Chapter Three

Mallets, Shinies, Past Reflections and Contests

Our heroes have arrived at Mahogany City finally after a long journey. They just learned there is a water festival at the lake of rage and Misty is very eager to find to attend it. Misty was a great fan of water pokemon. She loved water pokemon. She adored water pokemon. Since she was a gym leader at the Cerulean gym, it would make sense. Her Psyduck just evolved to Golduck at the Whirl Islands Competition. The only thing Misty hated more was Bug Pokemon. Ever since Ash got his Caterpie, Misty expressed her opinion of bug Pokemon. Of course they were a few times that some Bug pokemon hadn't bug her, but that was rare. Ash was eager to catch some of the water pokemon as well. He actually wanted to catch more pokemon to become a Pokemon master. He has very few pokemon. The only water pokemon he had were Kingler and Totodile. Ash had released his Squirtle to rejoin the Squirtle Squad. Brock was wondering if Nurse Joy would be there. Brock would fail in love with any love he would come in contact with.

"All those water pokemon. Tentacruel and Gyarados, oh it isn't enchanting." said Misty.

Ash moaned once he heard this. He couldn't understand how Misty could Tentacruel and Gyarados were enchanting pokemon. He thought Misty didn't like Gyarados that much ever since that Pokemon fortune telling incident and since he found out from her sisters that she had a close encounter with a Gyarados. He knew that she liked Tentacruel because she liked Tentacool, which still bogged Ash's mind. How can something so ugly look so enchanting to a girl like Misty? Ash sighed as he looked at Misty. There must be something more to girls that he had thought.

"Only Misty would think Tentacruel and Gyarados are enchanting." Ash whispered to Brock

BAAAMMM!!!!! Misty hit Ash with her mallet. It was usually for hitting Brock, but Misty got a little angry. She heard what Ash had whispered to Brock. She knew Ash was immature but she never imagined that he would be this immature. Anything that came out of Ash's mouth seemed like a bomb waiting to go off. She put back her mallet and then faced Ash. She was still angry but what she said next was natural for Ash and Brock. She couldn't understand why Ash had to make a rude remark. Sure she did like Tentacruel and Tentacool, but there was no reason for Ash to make fun of her for it.

"If I want your opinion, then I will ask for it!!!!" Misty yelled with a mallet in her hand.

Brock was the one who had to separate those two. No matter what happened, those two always got into a fight. Maybe it had something to do with that bike that Ash borrowed from Misty. Could her frustration of the bike be the reason why she is always angry with him? Or is there something more? Brock wondered what it could be but then Brock gave up. Figuring that out was trying to unlock the secrets of the universe. He rather fall in love with the beautiful Nurse Joy or the wonderful Officer Jenny. He had encountered so many Officer Jenny's and Nurse Joys but neither of them would give them a time for date. The only girl who had fallen in love with him was obsessed to fall in love.

"Break it up, beside Ash has to check up with Professor Oak at the Pokemon center." Brock said calming Misty down.

Misty did calm down but she was a bit annoyed with Ash. How could he respect her feelings for pokemon, even water Pokemon? Brock was bad enough but she thought Ash was more mature. Misty sighed and turned towards the Pokemon center. She had to get to the Lake of Rage before all the good pokemon were gone. To be a water pokemon master, she must capture all water pokemon. Water Pokemon were the greatest pokemon ever. She adored water pokemon, but of course she like Togepi too.

"Fine, Ash, let's go" Misty said marching, "but we hadn't not be late for the water festival."

Ash and Company headed for the pokemon center. All the pokemon centers they have been to have a different style. The one in Viridian City was enormous and the one on route 18 looked like a cottage until you saw the Pokemon Center Symbol. This one had a bit of the Viridian City Pokemon Center quality and a bit of the Route 18 Pokemon Center quality. Entering the Pokemon Center, they saw trainers with their pokemon. Most of them were either to prepare for the Lake of Rage Festival or to battle the local gym leader around here. There were Sandslashes, Raichus, Arboks, Ninetales, Golducks and bunch of other pokemon. They looked around and they saw Nurse Joy. Brock rushed over to grab her hand.

"Nurse Joy, I want you to treat my broken heart and only your gentle hands can fix it."

Misty grabs Brocks ear and starts to drag him away. Brock always did this in front of Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny or some beautiful woman that he met. Of course he was attracted to them but they were never attracted to him. Well, there was one who fell in love with Brock, but Brock didn't have the same feeling for her until later and later was too late for Brock. Of course this girl was obsessed about getting married and that kind of threw the whole situation out of balance. She knew it must be hard on the ear but this always seemed to annoy her.

