Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Ashley and Mitch's Rainy Day

By Diana Moon Glampers

Chapter 1

Macho Macho Man

It was night. The rain had been pouring all day. The Cerulean City weather station said that it wouldn't end anytime soon. This was bad. Mitch promised Ashley he'd take her to the park earlier that day. They were going to have a picnic together. All of that was gone now. They were in the Cerulean City gym together, which was otherwise deserted.

"Well, this sucks." Mitch said.

He was sitting up against a wall, looking up at the gym's skylights. All he could see was darkness. Sometimes lightning would strike, which would illuminate the sky, only to show dark, foreboding clouds.

Ashley was on the other side of the gym, reading a book. Her Pikachu was sleeping next to her. Occasionally, she'd reach over to pet it. Mitch couldn't make out the title of the book, as Ashley was too far away. He squinted and could make out some letters.

"What the hell am I doing? I should just ask her." Mitch thought.

He walked over to Ashley and smiled.

"So, what are you reading about?"

Ashley looked up from her book. She was somewhat embarrassed.

"Uh… I kinda broke my pokedex and… I'm reading this guide on how to fix it."

Mitch looked down and noticed that there was a partially dismantled pokedex right beside her. There were also a few screws on the floor, along with a screwdriver.

"I didn't know you could do stuff like that." Mitch said.

"It's not that hard. You just follow the instructions." Ashley said.

"Really? That kind of stuff makes my head hurt." Mitch replied.

"Well, it's not too hard. You want to try it?" Ashley said.

She handed Mitch her pokedex and her screwdriver. Mitch wasn't sure why, but holding the thing made him feel nervous.

"Just put the head in the screw and turn. Then we can remove the plate and get a look at the power supply and see if it's fried." Ashley said.

Mitch's hand was shaky. He started to turn the screw, but it wouldn't budge.

"It's not working." He said.

Ashley groaned.

"Righty-tighty. Lefty-loosey."

"What the hell does that mean?" Mitch said.

"It means you're turning it the wrong way." Ashley said.

Mitch began turning the screw in the opposite direction. It came out easily.

"I'm an idiot." Mitch said.

"No, you're not. You just need practice. It's just like Pokemon, you won't get good overnight." She said.

Mitch frowned. He felt mortified, that his best friend, Ashley, was better with tools than he was. She noticed that he looked a little down. She set her busted pokedex aside.

"Hey, how about we do something else?" She said.

"Really? Like what?" Mitch said.

"How about a pokemon battle? I need to keep my skills sharp, especially if I'm going to be the best!"

She jumped right up and grabbed a pokeball from her belt. Mitch loved it when Ashley got energetic. Her fiery passion was contagious. He grabbed one of his pokeballs.

"Okay! I choose you…"

Before Mitch could summon his pokemon, another ball began to wiggle in his pocket.

"No. No. No!"

Mitch's Psyduck jumped out of his pokeball. It struck a pose and looked utterly ridiculous. It quacked its most enthusiastic quack.

"No! Anyone but you. Get back in your ball, you dumb duck." Mitch said.

Psyduck shook his head.

"Get back in there!"

He tried to open Psyduck's pokeball, but it used its psychic powers to force the ball shut.

Ashley couldn't help but giggle.

"He sure wants to fight." She said.

Psyduck let out a determined quack. He longed for battle.

"Go, Froslass!"

Ashley summoned her Froslass. It exerted a cold air just being out of its ball. The ice pokemon looked at Mitch's Psyduck. The duck pokemon put on its angriest face to try to freak out the ice pokemon. Froslass only laughed.

"Hey, don't laugh! He could be tough…" Ashley said.

Psyduck tried to flex his muscles. He fell down on his face.

"…Maybe."

Mitch started with the first attack.

"Psyduck, use your water gun attack."

Psyduck ignored Mitch. It drew its razor sharp claws and charged.

"No! You dumb duck! That won't work!"

Psyduck raised its arm and began its fury swipes attack. He swung his claws toward Froslass.

"Hehehe…"

Froslass disappeared into thin air. Psyduck was so caught up in his attack that he didn't notice that his move missed. Mitch buried his face in his hands.

"That dumb duck…"

Ashley smiled. It was her turn.

"Froslass, use your ice beam attack!"

Froslass charged up her ice beam and fired. Psyduck was frozen solid. It quacked and tried to move, but it wasn't enough. Mitch groaned.

"Psyduck, return."

Mitch's pokemon returned to its pokeball so that it could thaw out.

"We won!" Ashley said to her Froslass.

Froslass giggled as though someone had flipped a switch to make her laugh. Ashley returned her to his pokeball.