Chapter 16: Partying Into The Night
. Once they were back in the room, the friends began to get ready for everything they would be doing that evening. While they were waiting on the girls to finish getting ready, Ash, Brock and Tracey sat around talking about how great it was that their little group of four had gone to six in just one day, actually it was seven including Pikachu. "Can you believe what this day has been so far. I can't believe that I actually managed to meet a beautiful girl who actually feels the same way that I do. Angelica is absolutely a dream come true." Brock said with a wide grin. "Yeah, I know. I ended up having some of your good luck rub off on me. I'll tell you one thing though, I feel lucky too. If Carla hadn't walked up and tripped over me and fell into my arms then I'd be the odd man out. I'm glad I found her." Tracey agreed. "The one thing that I know for sure is that I hope that you guys can be as happy in the new relationships you have found as Misty and I are in ours. It would be great to see that." Ash smiled at his two companions. "Pika." (Yeah.) Pikachu agreed.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, the girls were all helping each other look nice for the guys and having a wonderful time doing it. "This is great having you guys here even though we all just met today. It's been a very long time since I've been able to do something like this. I'd almost forgotten what it was like." Misty said with a laugh. "Why haven't you had the opportunity for female bonding? Don't you have any sisters or anything?" Carla asked. "Or have you been hanging around with the guys for too long?" Angelica quipped giving Misty a quick hug. "I have been with the guys a while but I really wouldn't have it any other way. I do have three sisters but I don't get along with them very well. They only see me as being in the way and try to let me know that every chance that they get. That's why this here is so special to me." "Well in that case we're going to make sure you enjoy it." Carla smiled and Angelica quickly agreed.
* * * * *
Whilst all the female bonding was going on, the guys were wondering if the girls were ever going to come out of the bathroom so that they could go up to grab a quick dinner and go to the show. Brock was dozing and Ash and Tracey were engaged in a game of rock, paper, scissors. Just as Tracey was about to beat Ash for about the twentieth time, a knock on the door startled them. Ash got up and went to the door to find a steward standing there with a booklet in his hand. "Hi. I thought you might like to have this booklet to let you know about the show tonight and some of the things that are going to be available on board for tomorrow." "Yeah. That sounds good. Thanks a lot." Ash smiled as he tipped the steward and went back into the room. As he was glancing over it something just happened to catch his eye and caused him to perk up. "Hey, check this out. I found out what the show is going to be tonight and it proves to be very interesting indeed." "Well what does it say Ash? Don't keep us in suspense." Tracey said. "Yeah. Bring that thing over here so we can see it too." Brock had awakened from his nap when he heard the door and had heard the last comment that Ash made. Ash came back over to join his companions and let them see the booklet that he had gotten from the steward. Ash and Tracey were sitting at the small card table and Brock stepped close to read over their shoulders as they all read about that night's entertainment. "Hmm. It says here that it is going to be a show with a hypnotist. One question, Ash. Why do you think that this is so interesting? I just don't get it." Tracey frowned. "I believe I know what Ash is getting at. It says here that they are looking for volunteers from among the passengers. So what Ash is thinking is why not us. We could go right now and get there in time to volunteer." Brock cut in. "Yeah. You got it Brocko. I think it will be really fun. I for one have always wondered how one of these shows work. Misty and I watch them on television all the time." "I don't know. This idea sounds a little bit dicey to me. I'm not sure I want to try this." Tracey sounded very nervous but tried in vain not to show it. "Think about it Tracey. It would be a cool and awesome surprise for the girls if they finished getting ready and found us gone while we go prepare for this. We can let them find us for a quick dinner and then we disappear again after telling them we'll meet them in the lounge and then they're bound to get a little irritated with us when we aren't there when the show starts but can't you just imagine the surprised looks on their pretty faces when they see that we are a PART of the show. It'll be great!" Ash was very enthusiastic about this idea. "I agree with Ash. Not only out of curiosity but also because I am also interested in seeing the look on the girls' faces. Come on, what do you say Tracey. What do you think?" Brock said. "Okay I'm in. But I'll only do this stupid thing under one condition." Tracey sighed, knowing that he was defeated. "What's your condition?" Ash was beginning to get a little frustrated. "My condition is that you two go too. I am NOT going to make a fool of myself on my own." "Of course we're going to go too. After all, we are like the three musketeers. All for one and one for all, right." Brock laughed. "I guess that is a good point. Let's go." Tracey smiled and started for the door and then a thought occurred to him that caused him to stop and turn around. "Hey, wait a minute. Shouldn't we leave the girls a note telling them that we went for a walk or something? I know we don't want them to know what we're up to but we can't just disappear without a sign either. If we do that then they're sure to get suspicious and figure out what we're up to." Ash considered this for a second and realized that Tracey was right. This was something that he hadn't thought of. So he got a pen and a sheet of paper and scribbled down a quick note to the young ladies in their company. This is what Ash's note said:
Dear Misty, Angelica and Carla,
We have decided to go for a walk and let you girls get ready in
peace. Meet us at the pizza parlor on the top deck in about 30 minutes so we can get a quick something to eat before we take in the show. See ya there.
Love, Ash, Brock and Tracey
Ash placed the note on the table and with a small laugh he followed Brock and Tracey out the door and the three took the elevator up to the deck to be a part of the hypnotist show that was going to take place later that evening.
* * * * *
Five minutes later Misty, Carla and Angelica had finished making each other over and came out to impress the guys only to find that they were gone. Misty immediately thought this strange. "Now where in the world have those three run off to? That was mean of them to leave without saying anything." Angelica said. "Actually they did say something on paper." Carla noted. "Oh yeah. Looks like the left us a note." Misty picked up the letter off the table and read it aloud. "Hmm. I wonder what in the world those three are up to." "It doesn't seem to me like they're up to anything in particular, Misty. According to the note they left us, they went for a walk. My guess is that they got tired of waiting on us." Angelica said. "Yeah. It sounds that way to me too. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as I can tell." Carla agreed. "Maybe. But if I know Ash the way I think I do then he's got something up his sleeve. It seems like he usually does because Ash is a prankster by nature."
* * * * *
In the meantime, unknown to their three female companions back down in the room, Ash, Brock, and Tracey had volunteered and been accepted to be part of the hypnotist show later that evening. After going through pre-show conditioning all that was left for them to do is go to the pizza parlor, grab a seat and wait on the girls. "This is going to be the greatest! I can't believe that we are actually doing this." Ash laughed as Pikachu jumped up onto his normal perch on top of Ash's hat. "Pika pi chu ka chu, Pikapi? Pi pikachu pika pi chu ka pika? Pi ka pikachu." (What about me, Ash? What am I going to do while your doing this? I can't go with you.) Pikachu asked his trainer. "You'll be in the audience with Misty, of course. You didn't think I'd let you miss out on seeing this, did you?" Ash replied as he reached up and patted Pikachu on the head. "This is a really good idea, Ash. The girls are going to freak when they see us as a part of the show." Brock said eagerly. "I didn't think I'd be hearing myself say this but I am actually looking forward to doing this even though I know it is the stupidest, most foolish thing that I have ever done in my entire life. Strange thing is that I'm not really sure why." Tracey cut it suddenly. "I think I know why you're looking forward to it. You want to really impress Carla and you think that this will be a good start by showing her that you have a good sense of humor and women like that in a man." Brock said as he nudged Tracey's shoulder. "You know, this sounds ridiculous, but I think you might be right, Brock." Tracey laughed and then looked away at something as he began to blush slightly. Ash just chuckled at this and rolled his eyes. Then the guys got to the pizza parlor and, as they waited, they knew that this was going to be a night of surprises.
