Chapter 5

Down at the beach, there was something that looked like half of a small stadium with a lot of stands. It was where all of the water pokemon trainers had gone. There was just enough room for the big stage to be put on the waterfront. Everywhere they looked, there were countless banners and booths to buy souvenirs. May had looked at them longingly, but she stood firm, as she wanted to impress Ash. They walked past the booths and onto the beach where the convention was going to take place. Ash reached the entrance first so he was the one to ask for the tickets.

"We would like to buy three tickets for the convention please."

"Yeah, and so would everyone else! Go away…we're sold out," the receptionist said with a snotty tone.

She closed the window and put up a sign that said in big red letters, "SOLD OUT" Ash yelled back at the closed window.

"Well! I don't care if you don't have any tickets! I'll just find some myself!"

He marched away from the ticket counter fuming mad. May saw this and tried to calm him down.

"Don't worry Ash, we'll find some tickets somewhere…" she said quietly.

"Hmm, I don't know. Where would we find tickets now if they are all sold out?"

Ash got quiet and sad. As if he was planning on this, Rudy appeared out of the blue with a big bright smirk on his face.

"Why hello Ash! I couldn't help but overhearing what you were saying and I think I have a solution. You see I am the one in charge of this convention and it just so happens that I have some extra tickets. Here I want you to have them! Free of charge."

Ash took the tickets, but gave him a mistrusting look. May just smiled and squealed with delight.

"Wow! Thank you so much Rudy! You're so nice!"

Ash looked at her as if he had just turned into some sort of an alien. Her too? First Misty, and now May. What power did this Rudy have over his friends? Just as Ash thought that, Brock budged in front of May and began talking to Rudy eagerly.

"Rudy! Since you're a gym leader from the Orange Islands, could you tell me what kind of environment the pokemon live in? Oh! And what kind of food they eat…Oh! And …"

Rudy held up his hand like Misty had done with the crowd and Brock stopped talking in an instant. It seemed like only Ash was immune to Rudy's charm, and no one else.

"Don't worry Brock, all of those questions will be answered during the convention. Well I have to go, but you three should find your seats because the convention is about to begin!"

He gave a big smile to May and Brock, but then gave a "don't mess with me" look to Ash. Ash wasn't surprised, as the more time he spent with Rudy, the more suspicious he got about Rudy. He didn't have any more time to think about the matter, because Brock and May had already started to walk towards the stadium.

After a few minutes, the trainers started to gather into the stadium and the group found their seats. Rudy had given them tickets in the front row. Ash thought that it was extremely generous of Rudy to do that. All he did was think about what Rudy could be doing with Misty, or the things he could be telling her. Ash shuddered. Pikachu was in his lap and just then he realized that Pikachu hadn't even greeted Misty back at the store.

"Pikachu, why didn't you do anything when we saw Misty? She's our friend."

Pikachu gave him a sad look.

"Pika-Pi, Pikachu"

"Yeah, I know. It seemed as if she were a stranger. I don't blame you buddy."

Ash scratched Pikachu behind his ears. May looked at Ash and Pikachu, and wondered why they were so depressed.

"Hey Ash, don't you think it was nice of Rudy to give us free front row tickets?"

"Yeah, sure…" Ash said in a monotone voice. He didn't even turn to look at her.

"Well, I'm sure glad he did. We can learn so much here. It can be to our benefit, you know, for battles…"

He finally looked at her and gave her a half-hearted smile.

"I'm glad your starting to get interested in this kind of stuff. Show's how much you've matured in this city."

May couldn't believe it! He thought she was mature. But she didn't want to seem too excited so she just gave a little sigh.

"Yeah…I guess I have. I just wish they would start already."

"Yeah me too."

At that moment, Brock leapt up out of his seat and pointed excitedly.

"Wow! Look! It's Officer Jenny!"

He began to drool and stare like always. Pikachu also stood up.

"Pika Pikachu!"

"Yeah Pikachu, it seems like they are finally going to start!" said Ash anxiously.

Officer Jenny went up to the microphone and waited for the crowd to quiet down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, water pokemon trainers! Lilycove City would like to welcome you to the first annual WATER POKEMON CONVENTION!"

