Chapter 28

Ready, set, GO!

The roaring crowd in the stands shouted with glee awaiting the start of the surfing competition. People were ranting and raving, some even throwing confetti and popping wine bottles. Various security guards and Officer Jenny's were on duty just in case things got a little too hectic. Vendors were walking through the stands offering people to buy hot dogs, pop corn or cotton candy. The stadium seats were nearly packed to its fullest with people, it seemed like just about everyone knew at least one of the participants in the race. Needless to say, this was a highly anticipated event.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu shouted with its paws in front of its mouth, it was standing on the railing of the seats so it could be spotted easily.

No matter how far away he was, Ash always heard Pikachu when he called for him. Ash turned his head and looked up at the stadium seats which towered nearly 10 feet above him, as well as a few miles away from where he was standing. Once he spotted his best buddy, Ash waved cheerfully back at Pikachu from the starting line.

"GOOD LUCK, ASH, MAY!" Max shouted from his seat.

"I hope your sister does well, Max!" Tana said, plucking a piece of cotton candy and sticking it in her mouth, "She's such a sweet person, she deserves to win those swimsuits."

"Thanks, Tana, I really like how much you and my sister have become good friends," Max said, looking over at Brock and Jamie.

Max was sitting on the left with a popcorn bag in his lap and a soda can on the side of the bench, Pikachu was standing on the railing in front of Max, while Brock and Jamie were sitting next to each other sharing a corn dog, and Tana was beside them on the right.

"Your sis is a real fun gal," Tana said as she warmly, pushing her sunglasses up from her eyes and onto the top of her fiery red hair.

"Thank you," Max said, a bit flustered.

"I want it in my mouth," Jamie demanded, turning to Brock.

"There's only a little bit of it left, why can't I eat the last bite?" Brock whined.

"Are ya sure about that?" she asked seductively, stroking his leg underneath the railing.

"Well…I…uh…" Brock felt himself sweating, 'Ok, it's all yours. How's about I feed you?"

Brock took the last piece of the corndog and pushed it inside Jamie's mouth, the girl crunched down on it quickly and snickered. After chewing for a few seconds, she began to ask a question that has been on her mind for awhile.

"Are we ever going to be able to convince you to spend the night with us, Brock?" Jamie asked, "You've turned us down the past six days."

"I've told you, Jamie, I have to be there for my friends just in case something goes wrong," Brock said, crossing his arms, "I spend most of the day with you two anyway, I don't see what the difference is."

Jamie curled her long green hair with her finger, "I love it when a man plays hard-to-get," she laughed.

"Oh knock it off already, Jamie," Tana said, nudging her elbow, "Let's just enjoy the race for the time being, you know, the reason we're sitting in the stadium?"

"You always were the sensible one," Jamie said disappointingly, leaning back in her seat.

"If you two really need me that much I'll be more than happy to go into the hot springs with you again after the race is over," Brock said, his hormones getting the best of him again.

"Really?!" Tana and Jamie asked in unison.

"Sure. I hope you can understand, it's hard to juggle time between my friends and my uh…friends that are girls," he said uncertainly.

"You should have just said girlfriends, Brock," Max squealed.

"Pika!" Pikachu laughed.

"Quiet, Max!" Brock quickly shushed him.

"Mmmmm, hot springs with Brock again, wheeeee!" Tana squealed.

"Are we going to go into the springs with bathing suits on or without them? They do allow you to bathe there in the nude, you know," Jamie said, putting her hand on his shoulder, moving her mouth closer to his ear, "It would be nice to see you in the flesh, if you know what I mean."

Brock stuttered, "C'mon, Jamie, there's a child present!"

"Huh?" Jamie looked over at Max, who shyly turned his head away.

"I'm not listening…honestly," Max uttered, sipping the straw of his soda can innocently.

"I told you to take it easy and relax a bit, Jamie!" Tana bantered, pulling her friend away from Brock and into her seat.

"I get a little carried away sometimes, sorry," Jamie said, blushing.

Tana grinned slyly. "What's the matter, Jamie, I'm not fun enough for you anymore?"

"Hot springs with a guy is totally different," Jamie said, "You're the appetizer, he's the main course."

Brock looked over in Max's direction and sighed.

"For your sake, Max, I hope what they're saying goes in through one ear and out the next," he said, "They're a little nuts, but that's beside the point."

"O….k…" Max said, raising an eyebrow.

