Just when things seem bleak for Ash, he figures out Gary's secret: Poison is weak to Psychic. With this thought in mind, he completely decimates Gary's remaining Pokemon, claiming a victory! Although he accepts the defeat humbly, Gary tells Ash that they WILL meet again.
With three victories and a good place in the tournament secured, the Pokepals take an opportunity to reflect on where they have been, where they are now, and where they will go from there.
Do these old pictures hold a lesson for our heroes? Find out!
The Heart of the Cards, part 13: Memories
The group was just finishing up their dinner when there was a knock at the door. "Yes?" Ash called.
"It's me, Maya. May I come in?" Maya replied.
"Just a moment..." Ash helped Misty clear the table, then went over and let Maya in. "So...any news on the tournament?" he asked as he placed his dishes in the sink.
"I do have some news, but it can wait for now." Maya replied as she stretched out on the couch and waited as Misty brought out a large black book with 'PHOTOS: ORANGE ISLANDS' on the cover.
"Okay guys, gather 'round!" Misty called as she pulled up a chair for herself and opened the photo album. "Here we are at the Pokemart, getting ready to go to Valencia Island." she explained as she pointed out the first picture: the group standing outside the Pokemart.
"Here's Brock being silly for the camera." Ash explained, pointing at the next picture.
Maya took a glance at the stupid face Brock was making in the picture and chuckled as Misty turned the page. "Here's the dining hall on the blimp we traveled on."
"Kinda drab-looking..." Maya commented.
"Course, we found out later it was all a trap by Team Rocket!" Misty explained. She raised her eyebrows when she saw the next picture: a side view of the floor, with a big pink blob taking up most of the picture. "Huh?"
"I think in all the confusion that followed, you dropped the camera..." Ash began.
"...then Jigglypuff found it and accidently pressed the shutter, taking that picture." Brock explained. "I managed to get a better shot of Jigglypuff here..." and he pointed out the next picture: Jigglypuff peeking out from under a tablecloth.
"What happened?" Maya was curious.
"It's a long story..." Misty sighed as she pointed to the next picture. "This is Nurse Joy..."
"...and this is Misty dragging Brock away by the ear after he attempted a singing cowboy routine in front of Nurse Joy!" Ash laughed at the next picture, which depicted Misty dragging Brock, in full cowboy costume, away from the counter. A crowd stood in the background, curious to the scene. Ash stood in a corner, his face beet red.
"That explains the chaps, bandanna, spurs, boots, the ten gallon hat, and the guitar..." Maya giggled. "Wonder what he was singing?"
"A really flat and off-key rendition of 'Home on the Range'" Misty grumbled. "I mean, his guitar playing's good...but his singing was getting on my nerves!"
"I do look the part, don't I, pardner?" Brock asked, playfully nudging Pikachu.
"Pipipika!" Pikachu replied. With that, he hopped off the couch and skittered off into the other room.
Misty stiffled a giggle at the next picture: Ash yelling something. "Hey, Nurse Joy, aim for the guitar!" she joked, doing a PERFECT impression of Ash.
"Who said Nurse Joy was looking for something to throw?" Ash mused. He smirked at the next picture: Nurse Joy looking embarrassed. "Nurse Joy is not amused." he commented in a dry voice, causing everyone to laugh.
"Oh! My favorite picture, right here!" Brock enthusiastically pointed at a picture of a young girl waving to the group. "This is Professor Ivy, the girl I stayed with."
"She's beautiful...." Maya commented.
"I even wrote a song for her." Brock continued. "Wanna hear it?"
"Yeah!" Maya and Ash chorused.
"I guess...but it better not be as bad as your last songwriting attempt..." Misty mused as she set Togepi down on her lap. "Although I will admit, you had a nice tune the last time..."
"Ivy liked it, so I hope you do too." Brock assured Misty as he stood up and stretched. "Be right back...gotta find my guitar." and he strolled off into the other room.
Misty smiled. "Well, if Brock's going to play his guitar and sing, this might not be so bad..." she thought as she bounced Togepi on her lap. "Besides, he sounds better when he plays..." Just then, Togepi started to chirp excitedly as the notes of a guitar being tuned drifted into the room. "You excited?" she cooed. "You wanna hear Brock sing, hmm?"
"Togi la la la la...." Togepi replied.
"I think he wants to hear you sing..." Misty commented as Brock settled into his chair, guitar in hand.
