Tracey, "This is a three on three Pokemon battle between Marina and Ash. The first one to win the first two out of three battles is the winner. Release your first Pokemon at the same time."
Marina, "Let's go Tentacruel."
Ash, "Let's do this Kingler."
Tracey, "Begin."
Marina, "Poison needles!"
Ash, "Bubble to counter followed by metal claw."
Kingler's bubble hit the poison needles turning purple before popping harmlessly and dispersing. Kingler then hit Tentacruel with it's metal claw getting a grunt of pain from the jellyfish Pokemon.
Marina, "You okay Tentacruel?"
Tentacruel nodded and Marina turned to Ash, "I am impressed Ash! You trained your Kingler really well but the fight is not over, use hydro pump."
Ash, "Thank you for the compliment, counter with hyper beam followed by ice beam."
Marina looked surprised at that and Kingler used a powerful hyper beam to counter act the hydro pump before shooting ice beam and freezing the water around Tentacruel.
Ash, "You almost got the ice beam Kingler, don't worry buddy."
Kingler eye smiled before looking determined to get it right making Tentacruel sweat a bit.
Marina, "Oh no! You are not winning easily, use whirlpool."
Ash grinned, "Razor pool."
Marina looked dumbfounded, "What?"
Both Pokemon readied their whirlpool before Kingler went an extra step and added razor shell to the whirlpool. Marina and Tentacruel gaped at the strange yet powerful looking combination, before both attacks were released towards each other. Kingler's attack cut through Tentacruel's whirlpool and hit Tentacruel hard knocking him out for the count.
Tracey, "Tentacruel is unable to battle, Kingler is the winner."
Ash cheered as he hugged Kingler, "That razor pool was so powerful, don't worry we'll get ice beam right soon enough. I can bet by the end of the week."
Kingler gave Ash a one armed hug squeezing him gently to show he was happy before letting him go. Marina smiled softly seeing how close they were as she returned Tentacruel to his pokeball, thanking him for the battle.
Gou, "That was so cool."
Marina, "Okay then, let's go Psyduck."
Ash, "Wao! That's some tough looking Psyduck."
Marina, "Thank you. We trained really hard to get where we are, didn't we Psyduck."
Psyduck nodded, "Psy."
Ash pat Kingler's claw, "Get some rest buddy, I can tell using ice beam and then razor pool took out a lot from you."
Kingler nodded before proceeding to go sit behind Ash and observing the battle, Pikachu and Lucario greeted him as Ash called his next Pokemon, "Let's go Milotic."
Milotic, -Yes! My turn.-
Marina, "I still can't get over the fact she can talk, she is so beautiful too."
Psyduck nodded agreeing, "Psy psy."
Milotic smiled nodding, -Thank you for the compliment.-
Ash, "That's my girl."
Tracey smiled, "Begin."
Marina, "Confusion!"
Ash, "Disarming voice followed by aqua ring!"
Psyduck's confusion move was disarmed and he was hit by an aqua ring. Psyduck flew back but didn't give up and got up ready to fight.
Milotic nodded, -You are strong.-
Psyduck blushed at the compliment, "Psy sy."
Marina, "Psyduck use hydro pump."
Ash, "Use Dragon breath followed by dragon pulse!"
Hydro pump and dragon breath hit and the two attacks cancelled each other but Milotic followed it up with dragon pulse. The dragon pulse hit Psyduck pushing him into the water and knocking him out.
Tracey, "Psyduck is unable to battle, Milotic is the winner."
Marina, "Are you okay Psyduck?"
Psyduck got up and nodded, "Psy."
Marina turned to Ash who was being hugged by Milotic, "That was a fun battle Ash, are you taking part in the Orange Island challenge?"
Ash nodded, "Yup, sure am."
Marina, "Then you should know that you are very close to Navel Island that has the Navel gym. Mind you though, the gym leader is very eccentric but a good person."
Ash smiled, "I'll keep that in mind thank you."
