Chapter 23

"Brock strikes gold?"

"Stop it, May!" Max yelled out.

"Oh c'mon, Max, don't be so scared of the big waves," May said, clutching her little brother in her arms.

"Nononononononono!" Max bantered.

May was holding her brother against her body as she moved further and further out to the waves at sea. Her hands were holding him tightly underneath his armpits as the little brother struggled to get out of his sisters' arms. She had a naïve smile on her face as a huge wave started forming in front of them.

"May, are you crazy!" Max yelled, "That wave is huge! I told you I didn't want to go this deep into the water!"

"Don't be such a crybaby, Max, I'm right here beside you," May said, looking at the wave with anticipation, "I'll never let you go in the water…you know that."

"I'm scared! Just let me swim back to the shore before it's too late! Please, sis!" Max whimpered, rubbing his nose against his sisters' chest.

"Hold onto me tightly, Max, this is going to be a big one!" May squeaked.

The huge wave was about to crash down upon them. The two siblings treading water could feel themselves starting to lose their balance. Max continued to squirm in her arms trying to break free, but she held him with all her might.

"LET ME GO LET ME GO LET ME GO!" Max cried, struggling to break free.

"THIS IS IT!" May screamed with joy.

The huge wave crashed down upon the two siblings, sending them underwater in different directions. The force of the waves violently ripped Max apart from his sister as he spiraled in another direction toward the shore. May felt the undertow of the waves starting to pull her back out to sea, but the feisty young female swam quickly to break free of its hold. She quickly kicked her legs back and forth, swimming underwater until she saw her brothers' skinny little legs kicking from above. The girl quickly swam beside him and clutched her brother in her arms.

"Heehee, wasn't that fun, Max!?" May squealed, squeezing her brother in her arms.

Max continually spit saltwater out of his mouth, unable to respond to his sisters' question. He held his glasses in his right hand as he was lucky enough not to lose them in the water. With her brother safely back in her possession, May began to slowly tread water back to the shore.

"This is disgusting, I hate the taste of saltwater!" Max whined, rubbing his arm over his lips.

"I don't think anybody likes the taste of saltwater," May giggled.

May finally got close enough to shore that she was able to stand on the sand. She loosened her grip on Max as she gently lowered him to the ground once he was able to stand in the small waves as well. Max finally moved out of his sisters' arms and looked at her irritably.

"I hate you, you know that?" Max crossed his arms.

"For what?" May asked snootily.

"You know what, I told you I didn't want to go that deep in the water! I could have drown when those waves knocked me out of your grip," Max yelled.

"Do you think I'd really let my little brother drown? You're such a worry-wart, Max, I swam to get you as soon as I saw you."

"You said you'd never let me go in the water, but I ended up with my head submerged underneath the waves with a bunch of icky saltwater in my mouth!"

"Heh, sorry about that, Max. I tried to hold onto you as best I could but that wave really was just too strong."

"That's the last time I play with you in the water. From now on, I'm just going to stay on the sand and make sand castles like I wanted to."

May sighed. She really wanted to play with her brother so that she could forget about the embarrassing incident on the boardwalk. She wanted to feel loved by her own flesh and blood, and not feel worthless after being humiliated in front of an entire group of people.

"You gotta admit though, Max," May said, smiling at him as she walked ahead of him, "You had fun, right?"

"Huh?"

"Don't lie now," May winked.

Max rubbed his toe innocently in the sand underneath the water.

"I…did," Max blushed, turning his head away shyly.

May giggled, she knew how much her little brother loved playing in the waves even though he wouldn't admit it. Ever since they were children with their parents, Norman and Caroline, Max was always scared about going into the deep water. May would try to help him overcome his fear by bringing him in the deep water with her, but he would always get upset when the big waves knocked him underwater anyway. To this day, Max preferred swimming in pools or lakes without any huge waves knocking him over.

"I'm going to start digging in the sand now, and you better not kick over my sand castle, May!" Max instructed.

"I won't," she replied, standing in the water which went up to her belly button.

"I hope I can trust you," Max said before he quickly darted to the shore and plotted himself down near a clear patch of sand up on the beach.