* * * * *
Back downstairs, Misty, Angelica and Carla were getting ready to leave to meet the guys at the pizza parlor when something on the table caught Misty's eye. She picked the booklet up, rolled her eyes and snickered. "So that's what they're up to. Not smart to leave evidence lying around." Misty laughed. "What in the world are you talking about, Misty. What is that you're looking at?" Carla asked as Angelica looked at them like they were both one egg short of a dozen. "It's just that I figured out where our guys have disappeared to. Look at what they absentmindedly left lying around on the table. As soon as I saw it I figured it out." Carla and Angelica looked over Misty's shoulders and then they started giggling too. "Do you really think that the guys would actually go through with something like that? I mean, going on stage with a hypnotism act. Doesn't that sound a little bit extreme?" Carla asked. "It is extreme. I agree with you, Carla. Would they actually do that and if they would, then why? Do you know, Misty?" Angelica asked "I know for a fact that they would do something like that and actually they more than likely have. As for why I don't know but I do have an idea. Ash is a ham and a cut up but he is also a hopeless romantic and he would do just about anything no matter how crazy if he thought it would impress me. So when he saw the announcement for volunteers for the show tonight it probably seemed to Ash like another way to do that and he probably used the newly found attraction that Brock and Tracey feel toward you guys to rope them into going along with him." Misty smiled. "So what do we do about it? Do we say something about it or not?" Angelica asked. "No. It's obvious that they went to great lengths to make sure that we didn't find out about their plan so I think we should just go along with the game. We'll go up to the pizza parlor and meet them for dinner and pretend like we don't know anything. Then when they disappear to go be in the show we can get cameras and things like that so we can have photo record of it. That way we can have blackmail information later." "Misty's right. We don't need to let on that we know anything. If they think that we know then they'll probably decide to pull out of it. They've gone to so much trouble to impress us that it would hurt them terribly if we messed it up." Carla agreed. "Great. Then we've settled on what we're going to do then let's go on and head up the pizza parlor. If we take too long then the guys might get suspicious to why we aren't there." Misty said as she walked out the door with Angelica and Carla on her heels and together they headed up to meet their guys.
* * * * *
Up on deck, Ash, Brock and Tracey were sitting there wondering what in the world was keeping the girls. They were five minutes late already and Ash was beginning to get very worried. "Where in the world are they? What can be taking them so long? Maybe we should go looking for them." Ash was so worried about Misty that he couldn't sit still. "Hey, calm down Ash. I'm sure the girls just got side tracked by whatever they were doing before we left and there're no reason at all for you to worry." Brock tried to reassure his nervous friend. "As a matter of fact, here come our dazzling beauties now." Tracey smiled as his mouth dropped to the floor as soon as he saw Carla. "Wow!"
"I'll agree with that." Brock drooled in agreement as the ladies approached and each greeted her respective man with a sweet kiss. "Hi hon. Did you girls have fun playing beauty parlor or whatever you were doing back in the room? I was getting a little worried about you when you were taking so long." Ash put his arm around Misty as she sat down next to him. "Sorry, sweetheart. I don't ever mean to worry you." Misty leaned her head on Ash's shoulder. She suddenly gasped as she felt something brush up against her leg. "What was that?" Suddenly Pikachu leapt onto Misty's lap. As soon as he had seen them coming, the little yellow Pokemon had hidden under the table to surprise Misty and create some excitement. "Pikachu! Why did you do that? You scared me to death!" Misty said in such a tone that sent her companions rolling with hysterical laughter. "Pi pikachu ka, Pikachupi. Pi ka chu pi pikachu. (I was bored, Misty. I only meant to surprise you.) Pikachu dropped his ears as Misty hugged him. "It's okay, Pikachu. It was kind of funny. Just give me a little warning next time." Misty smiled. "Pika." (Okay.) Soon they had gotten their food and were happily chowing down amid a sea of dinner conversation.
* * * * *
Immediately after they finished eating, Ash gave a hidden signal to Brock and Tracey to begin to make their leave. It was Brock who came up with a viable excuse. "Hey. I need to go back to the room and get my camera so I can take pictures tonight. I was going to get Ash and Tracey to come with me so that I don't have to go by myself. Is that okay with you guys?" "Yeah. We'll go with you Brock. I have an idea. Why don't you three ladies take Pikachu with you and head to the lounge and get good seats and we'll join up with you in a bit." Ash countered as he handed Pikachu over to Misty and followed Brock and Tracey out of the pizza parlor. As soon as they were gone, the girls waited for a few minutes before taking off to their room to get their cameras. They had to be very careful of what they did because they had Pikachu with them and Misty didn't know if she could let him know that they were onto what the guys were up to. After they retrieved everything that they needed from the room, Misty, Carla, and Angelica walked up to the lounge and got very good seats and waited the fifteen minutes that remained until the show began.
* * * * *
In the meantime, Ash, Brock and Tracey were in all reality sitting backstage getting ready to be part of the show. They listened to the hypnotist go through an explanation of what exactly was going to happen during the course of the hour-long performance. "As I explained during the conditioning before, the first thing that is going to go on is that I am going to talk to the audience and sort of explain to everyone how the whole thing works before we get started. After that I am going to put all of you under hypnosis. Then I'll address the audience again and give you some crazy suggestions and we'll just have a whole lot of fun." "This sounds even better all the time. I am so glad that I thought of this idea." Ash laughed. "I hope that the girls get as big of a kick out of this thing as we hope they will. It seems pointless to do this if they don't enjoy it." Tracey pointed out. "I'm sure they will. They have as great of a sense of humor as we do and if they were to do something like we're doing, we would definitely think it was a hoot." Brock said as they got ready to go out onto the stage for the show.
* * * * *
As the girls were sitting in the audience waiting for the show to start, Misty began to notice Pikachu squirming around in her lap and although she stroked the Pokemon's ears in an attempt to calm him down, she definitely knew why he was nervous. "If Pikachu isn't nervous then I need to tell Ash soon that he has a Pokemon that can do one heck of an acting job." Misty thought at the same moment that the curtains opened slowly. "Show time in more ways than one." "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show tonight. As most of you probably read in the booklets that were delivered to your rooms earlier what type of a show this is but I'll reiterate for those of you who may not have. This is a hypnotism show that has been very popular everywhere else I have performed it so this audience is in for a real treat. What exactly is going to be happening on the stage for the course of the next hour or so is that I am going to be taking these volunteers that you see behind me and placing them under hypnosis to start off with and then we're going to start the fun. As you can probably tell all of these people here seem perfectly normal right now and that's not very interesting at all is it." the hypnotist paused for a moment to receive a loud audience response. "So why don't I change that. Now this isn't quite as easy as it may look so what I am going to need from the audience is complete silence so that my volunteers can concentrate on me instead of distracting background noise." "Ash is crazy. Carla was right, this is a very insane thing to go and do on a whim because they sure couldn't have had enough time to put much thought into this." Misty muttered inaudibly to herself. At the same time on stage, Ash was realizing that the jig could possibly be up for them. "Oh no. I think that I might have left the booklet on the table when we left the room. I sure hope the girls didn't find it and catch on to what we did." Ash thought in a momentary twinge of panic as the hypnotist began to address them now. Ash threw a quick sideways glance to Brock and Tracey before turning his full attention to the hypnotist's instructions. "Okay. Now I want everyone to concentrate on the sound of my voice and only the sound of my voice. I want you to completely relax your entire body and take deep breaths. Now you are all beginning to get very sleepy and you can barely keep your eyes open and when I snap my fingers you'll be in a deep sleep." At this point the hypnotist snapped his fingers and all of the volunteers went completely under hypnosis and most were leaning on each other's shoulders. Then the hypnotist addressed the audience again. "Now I'd be willing to wager that about 95 percent of you think that these people are totally unaware of what is going on around them but that is not true at all. They can all hear and understand everything I am saying to you. Now I'm going to give some of these guys some suggestions and things are going to get very interesting." He then began to speak different things to several people individually before awakening them again. It was the funniest thing that anyone had ever gotten the opportunity to witness. Misty even managed to get a shot of Ash and Brock acting like a Doduo, which made her almost fall out of her seat. "Pika chu pikachu, Pikachupi? Kachu pikachu Kapikachupika chu Pichukapika? Pikapi, Pikapichu ka Pipichupipika pi pikachu. (What do you think of the show, Misty? What about you Carla and Angelica? Ash, Brock and Tracey are hilarious.) Pikachu asked. "This is a very funny and wonderful thing, Pikachu." Misty smiled, cuddling the Pokemon close to her. "In fact, I don't think I've seen anything funnier." "Yeah. I am really enjoying this." Carla smiled. "This is hilarious stuff. Oh my goodness. Look at Tracey you guys. What in the world is he doing?" Angelica squealed. At this point, the other two girls turned their attention to the stage where Tracey had been told to, at a cue that he was given, to act like one of the people he admired the most. It was hilarious, though not at all surprising, that he began acting exactly like Professor Oak. "I know exactly what he's doing. Tracey is becoming someone that he admires the most. Professor Oak is a Pokemon researcher in Pallet Town, which is Ash's hometown. Tracey works for him and has admired him ever since we've known him." Misty explained as she began to laugh hysterically at Ash pretending to be his favorite Pokemon, which of course, was Pikachu. "Pika! Pikapi chu ka pikachu!" (Hey! Ash is being me!) Pikachu shouted from his seat on Misty's lap. It seemed like no time at all until the hypnotist addressed the audience again to say that the show was almost over. At this point Misty, Angelica, and Carla had been laughing so hard that they didn't think they would be able to laugh anymore. "Okay. Now I am going to bring the volunteers out of hypnosis so that I can bring the show to a close. Again I need complete silence from the audience." Then he turned back to the volunteers on the stage. "Now this time when I snap my fingers you will all be completely aware and alert." When the hypnotist snapped his fingers, all of those on the stage were instantly alert once again. At this point Misty noticed Ash lean over and whisper something to Brock. "Hey, Brock. I have a feeling that jig might be up." Ash whispered in a concerned tone. "What are you talking about Ash? Our plan was foolproof." Brock didn't quite understand what Ash was getting at. "I hope so. I just don't remember hiding that booklet before we left the room. I'm just afraid that we left it lying around out in the open. If that's the case then there is a strong possibility that the girls may have found it." "Well, even if they did, do you honestly think that they would say anything about it to us. They'd probably not want to make us angry at them." Tracey cut in after hearing what Ash and Brock were talking about. "Yeah. You're probably right Tracey. So was that fun or what?" Ash smiled. Tracey just nodded his head in defeat but made no further comment.