~*~*~

"I wonder what's taking so long for them to signal the start of the race," May wondered.

"It is taking a long time, maybe they weren't expecting this many people or something," Ash responded, "There's so many people participating and so many people watching, that's a lot of people!"

"A super-duper lot of people!" she added.

Ash and May leaned against their surfboard, sharing last minute thoughts together before the start of the race. He was wearing his black swimming trunks, while she was wearing her dark red two-piece bikini as expected. Corphish and Squirtle were standing within an inch of the water, almost impatient about wanting to put their training from the last six days to the test.

Next to them stood several other pairs of surfers and their Pokemon, mostly people in their late teens or early twenties. Pokemon such as Sealeo, Tentacruel, Wartortle, Feraligatr, Milotic, Corsola, Quilfish, Golduck, Walimer, Goldeen, and Luvdisc were ready to be used by the various couples entering the race. They were getting as restless as their trainers, wading around aimlessly while waiting for the start of the competition.

May looked up at the bright blue sky and began to reminisce about the past week they spent on the beach. Ash encouraged her to continue telling her thoughts about the last few days, it was always a pleasure to hear her talk about the time they spent together. They talked about the restaurants, the hotel, swimming, meeting Tana and Jamie, the unfortunate incident with Chaz and Eliza, and of course, the moments they shared together while practicing for the surfing competition. Despite surfing together for the last six days, Ash and May still got those same amazing feelings radiating through their bodies since the very first time they held each other on the surfboard. No matter how many times or how comfortable they got holding each other around the waist, those same exhilarating feelings of attachment and affection struck them each and every time they held each other. The feeling was mutual, and even though both felt a little squeamish about the subject, they could feel that certain spark inside each other that wasn't as prevalent as before. It wasn't just the surfing moments either, during their days on the beach the two almost longed to spend as much time together as possible. Something was changing, it was happening gradually and slowly, but it was changing nonetheless.

"Today is the big day, it's everything we worked toward for the last week," Ash said, resting his elbows on the top of the surfboard.

"We must have gone through those obstacle courses a dozen times, but even now the real race track doesn't seem that daunting," May said, "I guess I'll know in another hour or so if I'll have those swimsuits to come back to the hotel with."

"You will get those swimsuits, May," Ash said proudly, "There's no doubt about that."

May nodded, although a somewhat uncertain smile appeared on her face.

…Yesterday night…

She lied on her stomach on the bed, her legs kicking in the air and her hands holding up her face. The pamphlet rested on the bed in front of her, turned to the page that pictured the 15 different two-piece bikinis. It was the night before the competition, the calm before the storm.

The lights in the room were out, everyone else was already asleep. The only one awake was a sweet little girl who had her heart set on winning the prize. She pressed her fingers gently against the shallow piece of paper, trying to feel the bikinis as if they were real. She knew she was becoming a tad obsessive, but every night she opened up the pamphlet and stared at the swimsuit pictures before she went to bed. This night however, being the last night before the race, was different. She let her messy brown hair dangle in front of her eyes, yet through the strands of her hair she could still see the images on the paper.

In just one day, she would know whether or not she would be bringing these swimsuits back with her to the hotel. She yawned as her eyes almost shut on her, but she lazily gazed at the pages one last time. To anyone else, they were just nice swimsuits with unique designs that would probably be hard to find anywhere else. To May however, they were special.

Ash sleepily turned in his bed, opening an eye slightly to see if she was still awake. Much to his surprise, she was. He didn't get up from his bed or ask her why she was still awake, instead he lie sleepily with one eye opened, gazing at the girl on the bed next to him.

She heard him rustle in his bed and peered over in his direction, but due to the room being dark she couldn't make out whether his eyes were opened or closed. She smiled sweetly at him for a second, and then shifted her eyes back to the swimsuits.

Go to sleep already, May, Ash thought to himself, struggling to stay awake.

She rubbed her right eye in the darkness, and promised herself that she would take one last look at her favorite swimsuit before she went to sleep. It was the pink two-piece with a Skitty face imprinted on the right part of the top and a Torchic face imprinted on the backside of the bottom. It was her favorite swimsuit, one that easily stuck out to her more so than the rest. It needed to be hers, one way or another, she wanted that bikini more than any other piece of apparel in her life.

Ash struggled to keep an eye open to watch her, already figuring that the Skitty/Torchic bikini was the one she was looking at. Go to sleep, May…we'll win that bikini tomorrow, just close your eyes for now.