"Well, at least I have one fan..." Brock laughed as he double checked his tuning. "Okay...everyone ready?"
"Yeah!" the others cheered.
"Okay..." and Brock started a relaxing, but strangely catchy, melody...
(verse 1)Well, I've lived to love life, and now I'm looking back
It's the end of the road, the last stop on the track
And I smile as I think of my true love once more,
The light of my life, the one I adore!
(chorus) She...she was the prize,
The prettiest girl and the loveliest eyes...
She...she was the prize,
Shiny black hair and those lovely,
Those lovely brown eyes...
Ash started to snap his fingers along with the melody as Brock continued:
(verse 2) Well, I met her one night, thus began our romance
I longed for a whisper, I hoped for a glance
Then, she turned, and she smiled, and I melted away,
And I knew I'd be with her till my dying day!
(chorus) She...she was the prize,
The prettiest girl and the loveliest eyes...
She...she was the prize,
Shiny black hair and those lovely,
Those lovely brown eyes...
(verse 3) We lay on the cliffs, and we walked hand in hand
We threw stones at the waves, and drew hearts in the sand
Without warning, clouds rolled in, and blackened the sun,
And when they rolled out, my light...she was gone!
(chorus) She...she was the prize,
The prettiest girl and the loveliest eyes...
She...she was the prize,
Shiny black hair and those lovely,
Those lovely brown eyes...
Misty looked over at Togepi, who was moving his head in rhythm to the music, apparently mesmerized by the pling-plung of the guitar. She smiled and tapped her foot as Brock began the final verse:
(verse 4) Now I've shed all my tears, and I've said my goodbyes
Now I'll lay myself down where my pretty girl lies
When I awake, I'll be honest, or more,
I'll be dancing a jig with the girl I adore!
(chorus) She...she was the prize,
The prettiest girl and the loveliest eyes...
She...she was the prize,
Shiny black hair and those lovely,
Those lovely brown eyes...
Those lovely brown eyes...
Those lovely brown eyes...
Those lovely brown eyes...
Brock continued to play for a little longer, then gave the strings one last strum, ending the song.
Misty was impressed. "Wow! That was actually a GOOD song, Brock!" she exclaimed.
"Bravo!" Maya led the applause. Ash whistled in agreement.
"Thank you..." Brock stood up and took a bow for his audience...
"Gi To-iiii!" Togepi begged.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked as he returned, dragging a second photo album behind him.
"You missed a good song, Pikachu." Ash replied. "I'll record Brock singing it later..."
"Pika!" and Pikachu gestured to the album he had found: a deep blue album with 'PHOTOS: HOUEN' on the cover.
"Pikachu wants you to see our Houen pictures next." Ash said to Misty.
"After we go through the Orange Island album." Misty reminded Ash, turning the page.
"Gi gi to-iiiii!!!" Togepi asked Brock, "playing" a pantomime guitar.
"Okay, okay, I'll do some background music for the pictures..." and Brock started another song as Ash studied the next page in the photo album.
"Here's a few pictures of her lab..." Ash commented as he glanced at the pictures. One of them showed Ivy's attendants examining a Vileplume, another picture depicted Ivy writing, and a third showed a group of Butterfrees congregated around a bush.
"The Vileplumes and Butterfrees are cute..." Maya noted as she leaned over to get a better look at the Butterfree picture.
"And here's Brock the Wonder Cleaner!" Misty joked, pointing at several pictures of several rooms of the Ivy house: one set of pictures showing the rooms in their original, messy state, complete with 'BEFORE' underneath them, the second set depicting Brock working, vacuuming, dusting, sweeping the floors, washing dishes, taking out the trash, and other chores. The set marked 'AFTER' showed the now clean rooms, complete with Brock smiling with pride over his work.
"Here's Brock and Ivy seeing us off..." Ash commented on the next picture: Brock, Ivy, and her attendants waving goodbye as Ash and Misty boarded a blimp.
Misty laughed over the next picture. "All hail the mighty Jigglypuff!" she joked, pointing out the picture of Ash kneeling before Jigglypuff.
"Here's Tangelo Island, where we landed." Ash explained, pointing at a picture of an island. Misty made a silly face at a passing Squirtle as the Ash in the picture laughed. "Pikachu figured out how to work the camera, so he took that picture."
"Here..." Misty pointed out Tracey in the next picture, battling three bullies as Ash looked on in the background. "This was our traveling companion, Tracey."
