Day 2, Night 2

The sun was rising as it was shining on the second day of the island resort. Unfortunately for Emma, the rising sun was more of a goodnight light. Neo saw the downed co-worker, knowing that she put in a full night's work of...what could actually happen during the night that would need someone like that? Neo draped a blanket over Emma and used the swivel chair to move her out of the way. He grabbed another swivel chair and planted his seat to the front office. Someone...or something else was alert in the morning. Back in Room #16, Larvitar was trying to wake Ash for the day ahead. Can't you give him some extra sleep? It was rather exhausting for Ash yesterday from punting Chamo for his mischief with female's clothing to getting kissed by Asuka to trying to save Negi from a swarm of malcontent women. Regardless, Ash woke to meet his Pokémon. "Good morning, Larvitar," he smiled.

("Morning, Ash,") he greeted. ("I wanna go hiking!") He tried to imitate someone walking with a cane or a support stick. This told Ash that Larvitar wanted fresh air and not to be around Misty.

"Alright, let me get dressed." He exited from his bed,wearing nothing but boxers. He entered the bathroom and changed into his street clothes. Pikachu and Togepi were sawing logs that it would be rude to wake them up. Once he got shoes on, Ash had his mind on food. Was anyone in the kitchen? Exiting the room, Ash and Larvitar proceeded toward the kitchen, maybe expecting someone to help make something to start the day. Serena opened the door from Room #12, appearing pretty disheveled. Did she get any sleep last night?

"Why did Luna have to turn my hair into a scratching post?" she whined. Maybe because those pigtails were disturbing her sleep considering how long they are. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Ash. She remembered that it was his friend, Misty, who chased Darrien. Apparently, her mind was on payback. We all know about payback, right? 'Hold on. Misty came after Darrien and away from her boy. Then again, she left Ash vulnerable. Maybe I should go with Ash to get some revenge on her.' She got back inside, changed clothes into a...was her choices of clothing really necessary for a beach? She wore a long-sleeve pink shirt, blue miniskirt, pink knee-high socks and black dress shoes. Whatever happened to shorts and tennis shoes? Ash stopped by the empty kitchen where he brewed a small amount of iced tea as Larvitar snacked on some Pokémon food, pellets with some spices in it. Ash loaded a canteen full of the iced tea.

"Whenever you're ready," Ash warned. Larvitar rose his arm to signal that he's ready. After cleaning up, Ash and Larvitar reached the entrance of a trail which looked pretty long. "This is gonna be a long journey."

("Can't be that bad,") the Rock Skin Pokémon barked softly. Both were unaware of a new trailing partner oncoming.

"Wait up!" Serena voiced. The two turned to see the pigtailed blond female in that...choice of wardrobe.

"Serena?" Ash gulped. Serena didn't mind what the looks on the boys' eyes faced.

"Hey, someone's gotta make sure you get back safely. Besides, what are you doing up this early in the morning?" Larvitar hid behind Ash's leg, shyness on how to confront her. She didn't look as bad as Misty, right?

"Larvitar wanted some exercise by going down this trail." The name Ash blurted had Serena itching her head...until she saw said Pokémon, kneeling down to greet him.

"Oh, you must be Larvitar. Hi, there!" Larvitar slowly revealed himself to this girl. This wasn't the same girl who flipped out on Misty, was it? Coming out of hiding, Larvitar made his way to Serena cautiously. "Is Larvitar this shy to people?"

"Yeah, but Misty and I have been working with Larvitar to see why." As Serena petted Larvitar, much amusement on his face, she felt the rough skin on the Pokémon.

"Well, what about it's skin? It feels like sandpaper." Ash could answer that easily.

"You get that a lot with Rock-Type Pokémon. Yeah, it's not as soft as Pikachu's but just knowing what Larvitar's capable of, it's best to be friends with him." Serena was intrigued with what Pokémon are on the inside, not just what they look like.

"At least there are some monsters on this island I want to befriend, unlike the monsters from the Negaverse." An insight to what Serena deals with on a daily basis.

"What do you mean the Negaverse?" Serena balked at what she was saying, trying to back her way out.

"I mean...uh...things me and my friends contend with! Yeah, let's stick with that!" She marched onto the trail, perhaps undaunted that branches would tear away her skirt by pieces or by the whole. Ash wasn't sure about how this was going to go for the rest of the week with all these females.

"First, Asuka and now Serena?"

("Maybe payback on Misty for going after her human?") Larvitar guessed. ("I mean...she's nice like that brown-haired girl last night.") Larvitar had to be thinking of Kari. Ash only had the 1000-piece puzzled look on him on why Serena would be chasing him after Asuka. Either way, Ash chased to get to Serena's side. Questions fluttered through their minds.