May sighed as she looked at her arms and brought them close to her face, she could still see the small cuts and bruises that she obtained when Eliza tripped her back in the club on the boardwalk. Her eyes began to water as she tried to bury the fact that she was humiliated deep within her mind. She had thought that playing with her little brother in the water would help take her mind off that dreadful moment in the club, but she was unable to push it out of her mind completely. The horrible moment kept creeping back. She turned around and started heading deeper into the ocean.

"Pikapikachu!" Pikachu said, running up toward Max.

"Hey, Pikachu, wanna help me build a sand castle?" Max asked happily.

"Pikachu!" it replied eagerly.

"OK, follow me!" Max said as Pikachu sat beside him and started digging in the sand.

Brock stood next to the surfboard which was floating in the shallow water. He rubbed his chin as he looked around him.

"I wonder where Ash went," he said looking around, "He was standing over here a moment ago."

May kicked and splashed the water as it now reached up to the top of her bikini. The waves were small and weak where she was, she didn't have any trouble standing or moving. Suddenly, she felt a force pull on her legs underwater which caused her to dip below the surface.

"Gah!" May yelled as she felt someone holding her legs beneath the waves.

The force continued to tug, only that it seemed more playful in manner.

She quickly brought her head back to the surface as she looked at her aggressor – it was Ash. The two friends laughed at each other and shared friendly gestures.

"You weren't expecting that, were you?" Ash grinned as he took her hand.

"Heehee, where'd you come from, Ash? You scared the living daylights out of me when you pulled me underwater!" May giggled.

"If I said I was coming that'd ruin the surprise…c'mon!" he said, leading her by the hand deeper into the ocean.

The two trainers happily held hands as they would stand up against the force of the waves together. Some waves were larger than others, some would only bump against their faces, while others would completely submerge them underwater for a few seconds. May wrapped her hands around Ash's arm as they prepared themselves for a colossal wave in the distance.

"This is a lot more fun with you than my brother," May teased, "He keeps getting scared every time a huge wave comes."

"Maybe he's just worried about losing his glasses in the water after being knocked down by a wave," Ash said as she clung to his arm, "That's what he was worried about back when we were changing into our bathing suits in the hotel room."

"I never really thought of that," she said quickly, pulling her wet brown hair out of her eyes, "I should tell him to leave his glasses with Brock before he heads to the water then. Did he say anything else to you, Ash?"

"Just that he thinks you're going to go ballistic on him if he loses his eyeglasses in the ocean," he said winking at her.

May's face grew red once more, "Oh, he still remembers last time, doesn't he…I really lost my temper that time, didn't I?"

"Yep…and you know what else?" Ash said as he turned to her.

"What?" May asked as she looked at him.

"The wave is here, that's what!" Ash grinned as he pulled away from her and swam toward the shore.

"Wha?" May looked nervously as the wave was upon her, "Ash, I'll get you for that….!"

The wave came down upon the girl as she was flung underwater. Ash was caught by the remainder of the wave as he wasn't able to get back to shore on time. Brock watched from the shallow water as May caught up to Ash and started pushing his head underneath the water playfully.

"That was a mean trick to pull, Ash Ketchum!" May said teasingly as she pushed down on his wet black hair.

Ash gasped as he brought his head back up and spit some salt water out of his mouth.

"At least I got you to fall for it," Ash snickered.

May tried to push his head down underneath the water again until Ash grabbed her hands to pull her away. Their hands were clasped together with their arms raised high, as they were both standing a few feet apart trying to push each other over in the shallow water. The two friends grinned competitively at each other trying to use their arm strength to push the other to the side. After some more friendly antics, and another wave or two, Ash and May decided to head back up to the sand.

"Nice to see you cheery again," Ash said while walking ahead of her.

"Cheery? I'm always cheery!" May said.

"I meant when you were standing on the boardwalk, you looked a little sad for some reason."

"Oh…well…" May said timidly.

"Hey, Brock!" Ash called out, "Do you think we should finally test surfing with our water Pokemon?"

May was relieved as Ash apparently changed the conversation. She walked up beside him as they both stood in front of Brock.

"Are you sure you want to start practicing so soon, Ash?" Brock asked, "I thought we were taking a day of rest before practicing for the competition."