"So that's the famous Tracey you guys met this afternoon?" Brock asked.
"Yeah..." Ash replied.
"He looks pretty confident that he'll win in that picture." Brock mused. He moved his chair so that he was close to Misty, then took a good look at the picture as he continued his island song. "What's that blue blob in the background, close to Ash?" he asked, pointing out a large blue mass at the edge of the picture.
"That blue thing by Ash is supposed to be a Lapras, but I had a problem with the focus, so the Lapras came out all blurry." Misty explained as she turned the page. "This next page started a new roll of film."
Brock looked over at the next picture: Ash with a scared look on his face as Tracey yelled about something. "What's this all about?"
"Oh, I just told him Misty and I knew Professor Oak and...that happened, long story short." Ash stammered. He pointed out the next picture, which had scribbles all over it. "I call this one 'Jigglypuff Strikes Again!'" he joked.
"Yeah, Jigglypuff ruined that picture, which was SUPPOSED to be of a sunset..." Misty grumbled.
"Here we are, fixing to set sail on Lapras." Ash explained, pointing out the picture. Ash, Misty, and the Pokemon stood nearby Lapras, smiling as they climbed aboard.
"Here's a view of Maikan Island at sunrise." Misty pointed out the picture.
"Wow..." Maya was impressed.
"Ash in front of the Maikan Gym..." The next picture depicted Ash smiling confidently with the Gym in the background.
"What happened here?" Maya asked, pointing at a picture of Ash dripping wet.
"The Gym Leader's attendant sprayed me with water as I stopped to grab a coconut." Ash explained. "I wish Tracey hadn't taken that picture..."
"Here's some shots of the Gym from inside." Misty explained as she turned the page. "The stands...Tracey running up to get a good seat....more of the stands...the Gym Leader's chamber...and my personal favorite: Tracey notices the camera right as I snapped it." she joked, pointing at a picture of Tracey looking up from his sketchbook in surprise.
"I like the 'Uh oh....' look on his face!" Brock laughed.
"And if you want a pretty face to drool over, Brock..." Misty pointed out the next picture. "This is Sissy, the Gym Leader."
"Hmm..." Brock studied the Sissy picture for a moment. "I like that hairstyle...how did the battle against her go?"
"Well, it wasn't a battle per se, it was more like an athletic competition!" Ash chuckled. He gestured to picture of a pool with a row of cans in the middle. "The 'battlefield', if you will."
"What did you have to do, play a shell game with the cans in the water?" Maya asked, curious.
"No...our Pokemon had to knock the cans over with Water Gun." Ash explained. "Here's Squirtle getting ready to try his luck with the cans." he noted, pointing out a picture of Squirtle doing a battle pose.
"What happened to you here?" Brock pointed out a picture of Ash squished against a palm tree. Tracey, Pikachu, and Lapras stood laughing in the background.
"Let's just say he went slip-sliding away....literally." Misty giggled, pointing at the ice floes in the water. "Ash celebrates getting the Coral Eye Badge." she explained, pointing at a picture of Ash dancing with joy as he held a small pink object in his hand.
Brock squinted at the picture. "Where? I can't see the badge."
"Me neither!" Maya complained. "Is is supposed to be that little pink thing he's holding?"
"Okay, okay, here's a close up of it I took after Ash calmed down a little...he was pretty pumped after winning the wave race." Misty mused as she pointed out the picture of the small badge in Ash's hand. "Here we are on Mandarin Island." she explained as she turned the page.
Brock looked at the picture of Ash getting showered with ticker tape. "What did Ash do to deserve a parade?" he asked.
"That was his reward from the mayor after he stopped the resident Rocket grunts, Butch and Cassidy, from controlling all the Pokemon." Misty began...
"Was there a marching band?" Brock asked.
"Yeah, you can see them in front of us." Ash pointed out some drummers in the background.
"And baton twirlers?"
"Yes."
"And a flagline?"
"Yes."
"And drum majors?"
"Yes..."
"And bagpipes?"
Misty groaned in disgust. "Don't remind me about the bagpipes, Ash...I had 'Mandarin the Brave' ringing in my ears for days afterward!"
"Yes, we even had bagpipes...much to Misty's chagrin." Ash sighed. "Is there anything ELSE you want to know about the parade, Brock?"
"Not anymore." Brock replied. "Let's move along to the next island."
"Agreed." Maya sighed.