"So, how did you and Misty come together?" Serena started the conversation.

"Well, it was my first day in Pokémon training and leaving Pallet Town to chase my goal of being a Pokémon Master," Ash began. "Pikachu and I weren't on the same page per say and we were attacked by a flock of Spearow. We fell into a river and were fished out by Misty in which I borrowed her bike." That's when Serena remembered the argument between Misty and Asuka.

"Misty did point out that you destroyed her bike. How did that happen?"

"Pikachu fired a Thunder Shock aided by a lightning bolt which ballooned and got me, the Spearow...and the bike. Since then, she's been with me through Kanto, the Orange Islands and right now through Johto." Serena pictured how this problem with Ash had manifested with Misty.

"In a sense, she's holding you hostage until her bike's renewed or replaced." The word, "hostage," didn't agree with Ash. However, it seemed that anywhere he went, Misty was right there. "But why can't you just buy her a new bike? They're not that expensive." How much were they? $100? $200?

"Let's just say that bikes in our world are ridiculously expensive like in the thousands for a cheap ride." Gulp! That sounded like a bike in his world would be about the same price of a car.

"Wow, what do they put on those bikes to make them so pricy?" All Ash could do was shake his head and shrug his shoulders.

"I think it was a good thing that Misty, as well as Brock, were with me to give me pointers in training Pokémon." It's always nice to have friends.

"Yeah, it always helps." Even Larvitar wanted to side with Serena.

"And what about you and Darrien?" Serena dug into her memory bank to recall her encounter with Darrien.

"Well, we were just two different strangers seeing each other from time to time. I was busy protecting the city and getting help from a rather dashing prince. That's when we discovered who we were and I helped save him from certain death...or was it that he saved me?" Well, which was it? "Anyway, now that I look at you, you make me think of Darrien when he was in the Orphanage." Darrien had no parents? Man, if Misty knew about this, would she fond over Darrien more or less?

"Well, I...don't know about that but I haven't seen my dad for a long time. Heck, I don't even recall what my dad looks like to be honest." Two youngsters without a father to speak of, only Darrien's got it worse with no mother. "Was he ever adopted?"

"No, and I'm not sure why." Ash finally understood why Serena was with Darrien. Darrien had no one to love him and she ended up showing the care. "Although, I think for you, either Mina or Lita would be a great match."

"I guess since you have Darrien." Their traveling conversation had taken them to the end of the path where there was a cliff overlooking the vast ocean. The morning sun was making the ocean sparkle. "Wow! This is beautiful!" Larvitar awed in agreement.

"This would be perfect to patch romances!" And in case that doesn't work, they could jump off. Then, splashes. Larvitar, being obviously fearful of water since he was Rock-Type, jumped in fear from the constant eruptions of water. The humans peered at the splashing, eying a small school of... "Look! Dolphins!" The group of bottle-nose dolphins swam around the edge of the cliff. Larvitar peeked around to see the dolphins' fun. That's when one of the dolphins spotted the humans on the cliff, squealing up to them. Larvitar heard the dolphins' cackling, realizing that they wanted a closer look. "It seems that these dolphins want something from us."

("They wanna see us up close!") Larvitar spoke up, pointing back down the path. It started to click to Ash.

"Let's grab a boat and meet up with them to see what they want," he decided. Serena bobbed before racing back down the trail, forgoing the scenery. Back on the beach, Edward was with Alma and Miharu walking toward a palm tree. Miharu held Chamo while Alma had a man-made stone in his arms. The stone had a demonic carving.

"Let me get this straight," Chamo started. "You can do alchemy without a transmutation circle?"

"That's right!" Edward confirmed. "I bet you're wondering why I used one if I didn't really need it." Alma and Miharu glared upon each other, rather puzzled. "Well, let's just say that's a demonstration of how some others do alchemy. There are plenty of people like Colonel Hothead and my teacher that could do alchemy without transmutation circles." So now we could see how Edward does alchemy without circles. "Here goes!" He clapped his hands and then the tree. Sparks emitted from the tree, his witnesses watching in shuttered awe. The tree disappeared...only to reappear as a canoe. Those who saw gulped in shock, no pun intended.

"How the hell did he do that?" spoke...the stone?

"I'm not sure, Hellbrick," Alma stuttered as Ash and Serena reached the end of the trail.

"Not even Seiren can do something like that," Miharu compared. One pat on the canoe tipped the water vessel down...right onto Ash.

