-Chapter 7-

-VS. Mr. Mime!-

Lime glanced around again. There was no one too close. He pointed the Pokédex in his hands at the Magby sitting beside him on the driftwood, and pushed some buttons. Three attacks were displayed.

"Magzy, Smog," Lime whispered to the Magby. It looked at him for a moment, confused, then realized it was being addressed with a nickname. It nodded, and grinned mischievously. It took a big gulp of air, then exhaled a putrid stream of toxic gas from its mouth. A small ember fell from his mouth as he did so, burning a small hole in the driftwood.

"What's happening!?" yelled a Blood Dragon member.

"Someone used a Smog attack!" boomed a raspy voice.

Magzy finished clouding the area around the wreckage. Lime pulled an empty Pokéball from his belt. "Return, Magzy!" he said. Magzy shrunk and soared into the Pokéball. Lime reattached it to his belt.

"Who said that?" demanded another crewmember.

"It sounded like…" began another.

"Fearzy, go!" yelled Lime. He tossed a Pokéball into the air, and an enormous brown bird emerged. She swooped toward the water, and Lime quickly hopped onto her back. "Fly, to Tangelo Island!" he shouted. Lime wrapped his arms around her neck as she caught an updraft and was launched high into the sky. The smoke slowly cleared around the wreckage of the ship, but Lime was long gone…

"What is that?" asked Orange, pointing to the huge landmass Rasgo was sailing towards.

"Err… Haven't you ever been to Tangelo Island?" asked Lemon, staring at him.

"No, I'm on vacation with my Mom and Dad on Valencia Island. I was, anyway…" he said. He paused for a moment, staring into the water rushing by them. He suddenly missed his parents.

"Don't worry," said Lemon, as if reading his mind. She placed her hand on Orange's shoulder. He glanced up at her. "We can go back to Valencia Island in the morning, after we're sure those weird pirates are gone," she said, "And we can find my mom and the professor too…" She stood up and pat Rasgo lightly on the head. Rasgo squealed happily. "You know," Lemon began, "We're actually pretty lucky." she said. Orange rose an eyebrow, skeptically. "My mom once said that Lapras usually travel in packs," she said. "I wonder why this one is all alone?"

"Why don't you ask her?" said Orange. He nodded at Rasgo. Lemon closed her eyes, and concentrated on the question. 'Why were you all alone?' Rasgo sent a sort of a picture into Lemon's head. Rasgo was being attacked by another Lapras. She sent another picture of her swimming away alone. The image faded away. Lemon opened her eyes, and stroked Rasgo's neck sadly.

"So… what-" Orange began.

"She was abandoned, Orange. She was abandoned." Lemon and Orange stared into the ocean at their quickly growing shadows…

Orange, Lemon, and Rasgo arrived at Tangelo. Rasgo rode a wave right onto the sandy beach, and Lemon and Orange hopped off.

"Rasgo, return!" Orange held up Rasgo's Pokéball and pushed the button. Rasgo shrunk to pocket size and landed in the ball. It closed, and Orange reattached it to his belt. The sun was barely visible over the waves as they climbed a pair of wooden steps.

They followed a path up a street, toward the town. There were small houses dotting the area. They followed the houses toward downtown. Orange and Lemon looked around at the tall buildings. Orange shouted over the roar of the people and traffic. "Where are we going to stay the night?" he asked. Lemon thought for a moment.

"When my mom and I vacationed here, we stayed in a place called…" she paused, thinking "Uhh… the Tangelo Resort or something," she said, "But I don't remember where it is." Orange stopped a nice looking person passing by.

"Excuse me, do you know where the Tangelo Resort is?" he asked.

He was a tall man with spiky blonde hair. He looked about 30, and was wearing clothes that clearly showed he was coming home from work. "You mean Resort Tangelo, yeah?" Orange looked at Lemon, who nodded.

"Yes sir, do you know where it is?"

"Continue down this street 'till you hit Drift Street, then turn right. It should be at the end of that block."

"Thank you so much, sir," Orange said, grinning.

"Thanks mister," said Lemon. He smiled and waved, then continued on his way home. They followed his directions, and sure enough, at the end of Drift Street, was Resort Tangelo.

It was very tall, easily 50 floors. The glass reflected the setting sun into their eyes, making Lemon and Orange squint. They automatic door opened as they stepped in, and they walked up to the front desk. There was a rather bored looking teenage girl working there. She was wearing an excessive amount of makeup and had her hair-dyed purple. She sighed. "Can I help you?" she said in a drawling voice.

"Uhh, yeah, we need a room, to stay the night," said Orange.

"Err, two rooms," Lemon put in. Orange looked down for a moment, then nodded at the girl.

"That's gonna be $1000 for each room," said the girl. Orange and Lemon's mouths simultaneously fell open.

"Can you afford…?"

"No way."

They sighed.

"Well," said Orange, "We'll be back in a little while."

The girl stared at them with a glazed look. "Whatever," she said.

Orange and Lemon turned around and walked toward the exit.