* * * * *
When the girls arrived back to wait on the guys to return, they were talking about what they had just witnessed. "I saw what we just witnessed with my own eyes and still I don't believe it. That was definitely the craziest thing I've ever seen anybody do." Carla said. "Yeah. I can't believe it either. All that just to impress us." Misty shook her head. "I've never had any guy care so much for me as to go through all that. Brock truly is amazing." Angelica grinned. "I agree with you on that one. Even though Tracey and I happened to meet one another by accident, it is the greatest thing that had ever happened to me in my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world." Carla started staring dreamily off into space as she thought about the events of earlier that day that had lead her here. Suddenly, a sound alerted the three girls and shocked them back into reality. That noise was Pikachu excitedly announcing the guys' arrival. "Pikapi!" (Ash!) Pikachu shouted as he ran and leapt onto Ash's shoulder as soon as the three walked into the room. "Hey, buddy." Ash smiled at his Pokemon and then went over to his fiancé and took her into his arms. "Surprise." Ash whispered, as Misty smiled up at him with blue eyes that never failed to melt his heart. "Ash, why did you do that? It was hilarious but it was also the craziest thing that I have ever seen you do." Misty asked after a moment. "We wanted to do something to surprise you." Brock was clearly answering for Ash, who was standing there looking like a child that has just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Yeah. I see that it worked too. It was well worth it. There is just one thing that we were all three wondering on the way back down here and maybe you girls can answer it for us since you were obviously at a different perspective than we were." Tracey added. "Sure. We can try. What were you wondering?" Angelica spoke up as she went to stand at Brock's side and Carla sat down next to Tracey on the edge of one of the beds. "What exactly happened? Did we do anything too crazy?" Ash spoke this time after finally getting his voice back. When Ash voiced the question for himself and his two partners in crime, the three girls simultaneously burst out laughing. This obviously irritated the guys who had no idea what they were laughing at. "What? What's so funny?" Brock asked. "We want to know too." Ash complained. "Yeah girls. It's a blank gap for us. Let us in on it." Tracey chimed in. It took a moment for the girls to regain enough of their composure to where they could even speak. It was Carla who was able to speak first. "Well I don't really know where to even start. I can say that you three are the most hilarious people that I have ever known. At one point, Ash, the guy had you and Brock acting like a Doduo and it was surprisingly accurate." "Pi pikachu ka pika chu pi, Pikapi." (At one point you were acting like me, Ash) Pikachu chuckled from Ash's shoulder causing him to smile. "Yeah, and you were pretty funny yourself Tracey." Angelica said. "I was?" "Uh huh. He told you to be a person that you really admire and you got up there and started acting like Professor Oak. It was actually pretty amazing to watch that." Misty laughed as Tracey suddenly became beet red with embarrassment and put his head in his hands. "Hey, its been quite an evening and its still early so why not see what's on the ship's channel." Ash suggested as he sat down next to Misty and turned the television on after receiving a unanimous agreement. When they turned on the ship's station, it was a surprise to see that what was on was a broadcast of the show that had been taped earlier that evening. "Neat. Now you guys can see how hilarious you actually were." Misty said as they all settled in to watch the repeat performance. Ash and Misty were sitting on their bed, Carla and Tracey were sitting on the lower bed across from them and Brock and Angelica were sitting on the floor. As they watched on television what had transpired and seeing the amused looks on the girls' faces as they saw it again, there was no doubt in Ash's mind that they had done the right thing in setting this up as a surprise for them. An hour later the broadcast ended and Ash turned off the television. It was 9:00 then and the couples decided to go and do their own thing for a few hours before it got too late. "I think that we might just go up and take a walk and look at the stars on the water for a while." Brock said as Angelica took his hand and headed out the door. "Well, Carla, why don't you and I get into our suits and go up and go for a swim or something." Tracey smiled. "Sure. Do you mind coming to my room with me so that I can get my things first" Carla replied. "Okay. Let's get on the way." Tracey took Carla by the hand and they departed as well, leaving Ash and Misty all alone in the room. "I guess that leaves one decision for us, Mist. What are we going to do for the next few hours?" Ash said as he turned to Misty. "Hmm. Well I don't know. Do you want to take Pikachu and go up and get some ice cream or something?" Misty suggested. "Yeah. That sounds fine to me. Then we can come back here and relax." Ash agreed as they finally headed up to the deck with Pikachu, taking a key and locking the door behind them.
* * * * *
Up on the deck, at the exact place where they met, Brock and Angelica sat looking at the ocean and the stars glistening on the surface of the water. "Can you believe what a spectacular day this has turned out to be. I mean, first you and I met and then if that wasn't great enough Tracey and Carla found their way to each other too. It was totally great." Angelica beamed. "Yeah. It was way beyond the realm of anything that I could have ever anticipated would happen today. I also wasn't anticipating Ash talking me into being part of a stage show either. I haven't had a day this eventful in a long time. But I wouldn't have had it any other way and I mean that." Brock put his arm around Angelica and pulled her close to him. At that moment it seemed to Brock that time was frozen in that one magical moment as he sat holding Angelica in his arms and they watched the stars glisten on the water together. He hoped with all of his heart that the two of them could have many more moments like this one.
* * * * *
Tracey and Carla had arrived in her room so that they could get her things and head up on deck to the pool. Tracey had already gotten his things and done a quick wardrobe change before they had left so all there was left was to wait on Carla to get ready. Fortunately this didn't take too long and they were soon on their way out again. A few minutes later the two were at the pool and they had found a place to put their things. After they had staked their claim Tracey jumped into the pool and waited for Carla to slide in behind him. Once she had, he smiled at her and pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Then Tracey lay back in the water and began to float, just letting the water carry him as he held Carla's hand. "Hey. You okay?" Carla whispered after a moment. "Yeah. I was just thinking about all of the activity that has gone on in just the past 24 hours. I mean, man, my life has changed completely and I am the happiest that I have ever been. But there is one slight down side to all of this beauty." Tracey said as he reached out to touch Carla's face. "What's the down side?" Carla was not expecting this and it made her a little nervous. "It's just that there has been so much going on today and my energy is zapped. I am completely exhausted. But it's a good kind of exhaustion." "Hmm. Well I'm a little cold in this water so I have an idea. Why don't we move and go relax in the hot tub for a few minutes. At least its warmer there." Carla suggested as she climbed out of the pool and held a hand down for Tracey to follow. "Yeah. That sounds like a very appealing idea. I'm right with you." Tracey smiled, taking Carla's hand as he climbed out of the pool and led her to the hot tub a few feet away. After a few minutes of relaxing in the hot tub all of the activity of the day started to weigh on Tracey and he leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. Carla noticed this and smiled as she put her arm around him and pulled him closer. "I have a pretty good idea. Why don't we go to your room so you can change into some dry clothes and then we can go back to my room and watch television for a while? How does that sound to you?" Carla whispered in Tracey's ear. "That has got to be the sweetest sounding idea that I have heard all day. I am totally wiped out. I don't remember the last time I was this tired so kicking back and watching television to relax is music to my ears." Tracey said as he and Carla gathered their things and went back to let Tracey change so they could go and relax in her room.
