Episode 22! Hey, I never knew I would get this far! Oh well. Surprise, surprise!

Disclaimer: Nintendo did not sell me pokemon. Therefore, I do not own it. Obviously! So you have no right to sue me. However, if you steal Destiny, or anything else of mine, you will pay!

Note: Ash is still stuck in bed after the Articuno encounter. *Sighs*

Tmp – Oops, you’re right! Um, well, I guess that it just doesn’t provide meat. *Sheepish grin* Mewtwo counts as a card, Mew doesn’t. Don’t worry; there are a couple more chapters before the final judgment. Yep, Ash can carry more than 6 now!

Ranma – you’re right! Ash needs to learn some more self-control. Todd… well, I can’t give away the plot, but most everybody else dislikes him…

Dawn – Don’t worry, I’ll keep writing! *Wink*

Hollow Shadows – thanx, but quit taking off your signed reviews please! It’s happened twice already! And Shadow doesn’t like it when her reviews drop from 60 to 59 or 66 to 65. I know it is you, so please discontinue this! You make shadow very sad. *Big shimmery teary eyes*

Episode 22: Fun in the water

Ash was lying in bed, idly watching some old videotapes of him catching pokémon cards. Apparently Todd had been carrying a portable T.V. as well as a video camera and blank tapes! It was amazing! As Ash watched himself capture the Dragonair card, a thought suddenly struck him in the face.

“Wait a minute! Shouldn’t there still be a few more pokémon cards out there besides the big four, even if Gary did get some?”

“You’re very perceptive.” Pika-chan remarked. “The ones that haven’t appeared yet won’t appear until you capture Zapdos. Think of it as a test of skill.”

“Say, isn’t Zapdos one of your two main cards?” Ash asked.

“You’re absolutely correct! Zapdos and Moltres, Lightning and Fire and flying, are the elements I control. Articuno and the other card go to the second guardian.”

“So if I catch Zapdos, you’ll get stronger?” Ash asked.

“Precisely. I will also be able to take my true form. There is an extremely good reason why I’m known as the ‘Eternal winged pikachu of greatness’, you know!” Pika-chan said, preening.

Todd sweatdropped. Even if Pika-chan was a pokemon, she sure acted human a lot of the time.

“But enough chit-chat! You have to study some more!” Pika-chan said, dumping another spell book onto Ash’s lap. Ash groaned.

“But Pika-chan! I’m still tired from the spells I did yesterday!”

“You have to practice them again! Your ‘Flare’ attack was way off. All you had to do was to light a candle!”

“I know, but it’s so hard!” Ash said.

Pika-chan studied him. “Are you sure you’re the same kid who excitedly released me from the seal of the pokemon book?”

Ash flushed. “I don’t’ mean to be impertinent, but I am tired.” He sighed as he plopped down on the bed. * Even doing Level 2 and 3 spells tire me out… what’s wrong? I was able to do the shrink spell, and that was on level eighteen! Am I getting weaker? What’s wrong with me? *

“Maybe you’re out of power.” Todd suggested. He was reading a very interesting book titled ‘Spell ingredients, resources, and general information’. Even if he wasn’t a magician like Ash, the book was very interesting.

Pika-chan slapped herself on the forehead. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? Here, Ash, take this.” She pulled a wand out of his backpack and tossed it to him.

“What is this?” Ash asked, confused.

“This is a magic wand, obviously not as powerful as the one you use to capture pokemon cards. It is used to heal.” Pika-chan said. “It’s called the Wand of the Water Guardian, and it can create healing potions or just heal you outright.” The wand was made out of twisted bronze, but at the top there was a three-pointed blue crystal, that shone like pure water, reflecting the light from the lamps set into the wall.

“Wow…” Ash said in awe.

“Don’t be. There are about a thousand in all, scattered throughout the dimensions. There are some more in this dimension, but they’re all buried in ancient ruins or in museums. Some of the other magic items are more common, like the Magic Berries.”

Todd blinked, and turned back to his book. “I’m glad I could help.”