"All right!" Ash leaned back in his chair as Misty turned the page. "The next pictures tell about one of our biggest adventures in the Orange Islands!"
"Oh, really?" Brock asked, interested.
"Yeah, we encountered a crystal Onix!" Misty exclaimed. "Ash, you can start the story..."
"Okay, I will." Ash moved closer to the photo album so he could point out the appropriate pictures. "Brock, some appropriate music, please..." Brock started another tropical melody as Ash began: "As we sailed to the next island, Sunburst..."
"Sailing, sailing over the bounding main," Brock interuppted, playing a rollicking melody. "We won't step from our sailing ship till Ash comes home again!..." He was about to sing more of the song until Misty gave him the Look. "Sorry..." He quickly resumed his earlier song.
Ash sighed. "ANYWAY....we received a message in a bottle from a girl named Marisa. She was curious as to whether or not we'd seen a crystal Onix."
"Here's a picture of her and her brother, Mateo." Misty explained, pointing out a picture of Ash posing with a young red-haired girl, with a boy in a red apron standing in the background. "We took it after we found the crystal Onix..."
"Well, Mateo wanted to see the crystal Onix more than his sister did." Ash continued, "primarily because he needed inspiration for his glass artwork. His grandfather had seen the crystal Onix many years ago, inspiring his own artwork. Mateo wanted to see if seeing the Onix would inspire him too. So, we all went down to the cave where the Onix supposedly lived..."
"Here's Tracey telling Marill where to find the Onix..." Misty explained, pointing out a picture of Tracey stooped beside his Marill.
"So after exploring the cave and getting chased by Team Rocket..." Ash continued, "we found the Onix! He wasn't too happy with Team Rocket for intruding on his territory, so we managed to get a few good shots of him moving..." He gestured to scenes of Team Rocket running from a blue Onix, taken from different angles. "Mateo was so happy for us helping him, he gave us some statues of our Pokemon." He pointed out a very realistic statuette of a Pikachu in the next picture.
"How cute, a pink Squirtle!" Maya cooed, pointing out a pink Squirtle napping in the grass in the next picture.
"That was taken on Pinkan Island...so named because of all the pink Pokemon there." Ash explained.
"Some more pink Pokemon..." Misty thumbed through a few pages of the album that were devoted to the unusual Pokemon. "And yes, I snapped a picture of Officer Jenny for you, Brock..." she giggled as she displayed a picture of Officer Jenny saluting.
"You know...I think I'll write a song about Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy!" Brock chuckled. With that, he set to work figuring out chords for a melody.
"Here we are helping an exacavation crew dig up Kabuto fossils." Ash explained, gesturing to a page of Kabuto pictures.
"So that's where they get all the Kabuto fossils..." Maya mused, impressed.
"Here's Ash doing his first attempt at voice acting on a showboat theater!" Misty giggled at the picture of Ash looking puzzled at a script. "Do I have to say that?" she joked in her Ash voice.
"Voice acting?" Brock asked. "What for?"
"Well...we met this girl, Kay, at the showboat theater." Ash explained. "and she did voice acting for her Raichu. The only problem was, the Raichu didn't want a thing to do with "speaking", so Kay couldn't act. Then Team Rocket came and crashed the show! After we chased them off, Kay was so happy, she asked me to act with her in that nights show!"
"What's it like voice acting?" Brock was quite interested.
"Well...it's kinda like having your hands tied behind your back and being told "Act!". You can't use the rest of your body, so you have to rely on your voice for everything." Ash explained.
"Did you have to sing while you acted?" Maya asked.
"Yeah..." Ash replied. "It's even harder to sing and stay in character, but Kay told me afterwards that I did a great job!"
"Ooh! Show Brock and Maya your Pikachu voice!" Misty begged.
"Okay...let me get into character here..." Ash cleared his throat, then spoke in a high pitched voice: "Greetings everyone, and welcome to the Pokemon Showboat!" Brock and Maya applauded.
"Why did the Pikachu cross the road?" Brock asked Ash.
"To prove the trainer that it wasn't chicken!" Ash replied in his Pikachu voice. Togepi thought this was wildly funny, and he laughed so hard, he nearly fell off of Misty's lap.
"That sounds great!" Maya giggled. "Do some singing, please!"
"'Kay!" Ash replied in his Pikachu voice, then returned to his normal voice for a moment. "Uh, Brock? Do you know the song 'Island Lady'?
"Yeah, I can play that..." Brock assured Ash as he tuned a little more. "I can't wait to hear you sing as Pikachu!"