* * * * *
In the meantime, at the opposite end of the deck from where their friends were, Ash and Misty were sitting eating ice cream with Pikachu at a table that had a beautiful view of the ocean. Ash noticed then that Misty had a sense of peace about her that she hadn't had since they had arrived onboard. This made him smile because when Misty was happy, Ash was also happy. "Huh. You look pretty content. Do you mind if I ask what it is that you are thinking about?" "Well, if you would really like to know, I was thinking about yesterday and last night because it was when the nightmare that I was fighting ended and all of my best dreams started coming true. To be honest with you that is all that I have been thinking about pretty much all day." Misty whispered honestly. "Pi pikachu ka pika chu, Pikachupi." (That was very sweet, Misty) Pikachu whispered to her between bites of ice cream. Ash, on the other hand, was so moved by what Misty had just said to him that he couldn't say anything so he just pulled her close to him and hugged her with all of his strength.
* * * * *
Brock and Angelica were off in their own little world together and were so oblivious to everything but each other that a major catastrophe could have erupted right next to them and they would never have noticed it. After a few minutes the new couple decided to take a walk around the deck and just keep enjoying each other's company for as long as they possibly could. "Hey, are you enjoying this half as much as I am?" Brock asked. "No. I'm enjoying it twice as much." Angelica gave Brock a quick hug. "Hey, I'll tell you something that I bet you hadn't heard." "Well what's that, beautiful angel." "You know the island where we were today. Well it's not really surprising that we met while we were on the way to said island because that particular island has a nickname. The legend goes that over the years, many people have had one or more of their long time dreams come true on or in the vacinity of that island so they call it 'The Island Where Dreams Come True'. Sounds interesting doesn't it?" Angelica explained as Brock listened in amazement. "How in the world do you know all of that? If you had made a bet that I didn't know what you told me then you would have won hands down." Brock chuckled. "Well I like to do my homework before I travel somewhere so that I know all about it. Just think, if I hadn't then you would never have known that interesting little tidbit of information." Angelica countered with a wink. "Hey, I have a very nice idea. Why don't we go back to my room and see if we can't find a movie or something on. Does that sound like a good idea to you?" Brock asked. "Yep. I'm up for watching a movie with you. In fact I haven't heard a better idea." Angelica said as she and Brock walked inside from the deck hand in hand and headed down to the room that they had left about two hours before.
* * * * *
After a quick stop for Tracey to change into something a little less wet, he and Carla had arrived in her room to watch television and just relax. As soon as Carla had finished changing after a momentary disappearance into the bathroom, the two sat down on one of the beds and turned the television on. It didn't take very long for the two to find something on that they wanted to watch. Once they decided on a show, Tracey stretched out across the bed and Carla sat close to him. Luckily they chose to watch something that Tracey had already seen before because he was so comfortable that he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to stay awake. Tracey had had such an eventful and exhausting day and he was so incredibly tired that as Carla put her arm around him and pulled him closer to her, it became increasingly more difficult for him to keep his eyes open. This was a fact that Carla soon noticed. "Hey. You okay, Tracey?" "Yeah. Just a little sleepy, I guess. Other than that I'm fine." Tracey's voice betrayed the increasing drowsiness that he was trying to hide from her. "I can tell you're pulling my leg. It's obvious that you are hardly awake right now. Why don't you just rest for awhile? You've had a really long day and you could use the rest. I promise if you drift off that I'll wake you before it gets too terribly late." Carla smiled softly. "That sounds very nice." Tracey yawned. Then he rested his head against Carla and closed his eyes while she held him close to her. Within moments all of the day's activity had caught up to him and Tracey was sound asleep in Carla's embrace.
* * * * *
Back in their room, Ash and Misty were lying on their bed watching a science fiction movie when they heard the sound of the lock mechanism tripping and the door opened. Ash looked up and saw Brock and Angelica walking into the room holding hands and smiling. "Hey guys." Brock greeted them. "Hey. Did you guys get tired of star gazing?" Ash asked. "Not really. We just decided that we wanted to come back down here and watch a movie. You guys don't mind a little company do you because we can always go somewhere else." Brock offered. "No way. We don't mind in the least bit to have you hang out here with us." Misty cut in suddenly. "Misty's right. Please join us." Ash agreed. "Okay, thanks. What exactly are you guys watching?" Angelica asked as she sat on the bunk where Brock was sprawled out. "Honestly I don't really know the name of it. All we know is that it's a science fiction. Pretty interesting movie though." Misty answered quietly. About an hour and a half later, it suddenly occurred to Ash that they were missing one of the original members of their party. It was almost 11:30 and no one had seen or heard from Tracey, or Carla for that matter, in over two hours. "Hey, I was just thinking. Has anyone seen Tracey? I wonder where in the world he got to." Ash said. "He's probably somewhere with Carla, Ash. You shouldn't worry. Don't forget, we are on a ship so there are so many places that he could have gone." Brock tried to be reassuring although he also wondered about Tracey's whereabouts. "Yeah. I guess you're right." Ash said before turning his attention back to the television screen.
* * * * *
At the same time, Carla looked at her watch, noted the late hour and decided that she needed to attempt to wake Tracey. She reached over and gently shook his shoulder and gave him a kiss on the head. Slowly enough, Tracey opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Hey. Did you have a good rest?" Carla whispered. "Yeah. I guess I'm more wiped out than I thought. What time is it?" Tracey yawned. "It's 11:30. You slept for almost two hours." "Oh man. As much as I enjoy this, I'm really going to have to get back. Ash, Misty and Brock will more than likely send out a search party after me if not." Tracey said as he stood up and stretched. "Okay. I'll walk with you. Is that okay?" Carla said. "Yeah. I'd like the company." Tracey smiled sleepily as he and Carla walked out into the hallway.
* * * * *
The movie that the others were watching still had about 45 minutes left when they heard voices outside the door and a few moments later Tracey walked in looking very tired but also very happy. "Hey pal. We were getting a little worried about you." Brock greeted his friend with a smile and Angelica smiled as well. "Sorry guys. After we got finished swimming and everything we went back to Carla's room to watch television and I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep. She woke me up and we walked back down here." Tracey replied as he climbed up onto his bed and fell asleep without even bothering to change. Brock and Angelica just looked at each other, shrugged, and turned their attention back to the end of the movie. By the time the movie ended it was after midnight. Angelica sat up and accidentally bumped her head on the upper bed gaining her a tired chuckle from Brock. She kissed him softly on the cheek and smiled. "That hurt. You think that's funny?" Angelica teased. "No. Of course not. It's just not everyday that something like that happens." Brock smiled at her. Angelica looked at her watch and grunted. "It's 12:15. I'm going to have to get going." "Why do you have to leave now? I'd like you to stay a little longer." Brock complained. "I know you would but I have to head back and go to bed." Angelica paused a moment to look around the room. "Tracey is completely zonked, Ash and Misty have fallen asleep and from the looks of it you're just about there yourself. We'll see each other tomorrow but neither one of us is going to be in the mood to have any fun if we don't get some sleep. So I'm going to do that and I will see you first thing in the morning so we can all have breakfast." "Okay. At least let me walk you to the door then." Brock said as he stood up and stretched his arms out. "Nothing would please me more right now." Angelica smiled as Brock walked her out and took her in his arms. Then they shared in a long goodnight kiss, as time seemed to stand still. "Goodnight, Brock." Angelica smiled breathlessly. "Night, babe. See you in the morning." Brock replied as his angel disappeared down the hall. Brock then turned and went back in the room and quietly closed the door behind him, being very careful not to awaken his three sleeping friends, and changed clothes before climbing up and crawling into his bed. He lay there for a few minutes thinking about the newfound feelings that he had for Angelica. Brock drifted off to sleep thinking of how special she was to him.