"Why not? It's not like its actual work surfing on that thing, and I'm sure our Pokemon would enjoy it too," he said.

"I agree with, Ash," May said modestly, "We really should start practicing."

"Alright then," Brock said, "I think there was a separate section of the beach reserved for people who are practicing for the surfing competition. There should be other people surfing with their Pokemon there too, so we can watch other people doing it and learn from them."

"So let's get going!" Ash cheered ,striking a fist in the air.

He started marching without a care in the world pulling the surfboard along by the tether in the front.

"Wait, Ash, don't you think you're forgetting something!" May called out.

Ash looked back at her confused, "Like…?"

"Our Pokeballs, Ash," May said sarcastically, slapping her forehead, "We don't have our Pokemon with us! How are we supposed to practice if we all left our Pokeballs back in the hotel room?"

"She's right about that, Ash," Brock laughed.

"Gee, I forgot about that," Ash said, scratching the back of his head.

May looked at him annoyed as she watched him continually scratching his head.

"Ash!" May yelled out again.

"What is it now?" Ash asked annoyed.

"You're scratching yourself again!" May said angrily, "Nurse Joy told you not to scratch yourself where you hit your head, remember?"

Ash lowered his hand and his face went plain.

"Great," he muttered under his breath.

Brock smiled as he looked around him watching various people in swimsuits walk along the beach. A glimmer appeared in his eye as he spotted two attractive looking girls wearing nice bikinis' appear on the boardwalk which overlooked the beach. The two girls were chatting innocently together and giggling while resting their arms against the railing and watching the people swimming in the water.

"My ship has finally come in!" Brock shouted happily.

Ash and May looked at Brock as he appeared to have hearts in his eyes. Brock had his hands clasped as a slight blush appeared across his face.

"I knew that coming to the beach would be a great idea!" Brock said happily, eyeing the two girls from afar.

"What are you saying, Brock? You're squealing like a little girl," May said.

Ash and May watched dumbfounded as Brock scurried up the beach as fast as possible to get up to the boardwalk. He was able to keep a level head most of the time, but when he saw a beautiful girl, let alone two beautiful girls, that was another story.

"So then I left him, he was such a jerk anyway," a green haired girl said.

"You did good you know. Some guys can be just pigs, I wish I could find a guy who was romantic and charming without only thinking about himself," a red headed girl responded, "I'd like a guy who would do anything for me, without thinking about the dirty deed."

"WELL HELLO LADIES!" Brock shouted as he approached the two women and kneeled before them.

Brock looked up at the two girls which nearly made him bust a gut due to their attractiveness. One girl had long green hair down her back with an innocent smile and an orange bikini. The other red headed girl had her hair down to her shoulders, she was wearing a white bikini. The two girls looked at Brock confused as they huddled together.

"Can we help you with something?" the green haired girl asked nicely.

"Yes…you can!" Brock stood up and approached the girl as fumes came out of his nose, "I dunno…is it hot out here or is it just you?"

"Well it is over 90 degrees…" the green hair girl laughed as she sweat dropped, "What do you think, Tana?"

Tana grinned as her red hair blew in the wind, "I dunno, Jamie, something tells me this guy digs you."

"You do?" Jamie asked smiling.

"But of course my cupid, why would I deny a vision of loveliness when I see one?" Brock said, clasping her hand, "I think fate must have brought us together!"

Jamie blushed and looked at her friend. She raised her eyebrows trying to imply something about Brock to her friend.

"Of course your friend here is also quite a beauty," Brock said, shifting his gaze to the other girl, "To see two gorgeous girls like yourselves on the beach all alone is a crime!"

"Now I think he's really into you, Tana!" Jamie laughed.

Ash and May watched Brock flirting with the two girls from below on the beach.

"I'm not stopping him," May said, "I don't have the energy to run up there and stop him from making a fool of himself."

"Too bad Max is not around, huh?" Ash chuckled.

Tana smiled and put her hands on Brock's shoulders.

"So whaddya say, Jamie? Wanna keep him?" she asked alluringly.

"And I also consider…." Brock suddenly stopped the compliments as soon as what the girl said registered in his mind, "Huh?"

He stepped back timidly as Jamie approached him as well and clutched his arm.

