Upgrade 2000
Ash and Misty were heading back to Techno Town. He told her that Dexter needed some new hardware for the latest pokédex updates but failed to tell her he was after another custom program.
The mallet program was supposedly deleted when Ash absent-mindedly left Dexter on a table with it running. When Misty picked it up to give to him, Dexter scanned her and said she had a 'Stunner' mallet. After proving Dexter right on Ash's head, she forced him to delete the program.
Thank gawd for undelete, Ash thought as he remembered the event. It taught the value of a good password protection program.
He looked over at the girl walking beside him. They had finally gotten rid of Brock and Tracey and left Pikachu and Togepi with Professor Oak for a few days.
"It's good to spend some time with alone, finally," he said to her as he reached for hand.
"Yes," Misty sighed.
As they got closer to their destination, Ash turned to Misty and asked, "Which would you rather have, hotel or Pokémon Center?"
"I would like a hotel," Misty replied, "but I wouldn't mind staying at the Center."
Caught between a rock and Misty, Ash thought. If he said hotel, he would have to use some of the money for the program he wanted, but if he said Pokémon Center, he might have to listen to Misty's mouth.
I'll just play it safe, he thought. After all, how soon does Misty need a new bike?
"If the lady wants a hotel," Ash said as they walked into town, "then they lady gets one."
"Thank you, Ash," Misty blushed.
"Aren't you two a little young to be renting a room?" the desk clerk asked.
"What do you mean?" Ash replied.
Noticing the blank look on his face, the clerk believed the boy really did not get it.
"Nothing," he replied. "Here's your keys. Checks out is at 10:30."
"Thanks," Ash replied as he and Misty walked to the elevators.
"Misty," Ash said after they were unpacked, "I'm going to get the stuff for Dexter now."
"Mind if I come along?" she asked.
"Oh," Ash replied as he headed for the door, "I don't think you'll like it."
Misty glared at him. "Are you going to get that mallet program again?"
Ash put his hand behind head and gave a nervous laugh. "No, Misty," he replied. "You know I deleted that weeks ago."
"What exactly is this upgrade for?" Misty asked.
Think of something, Ashy-boy, he thought.
"Uh… Bill said he had new information on another 100 type of pokémon," he lied. "I need the new hardware to hold it all."
"Oh," Misty replied. "In that case, I still want to come."
"Fine," Ash sighed. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
"I need to upgrade the processor, install some more RAM, and maybe see about a new sensor," Ash told the store owner.
"Mighty tall order," the man said as he added up the prices. "That's $250 for the processor and $125 for the RAM."
The clerk then examined Dexter's sensor. "I say that the new Pokéfinder 8576 would do," the clerk added. "It runs about $175. Add in tax and installation fees, and your total will be $600. I'll need a $300 deposit before I begin work."
"Here," Ash said handing the clerk his Poké Express card.
"Give me a moment," the clerk said as he swiped the card.
Ash turned to Misty who was looking very bored. "I told you," he laughed.
"How about we go out for some lunch?" Misty replied.
"Sure," he said as the store clerk handed him a receipt.
"It should be ready tomorrow at noon," he told Ash.
"Thanks," Ash replied as he followed Misty out the door.
Ash was lying in bed thinking that night. With Misty around, he could not get the program.
I'll call first thing in the morning, he thought. Maybe he can install it, and I'll pay the rest when I pick Dexter up.
He looked over at Misty who was sleeping peacefully in her bed. I hope she won't find out like last time, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.
Ash was whistling all the way to the pokédex store the next morning.
"You're awfully cheering," Misty commented.
"Dexter now has all the upgrades I want," he replied.
Misty shook her head. "The amount of time you spend on that thing, you should be a pokémon scientist by now."
Ash laughed. "Sorry, Misty," he replied as he whistled. "You can't ruin my mood."
Misty let on evil smile on her lips. "Gary is a better kisser than you," she told him.
Ash stopped dead in his tracks. She could not tell if he was angry, hurt, or both. "Just kidding," she laughed.
"I'll show you who the better kisser is," he told her, "once we are back in Pallet."
"Oh, is that a challenge?" Misty asked sarcastically.
"You bet it is," Ash smirked.
"Well," Misty said as she grabbed his arm. "Let's get Dexter so we can get back to Pallet."
Ash smiled like an idiot as the redhead dragged him through the streets.
"Here you go," the clerk said as he handed Dexter to Ash. "There was an addition charge for the parts that came up."
"How much?" Ash asked.
"$25," the clerk replied.
Ash pulled out a few bills and handed them to the clerk. "Come again," the clerk told them as they left.
Later that night, Misty had already fallen asleep, but Ash was having a hard time falling asleep. He decided on having a little fun with the new program he got.
He pulled Dexter out of his backpack and opened the program.
"All right," he said as soon the program was running. "Let's first scan Misty."
He pointed Dexter at Misty. "Postman," it chimed. "This mallet can drive its victims three feet into the ground."
"All right," Ash said as he punched another button. "Cross-reference with new program for countermeasures."
A moment later, Dexter found the answer. "Skull cap #81 deflects this and similar ground-driving mallets."
Ash smiled. "Finally I got the real upper hand."