A/N: To anyone who is regularly following this story sorry it took me so long to update but I have been through a lot lately. My birthday was the beginning of this month, I have been working, I had my wisdom teeth cut out and I have been wrestling with a killer case of writer's block. Ironically enough, the surgery is what broke it. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this newest chapter. Please R&R so I can post the next chapter, which is in the works, as soon as I finish. If you would like to e-mail me my e-mail address is rachelcooper@hotmail.com. I check my e-mail regularly. But please still keep leaving those reviews. They help a whole lot. ~Rachel
. Once they were back in the room, the friends began to get ready for everything they would be doing that evening. While they were waiting on the girls to finish getting ready, Ash, Brock and Tracey sat around talking about how great it was that their little group of four had gone to six in just one day, actually it was seven including Pikachu. "Can you believe what this day has been so far. I can't believe that I actually managed to meet a beautiful girl who actually feels the same way that I do. Angelica is absolutely a dream come true." Brock said with a wide grin. "Yeah, I know. I ended up having some of your good luck rub off on me. I'll tell you one thing though, I feel lucky too. If Carla hadn't walked up and tripped over me and fell into my arms then I'd be the odd man out. I'm glad I found her." Tracey agreed. "The one thing that I know for sure is that I hope that you guys can be as happy in the new relationships you have found as Misty and I are in ours. It would be great to see that." Ash smiled at his two companions. "Pika." (Yeah.) Pikachu agreed.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, the girls were all helping each other look nice for the guys and having a wonderful time doing it. "This is great having you guys here even though we all just met today. It's been a very long time since I've been able to do something like this. I'd almost forgotten what it was like." Misty said with a laugh. "Why haven't you had the opportunity for female bonding? Don't you have any sisters or anything?" Carla asked. "Or have you been hanging around with the guys for too long?" Angelica quipped giving Misty a quick hug. "I have been with the guys a while but I really wouldn't have it any other way. I do have three sisters but I don't get along with them very well. They only see me as being in the way and try to let me know that every chance that they get. That's why this here is so special to me." "Well in that case we're going to make sure you enjoy it." Carla smiled and Angelica quickly agreed.
* * * * *
Whilst all the female bonding was going on, the guys were wondering if the girls were ever going to come out of the bathroom so that they could go up to grab a quick dinner and go to the show. Brock was dozing and Ash and Tracey were engaged in a game of rock, paper, scissors. Just as Tracey was about to beat Ash for about the twentieth time, a knock on the door startled them. Ash got up and went to the door to find a steward standing there with a booklet in his hand. "Hi. I thought you might like to have this booklet to let you know about the show tonight and some of the things that are going to be available on board for tomorrow." "Yeah. That sounds good. Thanks a lot." Ash smiled as he tipped the steward and went back into the room. As he was glancing over it something just happened to catch his eye and caused him to perk up. "Hey, check this out. I found out what the show is going to be tonight and it proves to be very interesting indeed." "Well what does it say Ash? Don't keep us in suspense." Tracey said. "Yeah. Bring that thing over here so we can see it too." Brock had awakened from his nap when he heard the door and had heard the last comment that Ash made. Ash came back over to join his companions and let them see the booklet that he had gotten from the steward. Ash and Tracey were sitting at the small card table and Brock stepped close to read over their shoulders as they all read about that night's entertainment. "Hmm. It says here that it is going to be a show with a hypnotist. One question, Ash. Why do you think that this is so interesting? I just don't get it." Tracey frowned. "I believe I know what Ash is getting at. It says here that they are looking for volunteers from among the passengers. So what Ash is thinking is why not us. We could go right now and get there in time to volunteer." Brock cut in. "Yeah. You got it Brocko. I think it will be really fun. I for one have always wondered how one of these shows work. Misty and I watch them on television all the time." "I don't know. This idea sounds a little bit dicey to me. I'm not sure I want to try this." Tracey sounded very nervous but tried in vain not to show it. "Think about it Tracey. It would be a cool and awesome surprise for the girls if they finished getting ready and found us gone while we go prepare for this. We can let them find us for a quick dinner and then we disappear again after telling them we'll meet them in the lounge and then they're bound to get a little irritated with us when we aren't there when the show starts but can't you just imagine the surprised looks on their pretty faces when they see that we are a PART of the show. It'll be great!" Ash was very enthusiastic about this idea. "I agree with Ash. Not only out of curiosity but also because I am also interested in seeing the look on the girls' faces. Come on, what do you say Tracey. What do you think?" Brock said. "Okay I'm in. But I'll only do this stupid thing under one condition." Tracey sighed, knowing that he was defeated. "What's your condition?" Ash was beginning to get a little frustrated. "My condition is that you two go too. I am NOT going to make a fool of myself on my own." "Of course we're going to go too. After all, we are like the three musketeers. All for one and one for all, right." Brock laughed. "I guess that is a good point. Let's go." Tracey smiled and started for the door and then a thought occurred to him that caused him to stop and turn around. "Hey, wait a minute. Shouldn't we leave the girls a note telling them that we went for a walk or something? I know we don't want them to know what we're up to but we can't just disappear without a sign either. If we do that then they're sure to get suspicious and figure out what we're up to." Ash considered this for a second and realized that Tracey was right. This was something that he hadn't thought of. So he got a pen and a sheet of paper and scribbled down a quick note to the young ladies in their company. This is what Ash's note said:
Dear Misty, Angelica and Carla,
We have decided to go for a walk and let you girls get ready in
peace. Meet us at the pizza parlor on the top deck in about 30 minutes so we can get a quick something to eat before we take in the show. See ya there.
Love, Ash, Brock and Tracey
Ash placed the note on the table and with a small laugh he followed Brock and Tracey out the door and the three took the elevator up to the deck to be a part of the hypnotist show that was going to take place later that evening.
* * * * *
Five minutes later Misty, Carla and Angelica had finished making each other over and came out to impress the guys only to find that they were gone. Misty immediately thought this strange. "Now where in the world have those three run off to? That was mean of them to leave without saying anything." Angelica said. "Actually they did say something on paper." Carla noted. "Oh yeah. Looks like the left us a note." Misty picked up the letter off the table and read it aloud. "Hmm. I wonder what in the world those three are up to." "It doesn't seem to me like they're up to anything in particular, Misty. According to the note they left us, they went for a walk. My guess is that they got tired of waiting on us." Angelica said. "Yeah. It sounds that way to me too. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as I can tell." Carla agreed. "Maybe. But if I know Ash the way I think I do then he's got something up his sleeve. It seems like he usually does because Ash is a prankster by nature."
* * * * *
In the meantime, unknown to their three female companions back down in the room, Ash, Brock, and Tracey had volunteered and been accepted to be part of the hypnotist show later that evening. After going through pre-show conditioning all that was left for them to do is go to the pizza parlor, grab a seat and wait on the girls. "This is going to be the greatest! I can't believe that we are actually doing this." Ash laughed as Pikachu jumped up onto his normal perch on top of Ash's hat. "Pika pi chu ka chu, Pikapi? Pi pikachu pika pi chu ka pika? Pi ka pikachu." (What about me, Ash? What am I going to do while your doing this? I can't go with you.) Pikachu asked his trainer. "You'll be in the audience with Misty, of course. You didn't think I'd let you miss out on seeing this, did you?" Ash replied as he reached up and patted Pikachu on the head. "This is a really good idea, Ash. The girls are going to freak when they see us as a part of the show." Brock said eagerly. "I didn't think I'd be hearing myself say this but I am actually looking forward to doing this even though I know it is the stupidest, most foolish thing that I have ever done in my entire life. Strange thing is that I'm not really sure why." Tracey cut it suddenly. "I think I know why you're looking forward to it. You want to really impress Carla and you think that this will be a good start by showing her that you have a good sense of humor and women like that in a man." Brock said as he nudged Tracey's shoulder. "You know, this sounds ridiculous, but I think you might be right, Brock." Tracey laughed and then looked away at something as he began to blush slightly. Ash just chuckled at this and rolled his eyes. Then the guys got to the pizza parlor and, as they waited, they knew that this was going to be a night of surprises.