"He looks pretty well-built too, just look at this muscle," Jamie said seductively, stroking Brock's chest.

"Hehe…hey now!" Brock exclaimed, a bit taken back, "Are you two actually being serious?!"

"Why not?" Tana asked, holding his right hand, "You came onto us first, didn't you? I think we'll take you up on your offer."

"Besides, you're pretty good looking yourself," Jamie said, pressing against his arm.

Ash and May looked up with shocked expressions. Could Brock really have found two girls who return his affection?

Brock felt one of the girls feel up against his leg in which he nervously jumped backward out of their grip. He stood three feet away from them as he panted nervously.

"You two really are serious, aren't you?" Brock gasped, "I mean…whatcha…and I just...and you did…and you touched…and I…what the!"

"Don't be so nervous," Tana said, walking up to him, "You're too tense. The way you sound it's like you've never been with a girl before."

"Yeah," Jamie added, "Are you not used to girls responding to you or something? Kinda hard to picture, since you're such a hunk."

Brock's jaw dropped to the floor. His head was spinning as he felt his heart beating rapidly against his chest.

"Me…a hunk?" Brock gasped, drooling with saliva dripping out of his mouth.

"What did you say your name was?" Tana asked.

"I…I didn't….the name is Brock!" he said sternly.

"I'm Tana."

"And I'm Jamie."

"Uh…nice to meet you two," he said nervously.

"Brock…that name sounds familiar from somewhere," Jamie said, scratching her chin, "Isn't that the name of someone from the Kanto region?"

"I used to be a Gym leader in Kanto," Brock said, "That's probably where you heard the name from, I was the Gym leader of the Pewter Gym!"

"OH WOW, YOU'RE A GYM LEADER?!" Jamie and Tana shouted in unison.

"TELL US ALL ABOUT YOURSELF!" Jamie squealed, grabbing his left arm and looking up at him in a fangirlish manner.

"TELL US ALL ABOUT THE GYM LEADER LIFE!" Tana squealed, grabbing his right arm.

"It's kinda a long story…" Brock tried to say.

"You can tell us over a swim, Brock!" Jamie squealed clutching him.

"That's right, wanna go for a swim, Mr. Gym leader? We can go down to the waves together if you want," Tana said, stroking his arm.

"Both of you?" he asked.

"Sure, we come as a packaged deal. You either take us both or you don't take either of us, we come as a set!" Jamie grinned.

"Wow, I think I just hit the jackpot!" Brock shouted.

"C'mon, Brocky, show us how well a Gym leader stands up against those waves!" Tana said, pulling on his arm, "You're a Rock type Gym leader aren't you? You're not afraid of the water, are ya handsome?"

"No, of course not!" Brock smiled, "Why I love swimming! In fact I do enjoy the breaststroke the most."

"That sounds thrilling," Jamie grinned, "I'll be happy to do the breaststroke alongside of you."

Brock felt himself lost in nervous laughter.

"Then we're all in agreement, yes?" Tana asked, "Let's see how well a Rock type Gym leader floats in the water. C'mon, big fella."

The two girls pulled Brock's arms as he ran with them down toward the beach. Ash and May continued to watch the scene with gaping expressions as the two girls seemed to be all over him.

"They really like him," May said, amazed.

"Uh…are you sure?" Ash asked.

Brock, Tana and Jamie entered the water as they started splashing each other, heading deeper toward the waves.

"Sure I'm sure," May replied, still quite shocked, "I think they both really like him. Brock must feel really lucky!"

"So is this why Brock ran down to the beach yesterday but came back to the lab disappointed when he said it was closed?" Ash turned to her.

"Heehee, guess so, Ash," May bemused, "It's nice to see that not all the women in this beach being total jerks."

"Huh?"

May lowered her eyes as her expression calmed as she started walking quietly up toward the boardwalk. She was quite scared to tell Ash about what happened to her at the club. She didn't want to let him know that she couldn't stand up for herself while being humiliated in front of thirty people.

"I'm going to get our Pokeballs, Ash," May said quietly while walking, "I'll just…get them and…be right back."

"Uh ok," Ash said, not realizing why her emotions changed so quickly.

