Back inside the gym, everyone had made their way downstairs to the aquarium section of the gym, in order to check how the other Pokémon were coping with Gyarados on the loose.

"Ever since Gyarados started behaving like this, we've had to close the gym to all visiting trainers," said Daisy. "And I had to skip this rad beauty contest too, cause we've been too busy trying to calm things down here."

"Ah, that's tough," said Brock sympathetically.

"I just hope the other Pokémon aren't in danger," Misty said sadly.

Pikachu looked through the glass viewing window, on the other side of which, it could see Gyarados still shooting back and forth, whilst most of the other Pokémon were huddled in corners, trying to keep out of harm's way. Just then, Pikachu spotted two of Misty's old Pokémon swimming over towards them.

"Pika!" it said excitedly as the two Pokémon swam up to the glass. One was shaped like a large purple starfish, whilst the second resembled a cute-looking seahorse.

"Horsea, Starmie! I missed you!" said Misty excitedly as she ran up to the glass in order to greet her old Pokémon friends.

But her excitement was cut short, as Gyarados suddenly appeared behind the two water Pokémon with a roar, scaring them away in the process!

"That Gyarados is a big bully," said Ash with a disapproving frown.

"It reminds me of how bad-tempered Charizard used to be like," remarked Brock, thinking back to how disobedient Ash's fire Pokémon initially was.

"There's got to be some way to rein it in," said Lily worriedly. "We can't have a gym where Pokémon go out of control like this, or we could end up getting shut down!"

"Have no fear, ladies," said Brock as he suddenly knelt before the three Sensational Sisters in what he thought was a big romantic gesture. "We shall do everything we can to calm this bad-tempered Pokémon, and then perhaps concentrate on more pleasant subjects, like love perhaps?"

Normally at this point, Misty would rein Brock in with a sharp pull on his ear, but the young Water Pokémon trainer looked too wrapped-up in her own self-doubts.

"I don't know, guys," she said with a distant look. "Handling a Gyarados is a pretty tall order."

"Hey, come on, Misty!" said Ash with an encouraging look. "I know you're not keen on Gyarados, but that doesn't mean we just give up already!"

"I know," sighed Misty. "It's just... there is a specific reason why I've always had a problem with Gyarados."

"Really?" said Brock as he and Ash exchanged a surprised look, as they never knew this before. "What's that?"

"Oh, it goes back to when Misty was just a baby," explained Violet. "She once crawled into the open mouth of a Gyarados while it was sleeping, and when it woke up, it closed its mouth and almost swallowed her! Luckily, it spat her out instead."

"Ah man, that can't have been fun," said Ash sympathetically.

"It wasn't," said Misty with a shiver, hugging Togepi closer to her for comfort. "I've been terrified of it ever since."

"We understand, Misty," said Brock reassuringly.

"Yeah, if you want, Brock and I can worry about Gyarados this time, and you can keep your distance from it," suggested Ash kindly.

Misty shook her head firmly with a newfound sense of resolve. "No thanks, guys. This is my family's gym and that makes it partly my responsibility to support it. I'm just going to have to get over my fear once and for all."

"Well, that's all great, but, uh, what are we going to do about Gyarados?" asked Daisy.

Misty's eyes lit up with inspiration. "I've got an idea! Is the mermaid costume I wore for that underwater ballet still here?"

Misty's sisters looked at each other in surprise.

"Uh, yeah," said Lily. "But now isn't exactly the best time to hold another show."

"Trust me," said Misty. "I think I know a way to get Gyarados to calm down."


A short while later, Ash, Brock and Misty's sisters were gathered around the edge of the pool, looking eagerly up at the high diving board of the pool. At the end of the board, high above the water, was Misty, who had changed into the old mermaid dance costume she had once worn a few years ago for one of her sisters' underwater ballets.

"I don't get it, Misty," asked a puzzled Ash. "How is doing another ballet going to help?"

"Well, the last time I did this dance, it was with Magikarp before it evolved into Gyarados," explained Misty, as she gazed down at Gyarados, who was still swimming around in the pool. "I was thinking it might calm it down a little, if I recreated our special dance together."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" grinned Brock, who was taking care of Togepi at the moment. "If it remembers that, it may become more friendly."

"Pika!" added Pikachu in encouragement.

Just then, Gyarados launched itself out of the pool towards the diving board, making Misty cringe a little, before it crashed into the water again.

"Oh, maybe this wasn't such a great idea," gulped Misty, momentarily losing her resolve.

"Don't give up now, Misty," called out Daisy encouragingly.

"Yeah, you've got this," added Ash.

Encouraged by this, Misty straightened herself up and prepared to dive off the board. "I know I can do this. Music please!"

Lily and Violet got the dance music playing through the speakers, as Misty jumped off the board and dived into the water. As everyone peered over, they could see Misty swimming right up to Gyarados, as the other water Pokémon, including Horsea, Seaking, and various Goldeen, swam up to join her. Then, they all began to dance enthusiastically, whilst Gyarados just watched them perform, apparently becoming more passive now as it observed the others perform.

"Hey everyone, I think it's working!" said Ash excitedly, as they watched the underwater dance continue.

"Yeah, it looks like Gyarados is finally calming down," added Brock with a smile.

However, at that moment, Gyarados suddenly gave a loud roar and began swimming around Misty and the other Pokémon so fast that a violent whirlpool swiftly formed around them in the water!

"Oh no! Gyarados is using a whirlpool attack!" shrieked Violet as they all looked on in horror.

"Misty!" cried out Ash and Brock in unison, with Pikachu and Togepi giving out similar cries of alarm.

As the water continued to swirl with increasing speed, Ash spotted Misty trapped in the centre, seemingly knocked out cold by the attack.

"Hang on, Misty!" cried Ash as he grabbed one of his Poké Balls and threw it into the air. "Totodile, I choose you!"

The Poké Ball opened up and Ash's Totodile emerged with its usual cheery dance. Ash quickly wrapped his arms around the bipedal, crocodilian Pokémon, and together they launched themselves into the water and swam their way with all speed down towards Misty, struggling valiantly against the pull of the whirlpool. As they got closer, Ash could see that Horsea was frantically attempting to push the unconscious Misty back up to the surface. As soon as they were close enough, Ash grabbed hold of Misty, before they all swam desperately back to the surface, just managing to reach the edge of the pool and clamber out.

Catching his breath, Ash gently laid Misty out on the floor, as the others rushed over to join them.

"Is... is Misty okay, Brock?" asked Daisy in concern as Brock checked Misty over for injuries.

"Yeah, she just had the wind knocked out of her," Brock replied in relief. "She'll be okay once she wakes up."

Glad that Misty was going to be okay, Ash grinned gratefully at Totodile and Horsea. "Thanks guys! You sure were a great help just now."


As Ash and his friends carried Misty out of the chamber, they were still unaware that Team Rocket were spying on them through the windows, and had watched the whole scene with some trepidation.

"You know, perhaps stealing that Gyarados isn't such a great idea," said James fearfully.

"Yeah, it looks like it's the one running things around here," added Meowth. "And if it can do that to the twerps, think of what it might do to us!"

"Wobbuffet!" said Wobbuffet in agreement.

Jessie glared at her fellow partners in crime. "Oh, stop being such a load of wet blankets! So what if that Gyarados is a particularly fierce one? We're still going to catch it if it's the last thing we do!"

"With our luck, it probably will be the last thing we do," muttered James.