* * * * *
Back downstairs, Misty, Angelica and Carla were getting ready to leave to meet the guys at the pizza parlor when something on the table caught Misty's eye. She picked the booklet up, rolled her eyes and snickered. "So that's what they're up to. Not smart to leave evidence lying around." Misty laughed. "What in the world are you talking about, Misty. What is that you're looking at?" Carla asked as Angelica looked at them like they were both one egg short of a dozen. "It's just that I figured out where our guys have disappeared to. Look at what they absentmindedly left lying around on the table. As soon as I saw it I figured it out." Carla and Angelica looked over Misty's shoulders and then they started giggling too. "Do you really think that the guys would actually go through with something like that? I mean, going on stage with a hypnotism act. Doesn't that sound a little bit extreme?" Carla asked. "It is extreme. I agree with you, Carla. Would they actually do that and if they would, then why? Do you know, Misty?" Angelica asked "I know for a fact that they would do something like that and actually they more than likely have. As for why I don't know but I do have an idea. Ash is a ham and a cut up but he is also a hopeless romantic and he would do just about anything no matter how crazy if he thought it would impress me. So when he saw the announcement for volunteers for the show tonight it probably seemed to Ash like another way to do that and he probably used the newly found attraction that Brock and Tracey feel toward you guys to rope them into going along with him." Misty smiled. "So what do we do about it? Do we say something about it or not?" Angelica asked. "No. It's obvious that they went to great lengths to make sure that we didn't find out about their plan so I think we should just go along with the game. We'll go up to the pizza parlor and meet them for dinner and pretend like we don't know anything. Then when they disappear to go be in the show we can get cameras and things like that so we can have photo record of it. That way we can have blackmail information later." "Misty's right. We don't need to let on that we know anything. If they think that we know then they'll probably decide to pull out of it. They've gone to so much trouble to impress us that it would hurt them terribly if we messed it up." Carla agreed. "Great. Then we've settled on what we're going to do then let's go on and head up the pizza parlor. If we take too long then the guys might get suspicious to why we aren't there." Misty said as she walked out the door with Angelica and Carla on her heels and together they headed up to meet their guys.
* * * * *
Up on deck, Ash, Brock and Tracey were sitting there wondering what in the world was keeping the girls. They were five minutes late already and Ash was beginning to get very worried. "Where in the world are they? What can be taking them so long? Maybe we should go looking for them." Ash was so worried about Misty that he couldn't sit still. "Hey, calm down Ash. I'm sure the girls just got side tracked by whatever they were doing before we left and there're no reason at all for you to worry." Brock tried to reassure his nervous friend. "As a matter of fact, here come our dazzling beauties now." Tracey smiled as his mouth dropped to the floor as soon as he saw Carla. "Wow!"
"I'll agree with that." Brock drooled in agreement as the ladies approached and each greeted her respective man with a sweet kiss. "Hi hon. Did you girls have fun playing beauty parlor or whatever you were doing back in the room? I was getting a little worried about you when you were taking so long." Ash put his arm around Misty as she sat down next to him. "Sorry, sweetheart. I don't ever mean to worry you." Misty leaned her head on Ash's shoulder. She suddenly gasped as she felt something brush up against her leg. "What was that?" Suddenly Pikachu leapt onto Misty's lap. As soon as he had seen them coming, the little yellow Pokemon had hidden under the table to surprise Misty and create some excitement. "Pikachu! Why did you do that? You scared me to death!" Misty said in such a tone that sent her companions rolling with hysterical laughter. "Pi pikachu ka, Pikachupi. Pi ka chu pi pikachu. (I was bored, Misty. I only meant to surprise you.) Pikachu dropped his ears as Misty hugged him. "It's okay, Pikachu. It was kind of funny. Just give me a little warning next time." Misty smiled. "Pika." (Okay.) Soon they had gotten their food and were happily chowing down amid a sea of dinner conversation.
* * * * *
Immediately after they finished eating, Ash gave a hidden signal to Brock and Tracey to begin to make their leave. It was Brock who came up with a viable excuse. "Hey. I need to go back to the room and get my camera so I can take pictures tonight. I was going to get Ash and Tracey to come with me so that I don't have to go by myself. Is that okay with you guys?" "Yeah. We'll go with you Brock. I have an idea. Why don't you three ladies take Pikachu with you and head to the lounge and get good seats and we'll join up with you in a bit." Ash countered as he handed Pikachu over to Misty and followed Brock and Tracey out of the pizza parlor. As soon as they were gone, the girls waited for a few minutes before taking off to their room to get their cameras. They had to be very careful of what they did because they had Pikachu with them and Misty didn't know if she could let him know that they were onto what the guys were up to. After they retrieved everything that they needed from the room, Misty, Carla, and Angelica walked up to the lounge and got very good seats and waited the fifteen minutes that remained until the show began.
* * * * *
In the meantime, Ash, Brock and Tracey were in all reality sitting backstage getting ready to be part of the show. They listened to the hypnotist go through an explanation of what exactly was going to happen during the course of the hour-long performance. "As I explained during the conditioning before, the first thing that is going to go on is that I am going to talk to the audience and sort of explain to everyone how the whole thing works before we get started. After that I am going to put all of you under hypnosis. Then I'll address the audience again and give you some crazy suggestions and we'll just have a whole lot of fun." "This sounds even better all the time. I am so glad that I thought of this idea." Ash laughed. "I hope that the girls get as big of a kick out of this thing as we hope they will. It seems pointless to do this if they don't enjoy it." Tracey pointed out. "I'm sure they will. They have as great of a sense of humor as we do and if they were to do something like we're doing, we would definitely think it was a hoot." Brock said as they got ready to go out onto the stage for the show.
* * * * *
As the girls were sitting in the audience waiting for the show to start, Misty began to notice Pikachu squirming around in her lap and although she stroked the Pokemon's ears in an attempt to calm him down, she definitely knew why he was nervous. "If Pikachu isn't nervous then I need to tell Ash soon that he has a Pokemon that can do one heck of an acting job." Misty thought at the same moment that the curtains opened slowly. "Show time in more ways than one." "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show tonight. As most of you probably read in the booklets that were delivered to your rooms earlier what type of a show this is but I'll reiterate for those of you who may not have. This is a hypnotism show that has been very popular everywhere else I have performed it so this audience is in for a real treat. What exactly is going to be happening on the stage for the course of the next hour or so is that I am going to be taking these volunteers that you see behind me and placing them under hypnosis to start off with and then we're going to start the fun. As you can probably tell all of these people here seem perfectly normal right now and that's not very interesting at all is it." the hypnotist paused for a moment to receive a loud audience response. "So why don't I change that. Now this isn't quite as easy as it may look so what I am going to need from the audience is complete silence so that my volunteers can concentrate on me instead of distracting background noise." "Ash is crazy. Carla was right, this is a very insane thing to go and do on a whim because they sure couldn't have had enough time to put much thought into this." Misty muttered inaudibly to herself. At the same time on stage, Ash was realizing that the jig could possibly be up for them. "Oh no. I think that I might have left the booklet on the table when we left the room. I sure hope the girls didn't find it and catch on to what we did." Ash thought in a momentary twinge of panic as the hypnotist began to address them now. Ash threw a quick sideways glance to Brock and Tracey before turning his full attention to the hypnotist's instructions. "Okay. Now I want everyone to concentrate on the sound of my voice and only the sound of my voice. I want you to completely relax your entire body and take deep breaths. Now you are all beginning to get very sleepy and you can barely keep your eyes open and when I snap my fingers you'll be in a deep sleep." At this point the hypnotist snapped his fingers and all of the volunteers went completely under hypnosis and most were leaning on each other's shoulders. Then the hypnotist addressed the audience again. "Now I'd be willing to wager that about 95 percent of you think that these people are totally unaware of what is going on around them but that is not true at all. They can all hear and understand everything I am saying to you. Now I'm going to give some of these guys some suggestions and things are going to get very interesting." He then began to speak different things to several people individually before awakening them again. It was the funniest thing that anyone had ever gotten the opportunity to witness. Misty even managed to get a shot of Ash and Brock acting like a Doduo, which made her almost fall out of her seat. "Pika chu pikachu, Pikachupi? Kachu pikachu Kapikachupika chu Pichukapika? Pikapi, Pikapichu ka Pipichupipika pi pikachu. (What do you think of the show, Misty? What about you Carla and Angelica? Ash, Brock and Tracey are hilarious.) Pikachu asked. "This is a very funny and wonderful thing, Pikachu." Misty smiled, cuddling the Pokemon close to her. "In fact, I don't think I've seen anything funnier." "Yeah. I am really enjoying this." Carla smiled. "This is hilarious stuff. Oh my goodness. Look at Tracey you guys. What in the world is he doing?" Angelica squealed. At this point, the other two girls turned their attention to the stage where Tracey had been told to, at a cue that he was given, to act like one of the people he admired the most. It was hilarious, though not at all surprising, that he began acting exactly like Professor Oak. "I know exactly what he's doing. Tracey is becoming someone that he admires the most. Professor Oak is a Pokemon researcher in Pallet Town, which is Ash's hometown. Tracey works for him and has admired him ever since we've known him." Misty explained as she began to laugh hysterically at Ash pretending to be his favorite Pokemon, which of course, was Pikachu. "Pika! Pikapi chu ka pikachu!" (Hey! Ash is being me!) Pikachu shouted from his seat on Misty's lap. It seemed like no time at all until the hypnotist addressed the audience again to say that the show was almost over. At this point Misty, Angelica, and Carla had been laughing so hard that they didn't think they would be able to laugh anymore. "Okay. Now I am going to bring the volunteers out of hypnosis so that I can bring the show to a close. Again I need complete silence from the audience." Then he turned back to the volunteers on the stage. "Now this time when I snap my fingers you will all be completely aware and alert." When the hypnotist snapped his fingers, all of those on the stage were instantly alert once again. At this point Misty noticed Ash lean over and whisper something to Brock. "Hey, Brock. I have a feeling that jig might be up." Ash whispered in a concerned tone. "What are you talking about Ash? Our plan was foolproof." Brock didn't quite understand what Ash was getting at. "I hope so. I just don't remember hiding that booklet before we left the room. I'm just afraid that we left it lying around out in the open. If that's the case then there is a strong possibility that the girls may have found it." "Well, even if they did, do you honestly think that they would say anything about it to us. They'd probably not want to make us angry at them." Tracey cut in after hearing what Ash and Brock were talking about. "Yeah. You're probably right Tracey. So was that fun or what?" Ash smiled. Tracey just nodded his head in defeat but made no further comment.