"Thanks!" he yelled as he took the canoe and flung it into the ocean. Serena leaped into the canoe and sat as the rest watch on in stunned dismay.

"What the hell are you doing with that canoe?" Edward shouted. Ash ignored Edward as Misty and the other Pokémon stepped out to witness the incident. Once on the canoe, he snagged a cyan/red/white ball.

"Totodile, I choose you!" He tossed the ball and it opened. Out popped a tiny blue crocodile with red triangles over it's back. "Help us into the ocean!" Totodile pushed the rear of the canoe as Ash and Serena paddled with a hand each.

"So, where the hell are they going?" Hellbrick asked. Darrien and Misty reached the shoreline to view their traveling mates out in the water. Everyone was puzzled until Pikachu spotted fins sticking out of the water approaching.

("Look!") Pikachu warned. All viewed the fins, thinking that something bad was going to attack.

"Ash, Serena, look out!" Darrien called out. That's when a dolphin leaped above and over the canoe. With a splash of the dolphin's jump, the other dolphins cackled in applause and those back on the beach were stunned that what surrounded the canoe weren't a threat. "Bottle-nose dolphins. So this island has quite a bit of marine life to go with the scenic display." Ash even showed Larvitar how friendly these dolphins were. However, he preferred the dryness of the boat to see them. It was a sight for all to see.

"Okay, I'll excuse him for taking the boat this time," Edward sighed. Back on dry land, night had fallen. Ash and Serena, along with Luna, Gatomon, Pikachu and Larvitar, were joined by Simon and Kari in the mess hall discussing what had transpired. Pikachu was upset that Ash got to play with dolphins without him but it was a sight none the less to enjoy.

"Tell me you're joking," Kari teased. "That was your first time seeing dolphins, let alone be close?"

"Hey, I've yet to see Pokémon that resemble dolphins," Ash explained. "So, yeah, it was my first encounter." Simon understood Ash being in a world where normal animals would be virtually impossible to find.

"I guess I understand," he shrugged. "I mean, I spend almost all of my life underground in Giha Village before Bro and Yoko brought me to the surface world and Bunta was my only friend before becoming part of Dai-Gurren." So both boys never encountered dolphins at all until today.

"You know, I found it rather surprising about after coming back to shore," Serena spoke up, changing the topic. "Misty and Darrien weren't really mad at either of us considering we were together throughout the daylight. Didn't that feel odd to you?" Ash blinked a couple times in trying to understand Serena's notice.

"I didn't really notice," he denied. "Was I suppose to?" A nervous fluster from Serena told Ash to forget it.

"Never mind." That's when Luna had a theory about the lack of response of Misty and Darrien.

"I think Darrien and Miss Misty believe that the two of you wouldn't be compatible," she hypothesized. It's an easy explanation but one with many questions to the one answer.

"And how can you prove that, Luna?" Kari pondered. That left Luna unsure how to answer. That's when Pete exited from the kitchen with drinks in hand. They're all minors so it's very doubtful any of the drinks had alcohol.

"One can never know until it happens," he said as he handed out root beer floats to those sitting.

"Thanks, Pete," Simon praised as he chugged the root beer/ice cream treat. "Great taste!" An a belch to cap that had Ash and Kari giggle.

"Good one!" Ash laughed. As they enjoyed the floats, in InuYasha's room, he laid on the sofa, still nerved about one certain person on the island. The shower running would indicate Kagome using the bathroom. Suddenly, a button on the wall was blinking, catching InuYasha's attention. Fascinated, he got up and hit the button on the wall. A monitor lit up, revealing Ichigo, also alone. Was Orihime using the shower as well?

"InuYasha," Ichigo called out. The sight of Ichigo gave a rush of thrill to InuYasha.

"What do you want, Ichigo?" he growled.

"I have an idea on how we can settle our nerves against each other." This intrigued the white-haired man. He wanted to hear the option.

"Go on."

"Tomorrow morning on the beach. We'll see who's sword's better." A snarling grin painted the face on the opponent.

"I'll be ready." Ichigo hit a button, shutting the screen down. So now there was going to be a showdown in the next morning between InuYasha and Ichigo. Who will win this fight?

DAY 2 COMPLETE. TO BE CONTINUED...
(Thanks to all who voted. Orihime came the closest in second, Nodoka in third and Askua 4th. So next is the battle of Ichigo and InuYasha. Stay tuned and I want to give my condolences to the victims of the Aurora Theatre shooting. I cannot forgive anyone who would hurt, let alone kill a child. And I also donate my prayers to those who were harmed in the event.)