"The sunset is so lovely tonight," Delia sighed. "All red and pink and orange. I think everyone should just stop whatever they're doing and go watch it."
"Like we're doing?" Samuel said, finishing his glass of wine.
Delia nodded. "It's nice just being here with you. Sitting on the beach, drinking a glass of wine, and watching the sunset. Just relaxing and enjoying ourselves."
"We should do this more often, Delia," Samuel said, moving closer to her. "I really enjoy being with you."
"I enjoy being with you too, Samuel," Delia smiled. "It's certainly better than the last time we came to the beach, wasn't it?"
Samuel groaned. "Oh, don't remind me about that! I think half of Pallet Town still hasn't forgiven me for giving them food poisoning at the beach party last summer."
"It's not your fault. You didn't know that the potato salad you brought was over a year past the expiration date."
"But the rest of Pallet Town soon found out. People throwing up right and left…oh, that was awful."
Delia reached over and patted her friend's back comfortingly. "But we all recovered. And you were so nice to me when I was ill. You took me back to your beach cabin, let me rest in your bed, and even held the wastebasket while I threw up in it."
"Until I started throwing up, too."
"And then I held the wastebasket for you. And afterwards we were both so wiped out from being sick that we fell asleep on your bed and didn't wake up until the next morning. That was when I lost my favorite pink sweater, remember? I must've misplaced it in between vomiting spells."
"This year I'm going to stick with something safe, like potato chips…assuming Pallet Town even invites me back to the beach party."
"Oh, they will. Especially if I have something to say about it, they will." Delia kissed her friend softly on the cheek. "You know, sometimes I think about that night. Even though we were both so sick, it was nice having you lying there next to me."
"Same here, Delia." Samuel moved closer, intending to kiss her on the lips, when a loud splash made them both whirl around in surprise.
"Oh, look!" Delia cried. A large orange and white fish with a horn on its forehead leapt out of the water, did a graceful flip, then dived back into the ocean with a loud splash.
"That's a male Goldeen," Samuel said, pulling away from Delia and grabbing his binoculars.
"How can you tell?"
"They're a little bit smaller than the females, although the horn on their forehead is larger. And their coloration is slightly brighter…look! There's a female now." He pointed to another Goldeen that had just surfaced. The fish Pokémon began to look around expectantly, then the first Goldeen suddenly appeared with a loud cry and did a flip in front of the female.
"The female chooses the male that can jump the highest because they're the strongest and most agile," Samuel explained, handing Delia the binoculars.
Another male appeared and began leaping alongside the female Goldeen. The first male, seeing that he had competition, turned to face the interloper, then charged.
"What are they doing?" Delia asked.
"They're going to have a duel for the female," Samuel explained.
"A duel? What do you mean, Samuel?"
"Just watch, Delia. You'll see."
The first male waved the horn on its forehead threateningly in the direction of the second male. The second male charged back, and the two locked horns then traded blows in a manner reminiscent of two swordsmen fighting a duel.
"Oh! You're right, Samuel! It's like they are having a sword fight for the female. How romantic," Delia said.
The two Pokémon lunged at each other until the first Pokémon knocked the second one away with a sharp blow. The defeated male retreated and disappeared into the ocean. The female swam up to the victor and the two began swimming side by side. With a loud cry, the pair leapt up, somersaulted in unison, and then disappeared with a splash into the ocean.
"And now they'll mate," Samuel said. "And pretty soon they'll have Goldeen of their own."
"And they'll live happily ever after," Delia added. "Just like a fairy tale."
---
"Did you see that, Ash?" Misty said excitedly, pointing in the direction of the pair of Goldeen jumping in tandem in the distance.
"Yeah," replied Ash. "Are you gonna let your Goldeen go now?"
Misty nodded and threw her Poké ball. "Goldeen, I choose you!" With a bright flash, her fish Pokémon materialized in the water a few feet from the shore. It looked at its trainer expectantly, awaiting a command.
Misty, gulping back the lump that was forming in her throat, waded into the chilly surf, bent down, and gave her Pokémon a hug. "Goldeen, it's time for you to find a male Goldeen to go mate with." She pointed to the pair of Pokémon frolicking in the distance. "And even though I'm going to miss you, I want you to be happy more than anything. So go on out there and find yourself a really nice boy Goldeen." Misty gave her Pokémon a kiss on its forehead and headed back to shore.
Confused, the Pokémon continued to stare at its trainer. "Goldeen?"
"Go on, Goldeen," Misty said, pointing at a male Goldeen that was leaping in the moonlight. "He looks like a nice one."
Even though Goldeen didn't want to leave its trainer, it knew that it had to obey Misty's command. Reluctantly, it began to swim in the direction of the male Goldeen that was jumping so high that it was silhouetted against the moon.
"'Bye, Goldeen," Misty said, wiping away a tear.
Ash leaned over and gave his friend a hug. "Don't cry, Misty. I felt bad too when Butterfree left, but then when I saw how happy he was, I didn't feel so sad after that."
Misty sniffled and wiped her nose on the collar of Ash's jacket. "Thanks, Ash. That makes me feel a little bit better."
"Hey, look at that, Misty." Ash pointed in the direction of the male Goldeen frolicking in the moonlight. "Goldeen's trying to make friends with that other Goldeen."
The two friends watched as Misty's Goldeen approached the somersaulting male. Spying the unfamiliar female, it cautiously approached it. "Goldeen? Goldeen-goldeen?"
"Goldeen," Misty's Pokémon replied.
The male then answered by shooting a stream of water into Goldeen's face.
"Hey!" Misty shouted, shocked by the Pokémon's behavior. "What did you do that for?"
The male then turned and swam away from the sputtering female.
"I don't believe it! Why did he do such a mean thing like that to your Goldeen?" Ash said.
"That Pokémon's got some nerve!" Misty said angrily. "Don't worry about it, Goldeen. He looked like a jerk anyway!"
"Maybe this next one will be nicer," Ash said, pointing to another fish that was approaching Goldeen. But to his surprise, the second male did the same thing the first one did.
"Oh no!" Misty cried. "What's going on here?"