"Happy June 22nd!" Brock chants to Ash, who was still asleep.

"Maybe we should poke him to wake up." Misty whispers.

"ghjds..huh? June 22nd?" Ash rubbed his eyes.

"Just a reminder for you to wake up." Brock laughs.

"Wow, you guys barged into my room. Not a surprise." Ash groans.

"Your mother told us to wake you up." Misty snarls.

"Anyways, your mom made delicious breakfast. Go down and eat!." Brock reminds him.

"The sound of the word food is why I'm up." Ash sighs. Ash used to be that guy who would wake up no matter what when it comes to Pokèmon, but now he feels like there's no reason to wake up. Depressed on the inside, hiding it on the outside. Even though, he fails to do so.

Ash, Brock, and Misty proceeded down stairs to waffles, bacon, and berries. His mother's cooking didn't change at least.

"Good morning honey!" greets his son. "Morning mom!" Ash replies.

"What are your plans for today?" asked.

"I don't know, I just woke up...Misty, Brock?" Ash asks.

"Well Ash, I'm in the swimming team. I have a race against my teammates to determine who gets to go to the tournament." Misty explains. "We're going to root her!" Brock adds.

"Misty, you're going to loose and drown." Ash laughs.

"Can it, Ketchum." Misty snaps.

"We better hurry Misty, you start in an hour!" Brock warns her.

Ash and Brock takes a seat on top of the bleachers. "What time will Misty be on?" Ash asks Brock. "Soon, she probably has to get ready. It won't start for another forty-five minutes." Brock replies.

"I wanna do this too it sounds interesting." Ash rubs his chin. "You like swimming?" Brock asks him. "Yeah, but I'm also really competitive. I love entering stuff." Ash replies. "Oh, that's why you battled Max even though he was on the tennis team." Brock chuckles.

"I'll be right back and sign up." Ash swifts away.

"Hey Brock!" May sat next to him.

"May! What are you doing here?" Brock asks all surprised. "Misty is competing, so she asked me to come...if you don't want me to be here..then.." May jokes.

"Hahah, just curious. Sit!" Brock giggles.

"Don't mind if I do!" May sits down.

"I signed u- Huh? Hi May!" Ash greets her.

"Hey there Ash!" She smiles.

"Guys, I'm going on too when it's the guys's turn!" Ash cheers. "That's great! Hope you win too!" May encouraged him. "Thanks May, I'll try my best." Ash smiles.

"Where's Max?" Ash asks May. "He's home. Playing video games, typical." May laughs.

"Ladies and Gentleman welcome to the Cerulan's annual 25th swimming race! Today, 12 contestants girls are competing to see who will compete in the tournament." The man. "The judges will be the three sensational sisters, Daisy, Lilly, and Violet." The man announced.

Brock started blushing. "My three queens!" He started drooling. May and Ash smacked the back of Brock's head. "Quit drooling." May narrows her eyebrows.

"Wow! Even Misty's sisters have the same titles here." Ash rubs his chin.

"On the count of three, the 12 swimmers will begin to swim."

Misty and her team mates all came out across the stage. Misty looked determined and ready to race.

"I'm sure Misty's going to win,right guys?" May turned to Ash and Brock who was just staring. "What's wrong? Why are you looking at Misty like that?" May asks concerned.

"Haven't seen Misty look like a girl in a while." Ash says.

May flicks Ash. "Hey, that's rude!" May whines.

"Okay. One your mark..get set...go!" The man fired the gun.

Misty dove in. "And we have Kara in the lead following by Sabrina, and then Misty!" The man says.

"Misty's in third place so far.." Brock clenches his fist.

"Look what we have here, Misty swims in front of Sabrina!" The man announces. "She's catching up!" May cheered. "Go Misty!" Brock chants.

"Uh oh! Swimmer Ciara took Misty's place in second!" The man cries.

"Faster, Misty!" Ash yells.

Misty went as fast as she can to catch up with Ciara, and she passed to do so. Now it's time to beat Kara.

They almost stop at the finish line...and Misty wins!

"Alright! Go Misty!" May cheers.

Ash and Brock got up and cheered.

"Misty is the winner! She will be representing Ceruleans Swim-Gym swim team for the tournament!" The announcer chants.

Misty leaped out of the water.

"I don't care that you're damp from the water but I'm still going to hug you! Ahh! Congrats!" May cheered.

"Great job Misty!" Brock high fived her.

"You did great!" Ash says.

"Thanks guys! Hey Ash, I heard you're going to compete for the boys." Misty says.

"Yup! I gotta win!" Ash nods, smiling. "Then good luck. You probably are nothing compared to me anyways, so you'll need it." Misty taunts. "We'll see about that, Misty." Ash grins.

May, Misty, and Brock sits on the bleachers waiting for Ash to come one. "I wonder if Ash is any good." May comments. "He probably is, I can't imagine him not trying anything." Brock adds.

"Up next are 12 swimmers competing for the boys team. Same instructions, on the count of three. One...two...THREE!" The announcer announced.

Ash dove in super fast. "Ash is taking the lead, along with Gary, and Tracey."

Under the water Gary sticks his tongue swimming ahead of Ash. Ash bulges his eyes, he didn't even notice Gary. He was even more encouraged to win and beat that Gary!

"Oh no for Ash! Gary takes the lead." The announcer gasps. Tracey reaches to Ash's side. He nods to Ash remembering him from that time they met in the real world. "Tracey and Ash are head to head."

Wow, Tracey is good. He's getting ahead! Ash thought. Tracey got ahead. Ash shakes his head. This can't work for him to be in third place. Ash began to pedal faster. He caught up to Tracey. Tracey didn't want to lose either so he tried his best. He couldn't catch up to Ash. Ash went to fast because he was determined to not win. To beat Gary.

Ash finally caught up to Gary. There was an angered look on Gary's face. He was shocked that Ash caught up to him. He's not going to let him beat the Gary Oak!

"Ash is really good." May observed.

"Yeah, but Gary's really good too." Misty sighed.

"Ash! Don't just swim like that! Hurry!" Misty yelled.

"Ash is currently tied to Gary!"

Misty, and May has gotten up clenching on to their hearts.

Ash and Gary were head on head racing and pacing for the finish line. Gary pushed Ash but Ash swam under Gary. "Things are becoming tense between Gary and Ash!" The announcer yelled.

"C'mon Ash!" Brock yelled.

"Gary is now taking slight lead!" The man said.

"Please no.." Misty trails off.

There wasn't much time left until Gary might win. They were close to the finish line. "Ash is taking the lead!" The man said. Gary then tied to him. They both reached the finish. "tie!" The man yelled.

They replayed the clip, however it wasn't a tie. Ash's hand reached first.

"AND ASH IS THE WINNER!" The announcer screams.

Ash jumped out of the pool. "Ash! Great job!" May high fived him. "You're amazing!" Brock complimented Ash "That was unbelievable. We're going to win for this swim team!" Misty said.

"Now, for the tournament Ash and Misty will be representing us! Congrats!" The announcer said.

"When is the tournament?" Ash asks. "Two weeks. Can't believe someone like you won." Gary scoffed and walked away.

"Ash! You're really good!" Tracey compliments him. "Thanks Trace!" Ash said. "Misty! I haven't seen you since school.." Tracey says. "Me too, didn't know you'd be competing." Misty laughs.

"Haha, oh yeah. I love swimming." Tracey says.

"Wow, I won this!" Ash smiles