“No problem! I’m so grateful that I’ll wear a costume next time!” Ash said, his mouth taking off before his brain could process the thought. Todd’s eyes lit up excitedly. Pika-chan restrained the urge to knock her Chosen over the head. He could be amazingly dense sometimes…

“Well in that case, I’ve got lots of them!” Todd said. He immediately began digging through his portable… closet.

“Ahem! Let us get back to the matter at hand!” Pika-chan said. She touched Ash with the wand. The crystal set in the top began to glow with white light. When it cleared, Ash felt a lot better.

“Phew! It only healed about 2/3 of your energy, but that’s enough for now. We don’t want to break it.” Pika-chan said as she put the Wand back into Ash’s backpack. “It regenerates itself, so we can use it every two hours.”

“Cool.” Ash said. He sat up and picked up the water book. “So, let’s get started!”

“Hmm…” Pika-chan looked down. “You already know Soap Bubble, and we did go through Heal yesterday, so…”

“Bubble shield?” Ash asked. “Level 4.”

“Try that then.” Pika-chan said.

“But how can I breathe from inside a bubble?”

“That’s not the point!” Pika-chan said. “Just try it!”

“O-okay.” Ash said. Closing his eyes, he focused his power into a shield around himself. * Please work! * Soon, a shield of pale rainbow colors surrounded him.

“Hooray! You did it!” Pika-chan said, cheering.

Ash opened his eyes. “I did it! Yay!” He began to do a little dance. After a few minutes, the bubble fizzled out of existence and Ash fell onto the floor, landing on his head.

“Ow!”

Pidgey began to coo in her own language. Ash sighed. “Yes, I know that was stupid to do. But it was fun!”

Sunny was outside chasing Meowths. Hey, she was a canine pokemon, so it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do. From the howls coming from outside, the Meowths were the ones losing.

How about if you try the spell for breathing underwater next? Storm asked in her normally soft voice. Then, you could swim with me.

“That’s a good idea.” Ash said, picking up his book. “Let’s see… there are six different spells for breathing underwater?! Oh well, I’ll just do the easiest one.”

“Level seven should be okay.” Pika-chan announced.

“Let’s head downstairs. There’s a pool there.” Todd said. “I do have an underwater camera. I designed some swimwear for you too!”

Ash sweatdropped. * No way! This guy is prepared for everything! But I did promise him that I’d wear a costume. *

“Okay, what did you make for me?” Ash asked. Todd reached into his backpack and produced a pair of dark blue swimming pants with a streak of silver down each side. It came with a pair of dark blue flippers, and a waterproof vest made out of silver PVC material.

“Hey, its not bad!” Pika-chan said. “Is there anything for me?” Pika-chan was give a pair of tiny flippers (also blue) and a scuba diving mask.

“There’s a mask with your outfit, too, Ash.” Todd said. “But since you’re going to be trying to breathe underwater, maybe you shouldn’t wear it.”

“I’ll take it. If the spell fails, I don’t want to drown.” Ash stated in a very serious tone.

Pika-chan shrugged, tossed him a couple of magic berries provided by the fruit basket, and munched a few herself, to ensure that they would not run out of magic.

The group slunk down to the pool. As it turned out, it was unnecessary, since Nurse Joy was too busy trying to take care of all the Junior trainers which had come in with hurt pokemon (apparently all of them had been trying to beat Surge), and the Chanseys were too busy to care that Ash out was out of bed *gasp! *

Ash jumped in the pool, since he was hot, wearing all of that material. (Authoress’ note: Come on, he’s wearing pants and a vest! It is hot!) As soon as his head went underwater, he began to chant the words of the spell softly. In a minute, he had gill slits along the sides of his neck.

“Hey! What are these things?” Ash asked, panicking. Storm and the Dragonair card swam up next to him and stared.

I believe those are gills. Storm finally managed to stammer out, shocked. Ash began to panic.

“I have gills? Pika-chan! Help!” Pika-chan secured her glass mask and jumped in. She found her Chosen in the middle of the pool, but he wasn’t turning blue or drowning, so she didn’t know what the problem was.

“What is it?” Pika-chan asked. “Are you hurt or something?”

“I have gills!” Ash said.

