It is lunchtime, and Ash, Brock, May, and Max are sitting on a group of rocks eating another one of Brock’s tasty stews.

“Hi there!” they hear a cheerful voice say. The group turns and sees a young girl with shoulder-length red hair, a sleeveless light blue top, white shorts, and a white derby hat with red trim. “I’m Amy, from Saffron City. Are any of you pokemon trainers?”

“Uh, yeah, I am,” said Ash, quickly getting up after putting down his lunch. He was eager for a battle now since it had been days since he battled his last Frontier Brain. “I’m Ash, from Palette Town.”

“Wait, Ash,” protested May, tugging on his shirt sleeve. “I’ve got a contest next week, I could really use the practice.”

“No, May, I’m battling this time,” insisted Ash, a little rudely.

“Okay, fine, Mister I-wanna-be-a-pokemon-master,” said May grumpily, a little hurt. She crossed her arms and silently fumed as Ash walked over to Amy.

Brock stood in the middle to referee. “This will be a three-on-three match, with no time limit. The match will be over when all of either trainer’s pokemon are unable to continue. Everybody ready?”

“Yes,” said Amy and Ash at the same time.

Brock raised his arms. “Begin!”

Amy took out a green and white Safari Zone pokeball. “I hope you’re ready for a good match, Ash,” she said, smiling. “Rhyhorn, go!”

Ash grinned. “A rock type, huh? That should be easy.” He tossed one of his pokeballs and said, “Grovyle, I choose you!” Then his face fell when he realized that he had sent Swellow instead. “What?!”

“That’s new,” Brock commented.

“I wonder why Ash sent Swellow out instead of Grovyle?” May asked, confused, forgetting that she had been angry with Ash just a few moments earlier.

“I think we should’ve made him finish lunch first,” said Max.

Ash groaned. “Well, I gotta make the best of it,” he said to himself. “Swellow, use aerial ace!”

Swellow spun in a circle in the air, disappeared briefly, then hit rhyhorn square in its rocky chest. The blow was good enough to make rhyhorn stagger slightly. “Yeah! Good job, Swellow!” said Ash, pumping his fist.

“Wow, Ash made it look like he planned that all along,” said May in wonderment.

“That’s pretty good, Ash,” said Amy as her rhyhorn quickly recovered, “but rock types are always better than flying types.” As Swellow took to the air again, Amy commanded, “Rhyhorn, use rock blast!”

Rhyhorn stomped the ground with his feet, sending several good sized rocks up in the air.

“Dodge them!” Ash quickly told Swellow. Swellow dodged the rocks as best he could, but one finally knocked Swellow down. “Swellow!” said Ash, concerned. Swellow fell to the ground on his stomach, and struggled to try and get up again.

“Now use stomp!” said Amy. Rhyhorn planted his foot on Swellow’s back, making Swellow cry out.

Ash groaned. “Swellow, return!” he said, putting his pokemon back in its pokeball since it could still battle but needed a better opponent.

“Got any more interesting pokemon for me, Ash?” asked Amy, a smug grin on her face.

“You bet I do, and this time I’m getting it right,” said Ash, taking out another pokeball. “Corphish, I choose you!” Then he groaned again when Grovyle came out.

Max face-faulted. “Ash is really off his game today,” he said. Pikachu agreed.

May sweatdropped and giggled nervously. “Yeah, but at least he got the pokemon he wanted in the first place.”

“This should be good,” said Amy. “Rhyhorn, takedown!” Rhyhorn started charging forward.

“Grovyle, dodge and use bullet seed!” said Ash quickly. Amy gasped as Grovyle jumped high in the air to avoid rhyhorn, then hit it with a strong shower of bullet seeds. “Now, use leaf blade!” said Ash. Grovyle’s arm leaf glowed, and he hit rhyhorn with one swipe to the chin, knocking the pokemon out.

“Rhyhorn is unable to battle,” said Brock. “Grovyle is the winner!”

“All right! Way to go, Grovyle!” said Ash as Grovyle landed and prepared for more battling.

“Rhyhorn, return!” said Amy, recalling her pokemon. “That was pretty good, Ash. Now, I cho-“ Then her beeper suddenly went off, and she said, “Oh, excuse me one sec.” Then she gasped when she looked at the monitor, and blushed. “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot I have to meet my friends for lunch. I have to go.”

“What?!” said Ash, shocked, his face falling. The rest of the group was stunned too. “But we’re right in the middle of a battle!”

“Sorry, Ash, we’ll have to finish it later,” Amy said. She gathered up her purse. “I’ll be in Mauve City if you want to meet me later.” She took off running. “I’ll see you, Ash!” she called back.

“Bye,” said Ash softly, a little disappointed.

“Well, that was a great battle,” said Max, a little sarcastically, as Brock and Ash walked back. “What’s with you, Ash? You should’ve beaten that rhyhorn easily!”

“I don’t know,” said Ash. He looked back where Amy had run off.

“Well, she was a pretty good battler,” said Brock.

Ash then blushed. “Yeah, she was pretty.”

“Oh boy,” said Max with a knowing sigh. “I knew it.”

“What is it?” asked May.

“Ash has a crush,” said Max.

May was taken aback. “Are you sure?” Pikachu was confused.

“After seeing you and Brock, I’m pretty familiar with the signs,” said Max. May was a little disappointed, though she wouldn’t admit it out loud to anyone.

Brock rushed back over to Ash’s side. “So, Ash, you have a crush on this girl?”

Ash recoiled in horror, like Brock had just accused him of something bad. “What?! No I don’t.”

“We can tell you do, Ash,” Max called out.

“Really?” asked Ash, sounding genuinely surprised.

Brock put his right arm around Ash’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Ash. I’ll give you some advice on how to handle her. By the time you see her again, you’ll be an expert.”

May rushed over. “Oh yeah, and what’s makes you such an expert, Brock? I haven’t seen any girls flocking around you.” She grabbed Ash away from Brock and started leading him away. “I’ll help you out, Ash. I can give better romantic advice than him.”

“Now wait a minute!” said Brock, chasing after them.

Max sighed and got up to follow, along with Pikachu. “This can’t end well.”