"If you wanted to disrupt my day, then face my mallet." said Misty.

Ash sighed and looked at Nurse Joy. He wondered why Misty had to pull his ear that hard. Brock was trying to fall in love but Misty kept on butting in. Ash would never understand. Ash also would never understand how there can be so many Nurse Joys and Officer Jenny's. How come there wasn't a pokemon center out there that had a different Nurse other than Nurse Joy? How come there wasn't a Police Station out there that had a Police Officer other than Officer Jenny? Ash gave up this barrage of questions because it was like asking was the square root of 4545453674568923589235.

"I am sorry, but is there a message from Professor Oak?" Ash asked.

"Yes, he called me to tell you to call him." Nurse Joy said.

Ash walked over to the phone and dialed Professor Oak's number. He waited for Professor Oak to answer. He wondered how Bulbasaur was doing. There was a dispute going on at the Professor's lab so he lent Bulbasaur. According to Professor Oak's report, there was a dispute going on between grass pokemon. Ash knew the situation because he had to stop a dispute between Bellossom and Vileplume. Ash sighed because he hadn't seen Bulbasaur ever since the dispute. He also wondered how his other pokemon were doing. He had only seen Kingler since the Whirl Island Championships. Kingler had won him his first round in the Indigo League Championship. Ash remembered that day if it was yesterday. Ash shook his head. No time for that, Ash thought as Professor Oak face appeared on the vid-screen.

"Hello Professor Oak speaking. Oh Ash, how are you?"

Professor Oak was one of the top researchers in the field of Pokemon. Ash learned that from Tracey when Misty and he meet Tracey at Tangelo Island. Tracey had been an enormous fan of Professor Oak and decided to join their trip through the Orange Islands to meet the Professor. Now Tracey was getting his wish and working side by side with Professor Oak.

"Fine, Professor, I got some new Pokemon and learned some new stuff that you might be interested in but that will have to wait. The water festival at Lake of Rage and Misty wants to go." Ash explained.

New Pokemon? Could that be the pokemon egg that Ash won in the Pokemon Egg Race Contest? Professor Oak assumed that must be the same pokemon egg because Gary had called earlier. Gary told him that he participated in a Pokemon Egg Race Contest with Ash and Ash had won. Actually it was an Extreme Pokemon Race where trainers used their pokemon to compete in a race. Ash won due to his partnership with Bayleef. Professor Oak wanted to know type of Pokemon hatched from the egg but there were more important things than Pokemon eggs. He knew that the Lake of Rage had an important pokemon that every trainer would be after. He had to tell Ash about the Red Gyarados which would attract any trainer including Team Rocket.

"Ah, the lake of rage. That was what I was going to tell you. There is a red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage. They give a trophy to the trainer that captures it. Of course, my grandson Gary has his eye on it and so according to reports does Team Rocket." explained Professor Oak.

Of course Gary would be there. A rare pokemon would even attract Gary and certainly Team Rocket. Ash had to catch it before Gary did. Having a Red Gyarados would certainly make his collection of pokemon much better. He already had a shiny but small Noctowl. Why not go for another rare pokemon, Ash thought. Ash knew he had to catch it and he hoped that he could stop Team Rocket from stealing it also. A rare Pokemon like that would be dangerous in the wrong hands.

"Okay, Professor, I am on my way" Ash replied after turning the computer off. Then Ash turned to Misty to say, "It's time to head off to the Lake of Rage and the Water Pokemon Festival."

Misty was happy that she was finally going to see Lake of Rage's famous water pokemon. She knew that the Lake of Rage was a favorite place for Water Pokemon trainers, even if it included Gyarados. Ash was happy that he was going to catch another rare pokemon. This would bring him closer and closer to be the world's Pokemon Master. Brock was happy that he might meet Officer Jenny. Since the Lake of Rage had a competition, any police force would be there to might sure there wasn't going to be any trouble. The three headed out of the Pokemon center and towards the path to the Lake of Rage but before they could get out of Mahogany Town, a trainer approached Ash.

"Have you heard?" The trainer asked Ash.

"Heard what?" Ash asked back.

"A upcoming trainer named Lawrence is challenging all trainers at the arcade." The trainer said back.

"There is an video arcade in Mahogany Town?" Misty asked.

"Yes, it is right here in the guide book. Maybe trainers visit before or after their gym battle. They say that there are the best video games there." Brock explained to Misty.

"I don't care about video games. I care about Pokemon battles." Ash said confidently.

"But Lawrence is good at Dance Dance Revolution! No one can beat him!" The trainer exclaimed.

"Did you say Dance Dance Revolution??" Ash asked.