Pika-chan tsked. “Of course you do! The first two spells give you gills, the third actually equips you with fins as well, the fourth gives you fins and a tail, the fifth turns you into an amphibious pokemon, but the sixth allows your lungs to breathe water. Didn’t you read the description?”

Ash shook his head. Pika-chan whapped him, “You should have! Don’t worry; nobody’s going to notice them. Just practice your swimming and pretend that nothing is wrong. I’ll have Butterfree look out for you. Or, if you want to train underwater with your pokemon, that’s good too.”

“Okay.” Ash summoned his wand and called out all of his water pokemon. They spent several hours training, before Ash got tired. Storm pulled him out of the pool, clucking disapprovingly.

You shouldn’t have overstressed yourself, Ash! You’re not enough supposed to be out of bed! She admonished.

She’s right! The Dragonair card seconded. How are you going to explain to Nurse Joy?

“I guess I’ll just make a very ambiguous comment.” Ash said, as he hopped into a bathroom and began peeling off his costume. It wasn’t very aesthetically pleasing, but at least it was waterproof and kept him warm.

Todd shut down his video camera. Ash exhaled noisily as he watched through a crack in the door.

“Does he have to video tape me every time? At least he could give me some moments of anonymity.” Ash sighed.

When he was again dressed in his light green pajamas, he tiptoed his way back up to his room. Sunny and Skymew were there, playing cards on the floor.

< Hi! > Starmew said. < Did you have fun swimming? >

“Well, it was very good exercise.” Ash said truthfully. “I’m sick of being stuck in bed with nothing to do.”

< Nurse Joy is going to bring you dinner soon. She’ll probably want to take a look at you, too. > Sunny said.

Ash was about to climb into bed when he remembered something.

“Ack! I still have to shower!” He headed into the bathroom and took a nice, warm, twenty-minute shower. He emerged a few minutes later wrapped in a dark red bathrobe.

< I’ll get your clothes. > Sunny said, as she loped over to his backpack and pulled the flap up. < Is there anything you want in particular? >

“Not really.” Ash admitted. Todd had gone outside to purchase new batteries for his video camera. Pika-chan was busy raiding the kitchen, and from the shouts coming from downstairs, had been caught in the act.

Sunny pulled out a pair of blue jeans, clean underwear (Hehehe), white socks, and a dark green t-shirt. However, she also brought him a pair of golden bracelets. Ash blinked in surprise.

< What are these for? > He asked, still not confident with his telepathic skills.

“They increase strength. They’ll help you feel better.”

“Thanks, Sunny.” Ash said. Then, he blinked. “Were you talking in human just now?”

< No, why? > Sunny asked.

“Must have been a fluke then.” Ash said. He ruffled her fur and put the bracelets on over his dark blue gloves. Then, he flicked open his cell phone.

“I guess I’ll call mom now…”

Delilah smiled when her phone rang. She knew it had to be Ash. Giovanni looked up from where he was sitting next to her and smiled knowingly.

“Hello.”

“Hi, mom!” Ash said, turning the screen on his cell phone on. “I’m still in bed, but I’m feeling better now!”

“That’s good, dear.” Delilah told him. “I hope you get better soon. Its probably all that stress getting to you.”

“Probably, mom.” Ash said. “Thanks for praying for me.”

“You’re welcome, dear. So, how is your pokemon journey going?”

“Pretty well, actually.” Ash told her without any antagonism in his voice, since he was talking to his mom and not professor Oak or Gary.

“Well, I hope you come home soon. I miss you very much!”

“Me too, mom!” Ash said. He blew her a kiss before turning the phone off. Giovanni smiled charmingly at Delilah.

“Ash?”

“Yes.” Delilah said. “So, are we still doing our dinner date tonight?”

“Of course!” Giovanni reassured her. “There’s this charming restaurant in Pewter. Shall we go?” He extended his hand. Delilah took it, and the two of them walked out to the car.

End Episode 22!

I used 5 SAT I words for this chapter! I guess its all going to my head now… AAHHH! SATS are coming up! *Shadow runs around in panic* Anyways, please review! Flames will be used to forge myself a Wand of the Water Guardian, so I can recuperate from future injuries…