As she said this, the whole crowd cheered.

"Now, now, quiet down, please."

She waited again and then started talking.

"As I'm sure you all know, there are two people who have committed themselves to making this a great convention! So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to two of the most famous Water Pokemon Gym Leaders! Here they are! Rudy of the Orange Islands! And Misty of Cerulean City!"

The crowd stood up and cheered as the two of them walked onto the stage.

Ash could see them perfectly since they were in the front row. Misty hadn't changed a bit since he saw her that afternoon. But now, he could see that Rudy had a necklace around his neck with a rectangular medallion. Ash shifted his attention away from the strange medallion as Pikachu began to shift in his lap. He looked angry, as if someone had just hurt his friend.

"Pikachu, what's the matter?"

It was then that Ash realized that Pikachu was looking at Misty. She was just standing next to Rudy, with that cold smile on her face again.

"You think something is wrong with Misty?"

"Pi Pikachu"

Ash didn't have time to respond because Rudy started talking into the microphone.

"Everyone! Quiet down please! Well I would like to let you all know, that you are the best kind of trainers out there, because we all know that water pokemon are the best kind of pokemon!"

Misty moved right in front of Rudy then, and spoke.

"Yup! Rudy is right! Water Pokemon are the best! So to get on with the program, Rudy?"

"Yes Misty, we should start shouldn't we?"

He chuckled and then pointed to a table that had just appeared on the stage. On it were two pictures of a Horsea. One was labeled "Before" and one was labeled "After".

"Here, we are going to demonstrate a special pokemon treatment. We all know that water pokemon are the best, but we have found a way to make them even better. They can become stronger! They can become faster! They can truly become the best pokemon ever!"

Rudy stepped aside from the microphone and Misty stepped in his place.

"Yes, and here are the results! I used my Horsea to see if this treatment really worked!"

Pikachu began to get even more irritated.

"Pikachu! Calm down! I need to hear what she is saying!"

"This first picture is of my Horsea before the treatment, and the second is of my Horsea after."

Suddenly, a big screen T.V. appeared from behind the stage and it showed the two pictures. The crowd gave "Oooo's" and "Ahhhh's" as they looked at the transformation. That wasn't the response Ash had however. He couldn't believe it. Her Horsea looked like it had gone through so much pain, but it did look like it was a bit bigger and stronger. But Ash could tell in Horsea's face that it had been hurt, not just physically, but also emotionally. Misty was just standing there smiling like a doll and then Ash's jaw dropped in a flash. As he looked at Misty now, he had immediately realized that through all of his worrying about Misty, he hadn't realized that Misty didn't have her Togepi with her! She would never in a million years part with her Togepi. Something was definitely wrong with Misty and Pikachu could sense it too.

Just as Rudy was about to speak again, Pikachu ran up on the stage.

"Pikachu! What are you doing?"

Ash yelled after him. Rudy hadn't seen Pikachu so he continued talking.

"As you all can see, the treatment worked perfectly on Misty's Horsea and it can work wonders for your pokemon too!"

Ash took a quick glance away from Pikachu and looked at Rudy. Ash couldn't believe it. Rudy's medallion had begun to glow a bright blue.

"All you have to do is drop off your pokemon with us and before you know it, your pokemon will be unstoppable!"

The crowd then buzzed with questions and uncertainty. Rudy wasn't happy with this and it looked like he was reaching for his medallion.

"PIKKAAACHUUU!"

Pikachu yelled and zapped Ash, May, and Brock with a thunder shock, just as Rudy had touched his medallion. The three of them were burnt and they fell on the floor. Ash was really mad.

"Pikachu! What in the world did you do that for?"

"Yeah! My clothes are all ruined! Now I have to go and…" but May's voice trailed off because Ash gave her a mean look.

Pikachu ran back to them and stood right in front of Ash, who was still sitting on the sand.

"Pika-Pi"

Pikachu pointed at the rest of the stadium as Brock said, "Hey guys! Do you hear that?"

