Things were off to a great start for Ash Ketchum and his friends. Ash, Misty, and Tracey had recently just come home from the Orange Islands, where the Orange League was held. Now Misty and Brock (who was already there because he came back from Valencia Island) were staying at the Ketchums' house for a few days, just to refresh and relax a little bit before the Ash and the gang headed off to participate in the Johto League (Tracey, who was now staying with Professor Oak as his assistant, and Gary were staying at the professor's house). They were going to spend a week in Pallet before going to New Bark Town, where Ash would register and become a qualified member of the Johto League. Ash couldn't wait to see all of the new places and Pokemon on his travels, but for now he was glad to be back home with his mom and Mr. Mime.

Suddenly, a certain "Pidgeotto" alarm clock started to beep. "Agggh, just a few more minutes," Ash mumbled, still half-asleep. He rolled over and pushed the "Snooze" button on the alarm clock.

"Pika-pi," Pikachu said as it shook the groggy boy to try and get him to wake up. "Ah, come on, Pikachu! Just five more minutes!"

Just then, Mr. Mime came through the doorway with a vacuum cleaner. "Mime, Mime, Mime!", it sang as it vacuumed Ash's bedroom carpet. When it saw that the eleven-year-old was still asleep, it decided to try something unexpected. Suddenly, Ash felt his whole face being sucked into something.

"Ahhhh! What IS this thing?!" he yelled as he tried to yank the vacuum off of his face. "All right, Mr. Mime, I'm up." He treaded over to his bedroom to get dressed.

After barely combing his unruly dark hair, Ash carefully placed his favorite Pokemon League hat on his head. Then, a voice rang through the house.

"Come on, everybody! Soup's on!" It was Brock, and boy, did Ash smell something delicious that was coming from the kitchen.

"Coming!" he yelled as he and Pikachu raced to the table. "Hi, Mom, Misty, Brock!" he said, which was followed by a chorus of "Good Mornings!".

"So, where off to today, guys?" the dark-haired boy asked his friends as Brock pushed a scrumptious-looking plate of eggs sunny side-up in front of him.

"Well," Delia Ketchum said as she reached for the newspaper on the counter, "I found something in the paper that sounds interesting. The 10th annual 'Pokemon Summer Festival Sandcastle Contest' is being held all day today at Porta Vista Beach. There's going to be food and prizes for the best sandcastles and everything. I thought maybe we could go with Professor Oak, Gary, and Tracey, too!"

"That sounds like a lot of fun, Mom!" Ash said excitedly. "What about you guys?" he said turning to Misty and Brock.

"That's sounds great, and it's a perfect way to start the week here," Misty said. "Toke-priiiii!" Togepi added as it munched on Brock's Pokemon food.

"Yeah, that means I'll get to see loads of pretty girls in their bathing suits," Brock said dreamily.

Misty rolled her eyes and sighed. "Is that all you ever think about?"

"Well," Delia started as she checked her watch, "We should start getting ready right after breakfast if we want to make it there on time. I'll phone Professor Oak and see if they could come."

"Okay," the others agreed as they finished up their breakfast.