"Yes, I did! Why do you ask?" The trainer asked confusingly.

"Don't worry! This trainer is going to meet his match." Ash said as he said goodbye to the trainer.

Misty and Brock were confused. Since when did Ash play video games especially Dance Dance Revolution? To be truthful, neither of them knew much about Ash Ketchum. Even though they had traveled with him for a couple years, he still was a mystery to them. The three along with Pikachu headed towards the arcade. Ash was so thrilled. He had played Dance Dance Revolution but never against an expert. Not even Gary played it and Gary was his rival (although Professor Oak explained that Gary thought Dance Dance Revolution was pretty stupid.)

"Here we are at the Mahogany City Video Arcade! Watch out, Lawrence! You have met your match!" Ash said in a serious voice.

"Ash, are you sure you know what you are doing?" Misty asked.

"Trust me Misty! I have played Dance Dance Revolution a lot of times so you don't need to be worried." Ash said as he smiled at Misty with a grin.

Misty sighed as they headed in. It seemed like Ash's ego had taken over. Misty had never seen Ash play a video game in all her time journeying with him. Maybe Ash was confused. Maybe Misty was confused. All this confused thoughts was giving Misty a headache. She had to trust Ash. Sure, Ash was wrong sometimes but he did know how to make things right. They approached the Dance Dance Revolution machine to see the champion. He didn't look older than Ash. In fact, he was older but he was beating people older than him.

"Isn't anybody going to challenge me? Am I too hard to beat?" Lawrence asked the crowd.

"Lawrence, I challenge to a match." Ash said as he pointed at Lawrence.

"What, a challenger? And he looks like a good one. Who are you?" Lawrence asked at whoever pointed.

"My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. I am going to bring you down because I am the best Dance Dance Revolution player there ever is." Ash gloated.

"Well, we will see about that." Lawrence grinned.

Both Ash and Lawrence got on the arcade machine. Misty and Brock were on Ash's side while Lawrence's fans were on the other side. Misty just hoped Ash was biting off more he could chew. The game started and both contestants were going at their own pace. Ash was doing pretty well but Lawrence was doing it like it was a stroll in the park. Then the game started to get difficult.

"Maybe you should back out before you embarrass yourself, Ash." Lawrence chuckled.

"Maybe you should back out before your title gets torn to pieces." Ash chuckled back.

The beat moved and the two danced the others. Misty couldn't believe what she was seeing. Ash was doing better than before and he was way ahead of Lawrence. Misty could see Lawrence struggling. Misty hoped that Lawrence didn't try anything cheap. Of course, Lawrence wasn't that type of a person but who knows with people today? The music switched to the Pokemon Dance Mix. That's when Ash really headed into the lead.

"I can't believe it. A person younger than Lawrence is beating him at his own game." A person in the crowd said.

"Yeah, he is busting moves that Lawrence can't do." Another person said. (Okay, this is the exact line, with a few changes from "Stepping Up" from Yu-Gi-Oh! But when you have Dance Dance Revolution, you are going to have to cross the line sometimes.)

"Ash is pretty talented but why has he never showed us he could do this before?" Brock asked.

"Maybe he is too embarrassed to show us. Everyone has a certain talent that they like to keep secret." Misty explained.

"But that still doesn't explain why. Sure, Ash is an open person but we wouldn't have mocked him. Not only this is good exercise, this is a way to improve yourself." Brock pondered.

"Who knows? Maybe this is one thing that Ash hoped never would come out in the open." Misty said while looking towards the action.

Ash and Lawrence were neck and neck with the scores but with final move, Ash beat Lawrence. All Lawrence's fans couldn't believe it. Lawrence, the Dance Dance Revolution Champion, was finally beaten. Things could have gone downhill if what happened next was different. As Ash got of the platform, Lawrence extended his hand in a greeting position.

"You beat me fair and square, Ash. I thought I wouldn't find a single opponent who could keep up with me. All the opponents I face think they are good but they never show it." Lawrence said as he shook Ash's hand.

"Well, I have had plenty of practice. Who knows maybe you will be the champion forever? Just one failure doesn't mean you lost ... it just means that you need to keep on improving." Ash explained as he grasped Lawrence's hand.

"Too true! Well, goodbye Ash. I am going to keep on beating and hopefully one day, we shall meet again ... and next time I will be much better." Lawrence said as he turned back towards the platform.

Ash nodded and headed out to the door. Misty and Brock followed behind. What happened today no one will ever forget. But it was time for the group to head towards the Lake of Rage. So Ash and company continued on their journey. They didn't know what would happen next but they continued one. They were brave but little did they know that later they were going to encounter the greatest challenge that they had ever faced.