"This ought to be good!" Maya smiled as she relaxed on the sofa.
"You ready?" Brock asked Ash. Ash nodded and struck a dance pose. "Okay, I'm counting you off....and one, two, three, four..." he began to play a mildly catchy tune, over which Ash sang in his Pikachu voice:
As I came in through Saffron City at the hour of twelve at night,
Who should I spy but an island lady washing her feet by the candlelight.
First she washed them, then she dried them, over a fire of amber coals....
In all my life I ne'er did see a maid so sweet about the soul...
What for me toora loora laddy, what for me toora loora lay....
What for me toora loora laddy, what for me toora loora hey, hey hey! Brock chimed in with Ash on the chorus...
----------
"This is Marina, a Golduck trainer." Misty explained, pointing out a picture of a girl posing with a Golduck. "We rescued her Golduck, and I managed to control him enough to scare Team Rocket away!"
"All by yourself?" Maya was impressed. Misty nodded confidently. "That is so cool!"
Misty just smiled as she turned the page. "For a moment, I really thought my own Psyduck had evolved!" Everyone laughed at this. "Okay...Here is a Nurse Joy that looks a little different from your typical nurse..." she giggled, displaying the picture of a tan Nurse Joy to Brock.
"Perfect!" Brock suddenly exclaimed. "That picture just gave me the inspiration to write a Nurse Joy verse to my song!" With that, he set his guitar on a nearby stand, moved his chair to a nearby desk, grabbed a sheet of paper with music notes on it, and began writing. "Nurse...Joy....won't you please......" he wrote.
"How does the Officer Jenny verse go?" Maya asked.
"It goes like this..." and Brock began to read:
"Officer Jenny, can't you see?
You can lock me up and throw away the key.
Jenny, if lovin' you's a crime
Sentence me now, and I'll do the time!
My uniformed beauty's simply the best!
She's got my heart under house arrest!
But before that girl makes me her boy,
I'm head over heels...I'm head over heels for a nurse named Joy."
"And the chorus?" Ash asked.
"My personal favorite part so far!" Brock replied. "It goes:
'Jenny, oh Jenny...
Joy, oh Joy...
A one woman man's what I wanna be,
But there's two perfect girls for me!'
"Are you sure you didn't write 'two bazillion', or was two all that could fit on the paper?" Misty asked sarcastically.
"I figured that I didn't need that many zeroes, so I just wrote two." Brock replied, playing along with Misty. With that, he returned to writing, all the while listening as Misty continued to describe the other events captured in the album.
---------
"...and that concludes the Orange Island album." Misty concluded, closing up the album and putting it away.
"It sounds like you guys had fun out there in the Islands!" Maya smiled. "I wish I could go there one day..."
"Now for the Houen pictures!" Ash reached for the Houen album and opened it. "One last picture of Misty as we...or rather, I...set out to Houen. Misty entrusted me with the camera, so I took most of these at the beginning."
"Who's that?" Maya pointed out a picture of a brown haired girl with a red Poke Ball print bandanna on her head.
"This is May, my friend in Houen." Ash explained. "You know, the one I was writing a letter to a few days ago?
"Oh, that May!" Maya exclaimed. "Did you ever hear back from her?"
Ash sighed. "Not yet...it's been so long since I've heard from her...Once we got to Petalburg City, I tried to challenge May's dad, Norman, and failed."
"Hmm, who's this guy next to May?" Misty asked, pointing out a young black haired boy in the next picture.
"That's Max, May's little brother." Ash explained. "He might be small, but he's got enough brains to put an Alakazam to shame!"
"And this is where I rescued Ash and the others..." Brock explained, pointing out a picture depicting Forretress battling while May and Max looked on, horrified.
"May found the camera and took the next picture." Ash explained, showing off the picture of Ash and Brock hugging each other...
----------
"Wow...you guys have certainly been through a lot!" Maya began as the group got ready for bed. "Before I leave though, I'll share my news with you."
"What is it? A new challenge?" Ash asked.
"Actually, it's something called the Triple Challenge...you duel three opponents, and if you win, you get a rare card!" Maya explained. "Interested?"
"Cool!" Ash was excited.
"We're gonna go for it!" Misty agreed as she snuggled up in her covers.
"All right, guys...see you in the morning." and Maya turned out the light as she left.
What kind of surprises await our heroes in the Triple Challenge? Stay tuned!