Ash turned to look at the people in the stadium; they had all turned silent. It was like they had turned into zombies, waiting for someone to tell them what to do. Ash, May and Brock got up and went back to their seats, all with concerned looks on their faces. Rudy seemed happy though, and Misty, well she was still just standing there, smiling away at the crowd.

"SO, like I was saying, if you would like your pokemon to get this treatment, then please proceed to the front stage to drop off your pokemon in an orderly fashion."

As if by command, the first row got up and went to the stage. A machine popped up out of nowhere and it seemed like a teleportation device. The first person that reached the machine placed all of his poke balls on it, and then they disappeared. One by one, all of the trainers in the stadium had gotten up, just like Rudy said, in an orderly fashion. After all of the trainers had left, and only Ash, May, Brock and Pikachu were left, Rudy spoke into the microphone, as if he thought that the whole crowd were still there.

"Well that's it folks! Come by later to pick up your newly improved pokemon! Thanks for coming!"

Rudy turned toward Misty and said something. She automatically started to pack up everything that was on the stage, which wasn't much. Rudy's medallion had stopped glowing and he went somewhere off the stage to talk to Officer Jenny. Brock saw that and so he went right after Rudy, and May rushed to catch up with the hopeless Brock. Ash was still worried and wanted to try and see what was wrong with Misty, so he ran up onto the stage. As he did that, the machine had disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Hey Misty!"

She turned around and was smiling again. Ash felt the coldness come back again, so he had to back away a bit.

"Did you give us your pokemon so that they could be the best they could be?"

It sounded as if she was an echo of what Rudy had just said.

"No. I would never let my pokemon be hurt like that! It's just wrong Misty why would you even let them do that to your pokemon? And where is your Togepi?"

Ash gave her pleading look but her eyes just widened and her smile became nothing. It wasn't a smile and it wasn't a frown.

"Misty? Are you there?"

From somewhere away from the stage, Rudy turned abruptly to see Ash talking to Misty. He got really angry and rushed to them.

"Is everything alright? I sensed that something was wrong."

Ash looked at him and saw that his medallion was glowing again. He was about to say something, but Rudy saw that and quickly touched the medallion and put it under his shirt. And just like that Misty was smiling again.

"Ash you really should have given us your pokemon! Then you would really be able to become the Master of Pokemon!"

She smirked and reached out for his arm. Misty tried to look convincing, but when she touched him he jumped away. It had felt as if he had just been shot with a bunch of ice.

"What's wrong Ash? Did I do something?"

She gave him a puppy dog look but he just looked angrily at Rudy, who was smiling. May saw what was happening and grabbed Brock away from Officer Jenny.

"Yeah Ash. I agree with Misty. You could be the best, but that doesn't matter, it's your choice, right?"

Rudy leaned in close to Ash and gave him the meanest smile ever. But then he quickly backed away as Pikachu jumped up on Ash's shoulder.

"Pi-ka-chuuu"

He gave Rudy a mean look and started to give off sparks from his cheeks. Rudy chuckled.

"Nice pokemon," he said with a nasty tone. Just then May and Brock arrived.

"Ash, is everything alright? Pikachu looks…" May's voice was cut off by Ash's.

"Yeah. Everything is just great!" Ash said sarcastically. Rudy turned to Misty and said something. He went off behind the stage and disappeared.

Misty looked at Brock and said with a sweet tone, "Brock, can you still cook as well as I remember?" Brock gave her a big grin.

"Can I cook? Ha! Everyone knows that I'm the best!"

Misty chuckled, but Ash wasn't convinced.

"Why do you want to know Misty?" She turned to Ash and said simply, "Well since we're all here, I thought we could, you know, camp out like the old times, in the woods."

Ash looked skeptically at her, but agreed. May seemed aggravated at the idea though. She didn't want anything to do with Misty and she didn't want her anywhere near Ash.

"Okay then! So I'll go get my things and meet you guys at the Pokemon Center!"

She smiled but as she passed by Ash, he felt the coldness again. Pikachu must have felt it too, because he grumbled at her.

"This should be fun! It will be like old times! Remember Ash?" asked Brock.

"Yeah I remember…"