just so happens to be a tournament taking place this week, so you may just get your wish!" Brock smiled. He took the card Pikachu was holding and put it back in the deck, then put the deck away. "We should be getting there any moment now..." "There it is!" Misty cried, pointing out the city in the distance. "Come on! Last one there's a rotten Exeggute!" Ash, Brock and Pikachu hurried to keep up with Misty as she raced down the hill. --------- "Wow..." Ash gasped as he looked around the city and watched the people rush about. "This place is huge! Wonder where Pokemon Dome is?" "Try looking at that sign right there." Misty sighed as she pointed out a sign that read POKEMON DOME-THIS WAY. A large building with a rounded red roof-- making it look somewhat like a Poke Ball--loomed in the distance. "Oh..." Ash noted. With that, the group walked towards the giant red dome and went inside. --------- "Goodness...this place is like a maze!" Misty gasped as the group wandered down the lush carpeted halls of Pokemon Dome. "Wonder who you need to ask if you want to join tournaments?" "Hey, look!" Brock pointed out an information desk that was nearby a lounge. "We can ask over there!" "Good idea!" Misty suggested as the group got in line. After a few minutes, Ash and the group approached the information desk. "Hi. Where can I get training in the Pokemon card game?" Ash asked. The clerk presented Ash with some papers and a pen. "Just fill out these papers and I'll let one of our card masters know you wish to be taught how to play the card game. If you have questions about anything on the form, just ask." With that, he turned to attend to the next person in line. "Boy, talk about service with a smile!" Brock complained as the group walked over to the lounge and got comfortable. "You'd think they'd at least be nice, but no...we have to be treated to..." and he begin a dry impression of the clerk. "'Just fill out these papers and I'll let one of our card masters know you wish to be taught how to play the card game. If you have questions about anything on the form, just ask. Wow, I'm like, really excited.'" Misty just laughed at Brock's impression. "That was pretty good, Brock!" Ash chuckled. "Thank you..." Brock replied in his 'boring clerk' voice, causing some people to laugh. "Let's see here..." Ash studied the first form. "General information...Number of years training, 4...number of badges earned...28...number of Pokemon caught...have they won any contests, no...." Misty sighed as Ash continued to work. --------- After several hours, Ash returned to the desk with the now completed papers. "Here you go." "Thank you very much." the clerk replied, taking the papers and pen from Ash. "Take a seat over there and your card master will be with you shortly." The group then trudged back to the lounge and got comfortable. Misty sighed as the others sat down. "All that just to get someone to teach you to play? If they treat the others like this, I have a feeling we'll be here for a long time!" "The card masters here must have thousands of others to teach, I guess..." Brock mused. "I hope Ash gets one that knows her game as well as her looks..." He sighed, daydreaming of what their card master might look like. "Easy, Brock..." Misty giggled. "We don't even know who it is yet!" Brock just sighed and watched the clouds pass by through the clear glass ceiling. --------- After several hours, the lounge had cleared out except for the group. Misty was reading a magazine, Brock was carving a piece of wood with a pocketknife, apparently shaping it into a form of a whistle, and Ash was relaxed in his chair, asleep. Every so often, he'd open an eye to watch passersby, watch Brock carve his instrument, or check on Pikachu, then go back to sleep again. "Nothing interesting in this one..." Misty set down her finished magazine, and opted to watch Brock for a while. "What is that?" she asked, curious as she watched Brock sharpen one end into a mouthpiece. "When it's done, it'll be a whistle." Brock explained. "This isn't the kind that referees use, it's more like a small flute." He proceeded to drill finger holes as Misty watched, interested. "There. Now to see if I can get a note out of this..." Next, he covered the top two fingerholes and blew, making the note "A". "Pika, pi ka!" Pikachu begged. 'Well, I've got to figure out the rest of the notes before I can play a song!" Brock assured Pikachu. "Whatever song you play, keep it soft so you don't wake Ash up." Misty suggested as Brock experimented with other fingerings. "I'll play something nice and slow...and blow very easily on the high notes..." and Brock started a soft, but haunting melody--one that Misty recognized as one of her favorites: Lake of the Dreamer. Pikachu suddenly heard footsteps coming down the hall. "Pika!" he announced, interrupting Brock's song and waking Ash up from a nap. "Unggh..." Ash stretched and quickly sat up in his chair as a young girl with brown hair clad in a rainbow colored shirt and jeans entered the room. She approached Ash and knelt before him. "Hi! You must be Ash, right?" "I am." Ash replied. "Come with me, please." the girl replied, starting down the hall. Ash stood up to follow, but turned back to look at his friends. "Can my friends come too?" "Of course they can!" the girl assured Ash. "We'll go to the first room on the left." With that, the group followed the girl down the hall into a room filled with posters on the walls. A table with a row of deck tins stood in the center of the room, surrounded by chairs. Ash and the girl sat across from each other at the table, while Misty and Brock opted to sit in two nearby chairs. "Okay...allow me to introduce myself." the girl began. "I am Maya Nijiiro. If you watch the tounaments a lot, you might know me as the 'Legendary Rainbow.' "Legendary Rainbow? Where did you earn that nickname?" Ash asked. "Well, part of it you might have guessed from my clothing..." Maya began. "and the legendary part comes from my skill at the game. I'm glad you've decided to let me share my skills with you." "I'm looking forward to learning." Ash replied. "When do we start?" "Well, first off, you have to have a deck before I can teach you." Maya gestured to the row of deck tins. "Pick a deck from the rack, and we'll begin." "Let's see..." Ash glanced over the five tins in the deck rack. The first one depicted a flowing river and a Hitmonchan, with the words 'Raging River' underneath it. Three of the other tins depicted the three Houen starters: Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip. "The Torchic deck reminds me of May, and the Treecko of my own Houen Pokemon. But which one should I choose?" he thought as he continued to study the tins. The deck on the end, a tin with a Pikachu on it, also caught his interest "I wonder what the Pikachu deck has in it...but I'd rather choose between two decks rather than three...." Maya noticed Ash was studying each deck very carefully. "Need some help deciding?" she asked. "I can't decide between the Treecko deck or the Torchic deck." Ash replied. "Which one do you think I should pick?" "The Torchic deck has some good starters, but the Treecko deck is a little more balanced, and a balanced deck is usually a winning deck." Maya replied. "Okay...I'll take...Treecko!" Ash grabbed the Treecko tin from the rack. "'Treecko and Friends' it is!" Maya replied. "Now, I'll show you the different cards and what they do as we have a practice duel...." She led the group into a large, open arena. In the center was a pale blue floor, where the duels played out. At each end of the floor were two platforms, one red with a circle of rubies in the center; the other blue with a circle of sapphires in the center. "Ash, step up to the blue platform." Maya instructed as she stepped up to the red platform. "Good luck, Ash!" Misty called as Ash took his place at his platform and waited for Maya's instructions... How will Ash's first trading card duel play out? Stay Tuned!