* * * * *
When the girls arrived back to wait on the guys to return, they were talking about what they had just witnessed. "I saw what we just witnessed with my own eyes and still I don't believe it. That was definitely the craziest thing I've ever seen anybody do." Carla said. "Yeah. I can't believe it either. All that just to impress us." Misty shook her head. "I've never had any guy care so much for me as to go through all that. Brock truly is amazing." Angelica grinned. "I agree with you on that one. Even though Tracey and I happened to meet one another by accident, it is the greatest thing that had ever happened to me in my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world." Carla started staring dreamily off into space as she thought about the events of earlier that day that had lead her here. Suddenly, a sound alerted the three girls and shocked them back into reality. That noise was Pikachu excitedly announcing the guys' arrival. "Pikapi!" (Ash!) Pikachu shouted as he ran and leapt onto Ash's shoulder as soon as the three walked into the room. "Hey, buddy." Ash smiled at his Pokemon and then went over to his fiancé and took her into his arms. "Surprise." Ash whispered, as Misty smiled up at him with blue eyes that never failed to melt his heart. "Ash, why did you do that? It was hilarious but it was also the craziest thing that I have ever seen you do." Misty asked after a moment. "We wanted to do something to surprise you." Brock was clearly answering for Ash, who was standing there looking like a child that has just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Yeah. I see that it worked too. It was well worth it. There is just one thing that we were all three wondering on the way back down here and maybe you girls can answer it for us since you were obviously at a different perspective than we were." Tracey added. "Sure. We can try. What were you wondering?" Angelica spoke up as she went to stand at Brock's side and Carla sat down next to Tracey on the edge of one of the beds. "What exactly happened? Did we do anything too crazy?" Ash spoke this time after finally getting his voice back. When Ash voiced the question for himself and his two partners in crime, the three girls simultaneously burst out laughing. This obviously irritated the guys who had no idea what they were laughing at. "What? What's so funny?" Brock asked. "We want to know too." Ash complained. "Yeah girls. It's a blank gap for us. Let us in on it." Tracey chimed in. It took a moment for the girls to regain enough of their composure to where they could even speak. It was Carla who was able to speak first. "Well I don't really know where to even start. I can say that you three are the most hilarious people that I have ever known. At one point, Ash, the guy had you and Brock acting like a Doduo and it was surprisingly accurate." "Pi pikachu ka pika chu pi, Pikapi." (At one point you were acting like me, Ash) Pikachu chuckled from Ash's shoulder causing him to smile. "Yeah, and you were pretty funny yourself Tracey." Angelica said. "I was?" "Uh huh. He told you to be a person that you really admire and you got up there and started acting like Professor Oak. It was actually pretty amazing to watch that." Misty laughed as Tracey suddenly became beet red with embarrassment and put his head in his hands. "Hey, its been quite an evening and its still early so why not see what's on the ship's channel." Ash suggested as he sat down next to Misty and turned the television on after receiving a unanimous agreement. When they turned on the ship's station, it was a surprise to see that what was on was a broadcast of the show that had been taped earlier that evening. "Neat. Now you guys can see how hilarious you actually were." Misty said as they all settled in to watch the repeat performance. Ash and Misty were sitting on their bed, Carla and Tracey were sitting on the lower bed across from them and Brock and Angelica were sitting on the floor. As they watched on television what had transpired and seeing the amused looks on the girls' faces as they saw it again, there was no doubt in Ash's mind that they had done the right thing in setting this up as a surprise for them. An hour later the broadcast ended and Ash turned off the television. It was 9:00 then and the couples decided to go and do their own thing for a few hours before it got too late. "I think that we might just go up and take a walk and look at the stars on the water for a while." Brock said as Angelica took his hand and headed out the door. "Well, Carla, why don't you and I get into our suits and go up and go for a swim or something." Tracey smiled. "Sure. Do you mind coming to my room with me so that I can get my things first" Carla replied. "Okay. Let's get on the way." Tracey took Carla by the hand and they departed as well, leaving Ash and Misty all alone in the room. "I guess that leaves one decision for us, Mist. What are we going to do for the next few hours?" Ash said as he turned to Misty. "Hmm. Well I don't know. Do you want to take Pikachu and go up and get some ice cream or something?" Misty suggested. "Yeah. That sounds fine to me. Then we can come back here and relax." Ash agreed as they finally headed up to the deck with Pikachu, taking a key and locking the door behind them.
* * * * *
Up on the deck, at the exact place where they met, Brock and Angelica sat looking at the ocean and the stars glistening on the surface of the water. "Can you believe what a spectacular day this has turned out to be. I mean, first you and I met and then if that wasn't great enough Tracey and Carla found their way to each other too. It was totally great." Angelica beamed. "Yeah. It was way beyond the realm of anything that I could have ever anticipated would happen today. I also wasn't anticipating Ash talking me into being part of a stage show either. I haven't had a day this eventful in a long time. But I wouldn't have had it any other way and I mean that." Brock put his arm around Angelica and pulled her close to him. At that moment it seemed to Brock that time was frozen in that one magical moment as he sat holding Angelica in his arms and they watched the stars glisten on the water together. He hoped with all of his heart that the two of them could have many more moments like this one.
* * * * *
Tracey and Carla had arrived in her room so that they could get her things and head up on deck to the pool. Tracey had already gotten his things and done a quick wardrobe change before they had left so all there was left was to wait on Carla to get ready. Fortunately this didn't take too long and they were soon on their way out again. A few minutes later the two were at the pool and they had found a place to put their things. After they had staked their claim Tracey jumped into the pool and waited for Carla to slide in behind him. Once she had, he smiled at her and pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Then Tracey lay back in the water and began to float, just letting the water carry him as he held Carla's hand. "Hey. You okay?" Carla whispered after a moment. "Yeah. I was just thinking about all of the activity that has gone on in just the past 24 hours. I mean, man, my life has changed completely and I am the happiest that I have ever been. But there is one slight down side to all of this beauty." Tracey said as he reached out to touch Carla's face. "What's the down side?" Carla was not expecting this and it made her a little nervous. "It's just that there has been so much going on today and my energy is zapped. I am completely exhausted. But it's a good kind of exhaustion." "Hmm. Well I'm a little cold in this water so I have an idea. Why don't we move and go relax in the hot tub for a few minutes. At least its warmer there." Carla suggested as she climbed out of the pool and held a hand down for Tracey to follow. "Yeah. That sounds like a very appealing idea. I'm right with you." Tracey smiled, taking Carla's hand as he climbed out of the pool and led her to the hot tub a few feet away. After a few minutes of relaxing in the hot tub all of the activity of the day started to weigh on Tracey and he leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. Carla noticed this and smiled as she put her arm around him and pulled him closer. "I have a pretty good idea. Why don't we go to your room so you can change into some dry clothes and then we can go back to my room and watch television for a while? How does that sound to you?" Carla whispered in Tracey's ear. "That has got to be the sweetest sounding idea that I have heard all day. I am totally wiped out. I don't remember the last time I was this tired so kicking back and watching television to relax is music to my ears." Tracey said as he and Carla gathered their things and went back to let Tracey change so they could go and relax in her room.
