Part 2

---Back with Ash---

After his rather rash decision to demonstrate his superior courage, Ash thought that perhaps it might not have been such a good idea after all. Misty was never afraid of anything but bugs, so what made him think he had a chance? Shuffling gingerly down the hall, he noticed scuff marks on the carpet where Misty must have skidded in her haste to get away. Turning straight into the adjacent gallery without a second glance, Ash unwittingly stepped into the realm of "Carina's Misty Gallery"

---Back with Brock---

"That kid had better not have gotten himself into trouble again," Brock thought worriedly as he traced his way down the hall following the growingly-evident ruts in the carpet probably made by Ash's dragging feet. He only hoped no one had knocked him out and dragged him to create those ruts.

Suddenly aware of brightly flashing lights declaring "Carina's Misty Gallery" up ahead, he grinned a sly grin and stole quietly into the gallery to see what his younger friend was doing.

---Back with Misty---

Misty braced herself as she reached the aforementioned gallery once again, wincing at how she had managed to miss those neon lights declaring the content of the hall the first time around. She also knew all along that none of hercompanions could possibly have been in any danger and was somehow curious as to why they were taking so long in there.

As she stepped in, she was met with more shrill giggling from May, who was currently rolling on the floor clutching her side and saying something very incoherent. Ash was glaring sheepishly at the two siblings while Brock was nowhere to be found.

"Max, what happened?"

"Well you see Misty, May caught Ash - waaah!" The rest of his sentence was cut off as Ash promptly sealed Max's mouth with his palm, yelling a "Don't you dare!" at the younger pokemon enthusiast.

"May? Come on guys why'd you take so long?"

Still fighting off her laughter, May only managed a "he - hahahahaha - your - hahahaha - totally - HAHAHAHAHA" and collapsed back into hopeless giggles. If looks could kill, May would've SUFFERED under Ash's now venomous glare.

"Cut it out May!" He yelled, turning a little pink from embarrassment.

"SPIT IT OUT YOU GUYS!" Misty joined into the shouting competition, desperately wanting to know what had gone on, and at the same time worried that they might miss their portal back to the real world.

Finally composing herself for a few seconds May declared, "He was totally-" and a hand slapped over her mouth, which was a fatal mistake for Ash because this left Max to finish the sentence, whereby both Misty and Ash turned a few shades of red before going completely blind from a camera flash right in their faces.

"Priceless," stated Brock as he patted the camera. "You know, there are a lot more of these cool pictures over in that gallery," he said with a flourish, waving at the large sign behind them which declared "Teppo's Art Gallery".

This would have earned Brock a few whacks and a thunderbolt, but May's (very timely) slight pinkness went unnoticed by no one as the gang raced over to this new gallery, all recent embarrassment suddenly a thing of the past.

---Teppo's Gallery---

"These pictures are great!"

"Hah, I should try out this morning exercise thing!"

"Aww you look so cute with Drew!"

"Wow Ash, whoever this is did a good job with you and Misty!"

"Looks like everyone knows about your cooking Misty..."

"She's sure got a lot of fans!"

"Hey since when did she get so popular?"

"Ooh look it's Brendan!"

"Who?"

"Our old neighbor back in Littleroot Town!"

"Hey, I just might look cool in your clothes May!"

"Hey what are these funny little slots below all the pictures?" -coughUSBcough-

... and so on ...

..Many comments later ..

"Guys, there's one last gallery I wanna check out, it doesn't have a sign so you might miss it unless you're looking for it."

"What's that Brock?"

"You'll see."

---Over in the Mysterious Gallery---

"This place is creepy."

"Yeah, all the lights are off. What's the deal Brock?"

"Don't worry, I just wanted it to be a surprise, they'll come on once I find the switch again."

So the lights come on in a dramatic fashion (see the episode where the gang does a Team Rocket imitation ;)) to reveal...

"The Pokeshippers"

Aname which meant nothing to our heroes, but whose meaning was slowly made clear as image after image depicted, well, AAML. As though they had taught themselves agility, Ash and Misty were out of the gallery and back to the portal in less than the blink of an eye, where they collapsed in an exhausted, stunned and vaguely traumatized heap.

"That, was terrifying."

"For once, Ash Ketchum, you're right."

He would have picked a fight about that if he hadn't been so tired, so he simply slumped against Porygon 2 while Misty sat down next to him.

"Who comes up with things like that anyway? It's plain evil!"

"I don't know, but if I ever find him or her, they're gonna get a taste of Misty Madness!"

"Where are the rest?"

"Probably still taking their time..."

Sighing, they sat in amiable silence, waiting for their friends to return. The 2 hours were almost up, and knowing that Max had set his pokenav before exploring, they were sure they'd be back in time.

"Guys! We're back! The portal should be opening any minute now."

"Great! I can't wait to get back to reality," sighed Misty as she wearily peeled herself off Porygon 2 and got on its back while Ash called Swellow out again.

"What took you guys anyway?"

"It was a nice gallery, not all of it had you two -"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT," chorused the two.

---Journey Back---

The portal opened as predicted, pouring forth pulsating blue light which drew them back to the ordinary cyber world. Calling out all their pokemon, our heroes had the portal fixed with masking tape and sticky putty in no time. As they stood back to admire their "masterpiece", the portal abruptly closed itself, leaving the wall of tape suspended in midair.

"Wonder if it'll come back?" asked May.

"Don't know, but let's just get back to the Professor and tell him that we sealed up the leak. I am NOT coming back here again if the tape didn't work," declared Ash, whose pride obviously didn't extend to enduring another round of such trauma.

The journey back was fortunately uneventful (no Team Rocket for a change) and after pokemon and trainers alike were rested, our heroes were back on the road to Pallet Town.

---End Part 2---