Ash turned his attention back to the water as he watched Brock flirt with the two girls in the waves. Tana and Jamie continued coming into physical contact with Brock as they played in the waves giggling and cheering. Brock looked like he was having the time of his life, and Ash knew it was probably a wise idea not to interrupt his enjoyment by running into the waves to meet him. He watched, putting his hands in the pockets of his bathing suit as he walked through the sand to see what Max and Pikachu were doing.

Max jumped up and down in joy, "This is going to be the biggest sand castle EVER!"

"Chaaaaa!" Pikachu agreed.

Max dug through the sand with his hands as fast as a Vigoroth's claws could dig through the ground. The boy continued digging a moat-like ditch in a rectangle around his small mountain of sand which he called a sand castle. Pikachu helped by shooting small bursts of Thundershock to clear unwanted batches of sand away from the center. Max then used a small plastic orange shovel and a blue bucket that were left behind by some other kids on the beach. He continued to stuff the sand into the bucket, flip it over, and then have another oval mound to add to his sand castle. Ash approached them as he accidentally stepped on a part of Max's project.

"ASH, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE WALKING!" Max yelled.

"Wha?!" a startled Ash jumped backward.

He looked down to see that he had crushed one of the mounds of sand.

"Pikachu pika!" Pikachu scolded its trainer.

"Ash, you just stepped on a part of my sand castle!" Max said annoyed, throwing his shovel to the ground.

"I didn't see it! I'm sorry, Max, but I wasn't really looking where I was going!" Ash defended himself, "Besides, what's this long ditch you two dug around the sand castle?"

"It's called a moat, Ash," Max said, rolling his eyes, "Obviously the tide will bring more water here later in the day, and being the genius that I am, I dug a moat around my sand castle so the water will fill into the holes instead of washing away my entire sand castle."

"Wow, you plan everything out, don't you, Max?" Ash complimented.

Max laughed, "Heh, I guess I do."

"Pipikahu," Pikachu said.

~*~*~~*

The boardwalk creaked as May stepped on some wooden planks heading back to "The Accomodator" to get their Water Pokemon to practice for the upcoming surfing competition. Her mind was filled with the promise of winning the race so they could use the prize money to finally pay back their debt to Professor Latrommi. She also found herself daydreaming as she imagined herself wearing those 15 prize bikinis in her mind for winning the race.

"Hey you!" a voice called out which woke May out of her fantasy.

May turned to see who called her name only to find herself startled – It was Precita, the vixen from the club with the long dark hair and the purple bikini. She was leaning against the side of a store with her arms crossed as her dark hair blew maliciously in the wind.

"You!" May gasped, staring at her.

Precita moved away from the wall as she walked over to May with her arms crossed. She had a conceited expression on her face as she looked down upon the girl.

"Where are you off to in a big hurry, miss?" Precita asked snobbishly.

"I don't have to talk to you," May said bluntly as she continued walking.

"How are your arms? Are they still bruised?" Precita called out.

Disheartened from the comment, May ignored her as she picked up her pace walking quickly toward the hotel not turning back.

"Hmmm, looks like Miss May is getting an attitude," Precita glared as she licked her lips, "I think I'll enjoy putting her in her place during the competition."

"Precita!" Dan called out as he pushed the locks of his light brown hair out of his face.

"Hi dear, are you done with Eliza yet?" Precita asked seductively.

"Yep, I think I enjoyed her more or less," Dan said cockily, "Though after testing her out I can say without a doubt that you're better."

"That's good to know," Precita grinned, turning to her boyfriend, "You do look a bit disappointed, would you like me to show you the right way its done?"

Dan laughed as he clutched his girlfriend around the waist and pressed her against his body.

"I'd be delighted," Dan said caressing her, "We'll have to do it in a secluded spot though, the one where Eliza was is a bit…messy at the moment."

Precita's eyes twinkled in an ominous manner.

"Then let's get going sweetheart. Nobody can connect as good as you and I, and I have to prepare myself for another little dish I've had my eye on today," Precita said.

"Are you referring to who I think you're referring to?" Dan asked.

"Sure, who better to exploit than an insecure and naïve little brunette girl?" Precita cackled, "I think I'm going to enjoy my time with her."