"Ooh!" shouted Lemon. She grabbed the back of Orange's shirt.

"Bach!" yelled Orange, strangled. "Okay," he said, rubbing his throat, "Now that I can't breath, what is it!?"

"Check it out!" she said, pointing to a cardboard cutout of several Pokémon fighting each other. Below were details on a Pokémon Battle Showdown.

"Orange, it's tonight! Do you think we can still enter? Prize money is $5000!" she said. He thought about it for a brief moment, then nodded. He grinned.

"Let's do it."

"Finally!" yelled Lemon. After searching for ages, the two found the Tangelo Stadium. A larger version of the poster in the hotel was hung up next to the entrance. "Hurry up!" she shouted at Orange. They ran up to a young teen standing at a snack bar.

"Hello sir, do you know where-" her stomach suddenly roared. She was practically starving!

"Wow, you're reeeally cute!" she said. She grabbed his hand, and batted her eyelashes. Orange quickly reddened and looked away. "Could I maybe possibly get like ten hotdogs? Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?" she flashed a sickly sweet smile. The guy blushed.

"Sure thing, baby." He leaned in to plant a kiss. Lemon held up her hand.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Where's the registration office?" she asked. He blinked, and pointed down the hall, to a small sign above a door. 'REGISTRATION OFFICE' was written on it.

"Oh, thanks so much!" she grabbed ten hotdogs from the rack, shoved them into a stunned Orange's arms, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him toward the office. Lemon knocked on the door, and slowly opened it. She peered in.

"Excuse my mister, is it too late for me and my friend to register?"

"Err, no, I guess not," he said. He had a big bushy mustache, and small glasses teetering on the tip of his nose. He turned from his computer, dug in a drawer at his desk, and pulled out some registration papers. Orange and Lemon sat down in a chair, and filled them out. A little bit later, the first round of the tournament began…

"Hello Tangelo!" shouted the announcer, "Welcome to round one of the annual Tangelo Pokémon Battle Showdown!" he continued, "Here's our first contestants, Orange, and Reyley!" Orange stepped out from the waiting room, into the center stadium. He squinted at the sudden and dazzling sunset that hit his eyes. He grinned, snatched a Pokéball from his side, and enlarged it. He gave a glanced at Slowgo through the transparent dome, and they nodded at each other. His opponent, Reyley, slowly emerged from the shadows of the opposing waiting room. He was short, and had thick black hair. He smirked, and wordlessly tossed out a Great Ball. It burst open, and a Mr. Mime emerged. He frowned and went into a fighter's stance. He wagged his finger at Orange. Orange laughed and tossed Slowgo's ball into the center of the stadium. Slowgo emerged in a burst of light. "Let the showdown begin!" shouted the announcer.

Both combatants immediately launched into battle.

"Slowgo, Headbutt!"

"Mimien, Reflect, Light Screen!"

Acting on Slowgo's slow reaction time, Reyley's Mr. Mime, Mimien, whipped up two fast walls of light. Slowgo gained momentum, and smashed head on into the walls. The walls bounced lightly into Mimien, barely making him twitch. The HP bar on the display lowered by only a few points. Orange gritted his teeth.

"Oh… Kay? Slowgo try a Bubblebeam!" Slowgo blasted a stream of bubbles at Mimien. They pattered softly against the walls of light. Mimien was, again, unaffected.

"Err… Psychic?" Orange commanded, unsure. Slowgo's eyes flashed. Something shimmered in front of the walls, clearly softening the blow.

"Mimien, Double Slap!" Reyley said. Mimien sprinted toward Slowgo, and began a barrage of harsh slaps. His HP meter lowered drastically with each round.

Orange glared furiously at Mimien. He stared into the sunset sky, then realized another technique his Slowgo knew.

"Slowgo, Fury Cutter!"

Slowgo walked towards Mimien, and batted him with his paw. Mimien's HP bar barely seemed to flicker.

Reyley blinked, then laughed. "Are you serious? That's it?"

"Slowgo, again!" Orange commanded. Slowgo took another swipe with his paw. Mimien's bar slid a little more. And again, and again.

Reyley began to sweat. "It's getting stronger…!" Mimien's HP bar took larger and larger plummets each turn.

"Mimien, Confusion!" Reyley commanded, nervously. Mimien exhaustedly sent a burst of energy at Slowgo. Slowgo winced, but remained strong.

"Okay Slowgo, one more! Fury Cutter!" Slowgo furiously smashed his paw into Mimien with all his strength. His HP bar fell to zero, and he fainted. They had won.

Lemon fidgeted on a wooden bench set in the middle of the waiting room. She looked nervously around at the other competitors. They looked tough… Did she actually have a chance of winning? Had Orange managed to win his fight? The door opened and Lemon jumped from her seat. Orange peeked in. Lemon sprinted over to the door.

"Did you win? Was it easy? Do I have a chance?"

Orange smiled. "Yes, yes, and yes."

Lemon beamed. "Okay," she said, "I'm ready."

-Chapter 8-
-VS. Seel!-