* * * * *
In the meantime, at the opposite end of the deck from where their friends were, Ash and Misty were sitting eating ice cream with Pikachu at a table that had a beautiful view of the ocean. Ash noticed then that Misty had a sense of peace about her that she hadn't had since they had arrived onboard. This made him smile because when Misty was happy, Ash was also happy. "Huh. You look pretty content. Do you mind if I ask what it is that you are thinking about?" "Well, if you would really like to know, I was thinking about yesterday and last night because it was when the nightmare that I was fighting ended and all of my best dreams started coming true. To be honest with you that is all that I have been thinking about pretty much all day." Misty whispered honestly. "Pi pikachu ka pika chu, Pikachupi." (That was very sweet, Misty) Pikachu whispered to her between bites of ice cream. Ash, on the other hand, was so moved by what Misty had just said to him that he couldn't say anything so he just pulled her close to him and hugged her with all of his strength.
* * * * *
Brock and Angelica were off in their own little world together and were so oblivious to everything but each other that a major catastrophe could have erupted right next to them and they would never have noticed it. After a few minutes the new couple decided to take a walk around the deck and just keep enjoying each other's company for as long as they possibly could. "Hey, are you enjoying this half as much as I am?" Brock asked. "No. I'm enjoying it twice as much." Angelica gave Brock a quick hug. "Hey, I'll tell you something that I bet you hadn't heard." "Well what's that, beautiful angel." "You know the island where we were today. Well it's not really surprising that we met while we were on the way to said island because that particular island has a nickname. The legend goes that over the years, many people have had one or more of their long time dreams come true on or in the vacinity of that island so they call it 'The Island Where Dreams Come True'. Sounds interesting doesn't it?" Angelica explained as Brock listened in amazement. "How in the world do you know all of that? If you had made a bet that I didn't know what you told me then you would have won hands down." Brock chuckled. "Well I like to do my homework before I travel somewhere so that I know all about it. Just think, if I hadn't then you would never have known that interesting little tidbit of information." Angelica countered with a wink. "Hey, I have a very nice idea. Why don't we go back to my room and see if we can't find a movie or something on. Does that sound like a good idea to you?" Brock asked. "Yep. I'm up for watching a movie with you. In fact I haven't heard a better idea." Angelica said as she and Brock walked inside from the deck hand in hand and headed down to the room that they had left about two hours before.
* * * * *
After a quick stop for Tracey to change into something a little less wet, he and Carla had arrived in her room to watch television and just relax. As soon as Carla had finished changing after a momentary disappearance into the bathroom, the two sat down on one of the beds and turned the television on. It didn't take very long for the two to find something on that they wanted to watch. Once they decided on a show, Tracey stretched out across the bed and Carla sat close to him. Luckily they chose to watch something that Tracey had already seen before because he was so comfortable that he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to stay awake. Tracey had had such an eventful and exhausting day and he was so incredibly tired that as Carla put her arm around him and pulled him closer to her, it became increasingly more difficult for him to keep his eyes open. This was a fact that Carla soon noticed. "Hey. You okay, Tracey?" "Yeah. Just a little sleepy, I guess. Other than that I'm fine." Tracey's voice betrayed the increasing drowsiness that he was trying to hide from her. "I can tell you're pulling my leg. It's obvious that you are hardly awake right now. Why don't you just rest for awhile? You've had a really long day and you could use the rest. I promise if you drift off that I'll wake you before it gets too terribly late." Carla smiled softly. "That sounds very nice." Tracey yawned. Then he rested his head against Carla and closed his eyes while she held him close to her. Within moments all of the day's activity had caught up to him and Tracey was sound asleep in Carla's embrace.
* * * * *
Back in their room, Ash and Misty were lying on their bed watching a science fiction movie when they heard the sound of the lock mechanism tripping and the door opened. Ash looked up and saw Brock and Angelica walking into the room holding hands and smiling. "Hey guys." Brock greeted them. "Hey. Did you guys get tired of star gazing?" Ash asked. "Not really. We just decided that we wanted to come back down here and watch a movie. You guys don't mind a little company do you because we can always go somewhere else." Brock offered. "No way. We don't mind in the least bit to have you hang out here with us." Misty cut in suddenly. "Misty's right. Please join us." Ash agreed. "Okay, thanks. What exactly are you guys watching?" Angelica asked as she sat on the bunk where Brock was sprawled out. "Honestly I don't really know the name of it. All we know is that it's a science fiction. Pretty interesting movie though." Misty answered quietly. About an hour and a half later, it suddenly occurred to Ash that they were missing one of the original members of their party. It was almost 11:30 and no one had seen or heard from Tracey, or Carla for that matter, in over two hours. "Hey, I was just thinking. Has anyone seen Tracey? I wonder where in the world he got to." Ash said. "He's probably somewhere with Carla, Ash. You shouldn't worry. Don't forget, we are on a ship so there are so many places that he could have gone." Brock tried to be reassuring although he also wondered about Tracey's whereabouts. "Yeah. I guess you're right." Ash said before turning his attention back to the television screen.
* * * * *
At the same time, Carla looked at her watch, noted the late hour and decided that she needed to attempt to wake Tracey. She reached over and gently shook his shoulder and gave him a kiss on the head. Slowly enough, Tracey opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Hey. Did you have a good rest?" Carla whispered. "Yeah. I guess I'm more wiped out than I thought. What time is it?" Tracey yawned. "It's 11:30. You slept for almost two hours." "Oh man. As much as I enjoy this, I'm really going to have to get back. Ash, Misty and Brock will more than likely send out a search party after me if not." Tracey said as he stood up and stretched. "Okay. I'll walk with you. Is that okay?" Carla said. "Yeah. I'd like the company." Tracey smiled sleepily as he and Carla walked out into the hallway.
* * * * *
The movie that the others were watching still had about 45 minutes left when they heard voices outside the door and a few moments later Tracey walked in looking very tired but also very happy. "Hey pal. We were getting a little worried about you." Brock greeted his friend with a smile and Angelica smiled as well. "Sorry guys. After we got finished swimming and everything we went back to Carla's room to watch television and I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep. She woke me up and we walked back down here." Tracey replied as he climbed up onto his bed and fell asleep without even bothering to change. Brock and Angelica just looked at each other, shrugged, and turned their attention back to the end of the movie. By the time the movie ended it was after midnight. Angelica sat up and accidentally bumped her head on the upper bed gaining her a tired chuckle from Brock. She kissed him softly on the cheek and smiled. "That hurt. You think that's funny?" Angelica teased. "No. Of course not. It's just not everyday that something like that happens." Brock smiled at her. Angelica looked at her watch and grunted. "It's 12:15. I'm going to have to get going." "Why do you have to leave now? I'd like you to stay a little longer." Brock complained. "I know you would but I have to head back and go to bed." Angelica paused a moment to look around the room. "Tracey is completely zonked, Ash and Misty have fallen asleep and from the looks of it you're just about there yourself. We'll see each other tomorrow but neither one of us is going to be in the mood to have any fun if we don't get some sleep. So I'm going to do that and I will see you first thing in the morning so we can all have breakfast." "Okay. At least let me walk you to the door then." Brock said as he stood up and stretched his arms out. "Nothing would please me more right now." Angelica smiled as Brock walked her out and took her in his arms. Then they shared in a long goodnight kiss, as time seemed to stand still. "Goodnight, Brock." Angelica smiled breathlessly. "Night, babe. See you in the morning." Brock replied as his angel disappeared down the hall. Brock then turned and went back in the room and quietly closed the door behind him, being very careful not to awaken his three sleeping friends, and changed clothes before climbing up and crawling into his bed. He lay there for a few minutes thinking about the newfound feelings that he had for Angelica. Brock drifted off to sleep thinking of how special she was to him.
A/N: To anyone who is regularly following this story sorry it took me so long to update but I have been through a lot lately. My birthday was the beginning of this month, I have been working, I had my wisdom teeth cut out and I have been wrestling with a killer case of writer's block. Ironically enough, the surgery is what broke it. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this newest chapter. Please R&R so I can post the next chapter, which is in the works, as soon as I finish. If you would like to e-mail me my e-mail address is rachelcooper@hotmail.com. I check my e-mail regularly. But please still keep leaving those reviews. They help a whole lot. ~Rachel