Marina waved them goodbye, "I need to go now, I have to train my Pokemon to become stronger. Next time we battle I'll definitely win."
Ash grinned, "Till next time then."
Gou, "So what now?"
Ash, "Well, I guess we go to Navel Island, I do wonder what the gym leader is like."
Tracey, "Actually I was wondering if we could go and enjoy a Pokemon show tonight and travel tomorrow."
Ash smiled, "Sure Tracey, we travel in the morning anyway."
That night the three of them went to a famous Pokemon showboat where the Pokemon could apparently 'talk', and perform. Ash shook his head at Gou's inquiries about wheter the Pokemon were actually talking or not. Lucario explained after the show that the Pokemon were lip syncing and not talking like Milotic, Meowth or himself. Gou was slightly disappointed that there were no other talking Pokemon but Ash cheered him up by reminding him they were going out to enjoy the night. As they were enjoying their night out with Lucario, Raboot and Maril for company, they saw the workers and Pokemon of the show boat at one of the food stalls surrounded by young kids asking for their autographs.
Tracey, "They are quite famous, aren't they?"
Gou nodded, "Very popular too."
Raboot pulled at Gou's pant looking at the autographs being signed, "Ra raboot."
Lucario, -He wants an autograph as well.-
Gou, "Ah! One sec..... Here you go a notepad and a pen, it has fourty seven pages, so if you want you can get all of their signatures."
Raboot nodded, "Raaaboot!"
Ash smiled watching him go to all the Pokemon before stopping at Cinderace who happily gave him an autograph, "Should we get something for ourselves?"
Gou, "Like what?"
Tracey, "You mean those merchandise?"
Ash nodded, "They are cute."
Ash got for himself a Lucario and Pikachu key chain while Gou got some hair clips with Scorbunny design on it. It was really cute Tracey saw and had to stiffle his squeal, sometimes he half wondered if they were a couple or just plain oblivious to how couple like they were. He noticed some of the girls look their way and giggle when they saw the two boys close to each other. He even overheard one girl comment how cute they looked together and sweatdropped a bit when they questioned if he was their chaperone.
Tracey looked at them as they appeared in front of him, "You got what you wanted?"
Gou, "Yep and I'm quite happy with it..... A Golduck!"
Ash, "Huh? Oh yeah! It is, isn't it? I wonder who it belongs to."
Gou pouted, "I want one of my own."
Ash, "Maybe next time Gou."
Golduck looked at them before taking Gou's bag of goods and running off leaving them gaping after him. The three looked at each other before running after Raboot who was running after Golduck. Raboot was furiously scolding the duck Pokemon who ignored him making him more angry before turning to the three humans. He made a motion like he wants to battle.
Lucario, -Looks like you got your wish Gou that's a wild one.-
Tracey, "How can you be so sure?"
Lucario, -Sometimes a wild Pokemon will approach a trainer if they believe they are worthy of their powers.-
Ash nodded, "Milotic approached me in the beginning of my journey as a Feebas because she chose me."
Gou's eyes sparkled, "You want to battle Golduck."
Gou stood infront of the Pokemon, "Alright then! Raboot you ready to battle."
Raboot who was angry at the water type stood ready, "Raboot!"
Gou, "Go for it use agility! Followed by ember!"
Raboot used agility and much to everyone's shock Golduck used agility as well and kept up with Raboot answering with ember. The duck Pokemon dodged using his speed shooting water gun at Raboot which Raboot dodged. Raboot used soot on Golduck the moment he was close enough making him splutter.
Gou, "Now ember!"
Raboot smirked and shot a very powerful ember at Golduck knocking him out before he started to glow. Gou gaped as Raboot changed and became a Cinderace who grinned and promptly turned and hugged him tight. Gou giggled congratulating Cinderace before he took a pokeball and caught Golduck.
Gou, "Alright! We have a Golduck."
Cinderace, "Cin cinder."
Ash, "Congratulations Gou."
Tracey, "Great job."
