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Chapter 32: The Bet

We find our heroes making camp in a dense fog.

"So what did my Dad have to say?" Misty asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. He just told me to take care of you, win the Indigo League, and become Pokemon Master."

"That it?"

"Just a few minor things that you don't need to lose sleep over."

"Ok." She said as she went back to setting up her sleeping bag.

"HEY ASH!"

"Aaron, I'm right beside you."

"Sorry. I couldn't see in this fog. I think it's your turn to look for firewood."

"Look for something? In THIS pea soup? I'll pass. You can take the job. No one would know the difference."

"Unlike some people I know, I don't have a death wish."

"Fine. But I'm going to sick my newest pokemon on you when you least expect it."

"Larvitar? I'm so scared." Aaron said sarcastically.

"Little does he know, I switched Pidgeot with Jiggly. I wonder why Tracey and the Professor begged me to do so." He mumbled to himself as he looked for firewood.

"Hey Pikachu. Look."

"Pika?" (What)

"There's a light over there."

"Pikachu?" (What could it be?)

"I don't know. Let's check it out."

0000

"What is the height and weight of Magikarp?"

"Its height is 2 feet and 11 inches. And it weighs 22 pounds

"What is the evolved form of Magikarp?"

"Gyarados"

"What level does it evolve at?"

"Level 20"

"At what level does Gyarados learn Hyper Beam?

"Level 52"

"Alright Joe. That's enough for today."

"Thank Giselle."

"No problem. You've gotten better since four years ago."

"Yeah. I can't believe I'm now almost at the advance level."

"You could have been at the advance level three years ago you know."

"I know. Just, I wanted to help tutor those who had similar problem to what I had."

"So you put them in front of you. Honestly. You are too good for your own good."

"Your just sore because the bet ended."

"Yeah. And I lost. Can you believe it?"

"How long did you have them down for?"

"Two weeks."

"Did better than me."

"Huh?"

"Three days."

Giselle and Joe laughed at their misfortunes due to Ash and Misty's stubbornness.

0000

Meanwhile in the bushes,

"Who else was in on the bet?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" (Who knows?)

"You wouldn't happen to be in on it would you?"

"Pika?" (Who me?)

"Pikachu."

"Pi. Pikachu pipikachu pikachu pi" (No. I wanted to, but I couldn't because you would have figured it out."

"Smart move not to. Misty would kill you."

"Pikachu pikapichu" (She would've killed you too for letting me.)

"Good point. C'mon. Let's find some firewood and go back."

0000

"There you are Ash." Brock said.

"What happened? Got lost in the fog?" Andy asked.

"Yeah. Who wouldn't?" Ash said as he sat on his sleeping bag.

"I saw Joe and Giselle."

"Really? Are they still at Pokemon Tech?" Misty asked.

"Yeah. Apparently they've been tutoring together, so they've put themselves behind."

"Oh. What did you say?"

"Nothing. The fog was so thick; I don't think they noticed me. Giselle was tutoring Joe, and then they got to complaining about losing a bet."

"Do you think..?" Misty asked with an evil glare directed at Brock.

"Yes. Hey Brock!"

"Yeah Ash?"

"Tell us more about this bet."

"What bet?"

"The one that got you thrown into the Cerulean Gym's pool the first two times."

"Oh. That bet. What about it?"

"Everything." Ash and Misty said in unison with death glares.

"And I thought you and Ash doing the unison thing was annoying." Andy whispered to Aaron.

"Did we not tell you to leave us alone about that? It's not our fault we're on the same wavelength."

"Ok. I don't know exactly who is running it, but I'll tell you how it started from what I've heard. After some people met you, they would mention it to someone else who knew you. Then they would figure out how long it would take you two to get together from when they place the bet which is fairly close to when they met you. The bet became so wide spread; I just had to get in on it. Of course there are some minor ones between friends and family, like your sisters, but the largest bet has about 100 trainers at least."

"100 TRAINERS?" Misty yelled

"AT LEAST!" Ash added.

"We became too predictable." Misty sighed.

"Yeah. Next thing you know there will be a bet on how long before I propose."

"Hehehe."

"BROCK!"

"I didn't start this one either. It came up shortly after the first one came to a close. I haven't entered yet."

"Don't you dare." Misty said dangerously gentle. "Any of you." She then pointed to the other three.

"Don't worry Misty. That would be cheating." Marie said.

"Yeah. We've been to the future. We can do the math." Aaron said

"Exactly. Ash will propose to you in about seven years." Andy said.

"Thank you for that surprise Andy." Misty said.

"Yeah. Now she'll be expecting it in seven years." Ash added.

"We should enter the bet without them knowing." Aaron whispered.

"Yeah." Andy agreed

0000

That night,

"Seven years." Misty sighed to herself.

"Misty?"

"Ash? Are you awake?"

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep."

"Same here. I can't believe Andy. When someone is going to become engaged, it's supposed to be a surprise."

"He assumed we'll be engaged in seven years. For all we know, it could be five or six, and we can have plenty of time to plan a wedding."

"Good point."

"Or, we can always elope and not tell anybody." Ash added jokingly

"I never thought about that. I feel better. Thanks Ash."

"Hey. What are boyfriends for?"

TBC.

Preview:

"Hey guys!" Andy called out. "Look what we scored."

"Six tickets to go aboard the St. Anne II." Brock looked at his ticket. "They're real."

"C'mon. Let's go." Marie said pulling Aaron and Andy towards the ship.

"Should we stop them?" Ash asked.

"Nah. Hopefully this ride would be a whole lot more peaceful than last time." Misty said unaware her wish was far from the truth of what will happen.