They returned to the Pokemon centre and went to the camping area where their Pokemon were resting. The rest of the Pokemon congratulated Cinderace on his final evolution as he joined them. Gou was full of smiles and laughs as the bunny Pokemon cuddled him as he went to sleep, it was very cute. The next day they left the centre after breakfast where Cinderace stuck close to Gou,
Ash half remembered a saying, 'Rabbits die of loneliness.'
Ash shook his head all of a sudden remembering a show called Tokyo Ghoul and how it ended up in a tragedy. Well, at least what he saw in the three seasons did, he doesn't think he would write something that was so heartbreaking, well actually more half watched. Ash gave Tracey's look of concern a wave and thought of that one story he had all of a sudden remembered out of nowhere. He wondered if they finished by following the manga after the third season or made changes in it, it was one of his favourite heart wrenching stories.
Tracey, "Is Ash okay?"
Gou looked at his dazed friend, "Don't worry, he does that sometimes especially if he is planning to write a book."
Tracey, "Oh! I see."
Gou, "You read his book?"
Tracey nodded, "It was not what I expected, but it was very fascinating."
Gou grinned and started to talk about the next destination which was Navel island and what type of Pokemon he could find there. Ash came back to reality after Lucario's aura nudge and the three packed up and said goodbye to Nurse Joy before leaving. Nurse Joy waved them off giggling, she half wondered how they would react to her cousin that worked around the smaller islands surrounding Navel Island. The shock on trainer's faces after meeting her cousin was always priceless.
Tracey looked from on top of Pidgeot, "Eh! I see something approaching us really fast."
Ash looked over, "It looks like one person... I could be wrong."
Lucario, -One person in a kayak... Interesting and they seem to be in a hurry.-
They watched as the kayak with a Nurse Joy and a Chansey raced pass them in the ocean waters below. Charizard noticed an island and roared before flying towards it, Ash held on as they went to the island that was unnamed in the map. They decided to take a break and eat lunch while relaxing there and as they were getting ready to eat, they noticed the kayak a few ways away from the shore. Chansey was preparing what looked like a medical kit while Nurse Joy was going around helping the wild Pokemon. Gou could not hold his curiosity in and approached them as they helped the Shellder in the shallow coral area of the beach.
Gou, "Hello Nurse Joy."
Nurse Joy looked up, "Hello there."
Gou, "Um... My friends and I were curious, we noticed you helping the Pokemon. We were wondering if you help them like this everyday."
Nurse Joy smiled, "Well I always patrol the ocean to check on the wild Pokemon around here. The smaller islands don't exactly have a Pokemon centre so the Ocean Nurses, that is the group I'm part of, was formed to help them."
Tracey, "I have heard of that group, they go around helping Pokemon that do not belong to trainers."
Nurse Joy nodded, "We also double as Rangers around here."
Ash's eyes twinkled, this was new information, "That's amazing Nurse Joy, I bet you are a powerful trainer."
Nurse Joy grinned, "I'm a decent trainer yes, my team is currently Chansey here and Gyarados and Kingdra."
As if on cue Gyarados and Kingdra came out of the water surface greeting them cheerfully.
Ash, "Wao!"
Tracey, "They are very healthy and lovely."
Gou, "So cool, do you only have three Pokemon? I thought Rangers were allowed more than six."
Nurse Joy laughed, "As a Nurse Joy doubling as a Ranger I am allowed to have twelve Pokemon on me. But right now I have these three to accompany me."
They spent the rest of the day with Nurse Joy learning about the more intrinsic parts of the Orange Islands laws and policies. It was truly interesting to know that the Shaumatii Islands were actually a National Heritage site and no one was allowed to catch Pokemon while on those islands. Another interesting thing he learned, was only one member of the Kanto Elite Four had a seat in the Council of the Orange Archipelago and the rest were all part of the Orange League. Ash half wondered how meeting Lugia would go, would it be the same light hearted meeting in the anime or a battle of life and death like the movie, hopefully he would not have to worry about poachers.
[A. N.: Next update will be next Friday.
See you all then! :) ]