He could stay awake no longer, and the young boy doze off into a slumber. When he started to snore a few moments later, May finally got the urge to go to slumberland as well. She pulled up the covers and slid her body underneath them, holding the pamphlet in her arms above the covers. Her head rested softly on the pillow, looking over in Ash's direction, I'm going to try my hardest tomorrow, I'll do it for the both of us. Her eyes shut, falling to sleep while still clutching the pamphlet. Tomorrow would be the moment of truth…

…Present…

"Sorry for the delay folks, but the annual Pokemon surfing competition held here at Atona beach will begin in just 15 minutes," the announcer said, "I am your host Fredrick Sooklehimer, who will proudly narrate the events of the race as they occur. We're gearing up for a speeeeeecial race this time around folks, so hold onto your seats, because this one will be a shocker, literally!"

"It's the same guy hosting the race as last year," Tana said disappointingly.

"Is that bad thing?" Max asked.

"No, it's not that. It's just his sarcastic comments he made when me and Jamie lost the race last year," Tana clucked her tongue, "We came in dead last as you know, it wasn't a pretty picture."

"I have nightmares still thinking about the number of times we crashed and got knocked around during that race. Some of the competition can be brutal, they'll ram right into you and knock you off your surfboard," Jamie detailed, "It took us about 10 extra minutes to cross the finish line after everyone else did. We were like the laughing stock of the participants last year."

"Heehe, you two must have really sucked then, huh?" Max said gleefully.

Brock got tense and looked down at Max nervously. Apparently the choice of vocabulary didn't settle too well with Brock with the girls beside him. He sat as still as a statue trying to phase out any signs of awkwardness.

Fredrick projected his voice on the loudspeaker to the crowd. He had a head full of dark hair that was parted in the middle, and a slim flimsy mustache which went into curls on both ends. He wore a blue suit and slacks, and a tie that had a picture of a young lady running on the beach. His accent had a hint of French in it, although at the same time he spoke with a very prestige voice.

"Alright folks, in the meantime as we set-up a few of our "obstacles" on the course, I'll detail the rules of the race for both the participants and the spectators!"

"Great, here's hoping he says the stuff that wasn't listed in the pamphlet," May said, moving away from the surfboard, she was ready to listen intently to the man on the platform above.

"Funny you should mention the pamphlet, seeing as how you never bothered to read all the other pages and just focused on the ones with the swimsuit pictures," Ash said jovially.

"Hardy har har, Ash," May said smugly, "You can't blame a girl for getting a little sidetracked with all the cute bikini prizes."

"More like totally obsessed," Ash bantered, "I'm surprised you're even awake today with how late you stayed up last night oogling the swimsuit pictures."

"It wasn't that late! And besides, I did kinda…skim through the rules afterwards…more or less," May sweat-dropped in a flustered manner, seeing that Ash wasn't buying her story, "Ok, Ash, I admit, maybe I am a little too excited about those swimsuits. I'd…be content if I won just one of those swimsuits. I really don't need all 15 now that I think about it."

"Yeah, but you'll sure be disappointed if you don't win that Skitty/Torchic bikini, won't ya?" Ash insinuated.

"True," she frowned, staring at the ground.

Ash and May exchanged glances before their attention turned to Fredrick who was continuing his announcement.

"This is it people!" Fredrick shouted into his microphone, "We're talking about a one-lap race through our carefully constructed obstacle course! Trainers will surf on their surfboard and avoiding obstacles in the water while their Water Pokemon pull them along. Know this trainers, Pokemon attacks on opposing Pokemon are allowed as long as it isn't purposely bullying an opponent! If we catch a team spending all their time trying to knock another team out of the race, our judges will have to give you a 15 second penalty!"

"Hm, so we can tell our Pokemon to use attacks to slow down our opponents. I was wondering about that," Ash said in a determined manner.

"If the tethers tied around your Pokemon rip during the race, then oh boy are YOU in trouble! A tether ripping from one Pokemon is fine, but if both tethers rip you are hereby DISQUALIFIIIIIIIIIED!" Fredrick shouted, spitting into the microphone, "Since this competition is about how much stamina your Pokemon have, you will have to rely on them during the entire race. If the tethers rip, you have nothing to pull along your surfboard with and you're outta here! If your Pokemon gets tired and gives up, it's tough luck, cookies!"

"I hope you bought strong tethers, Ash!" May said bluntly.

"The storekeeper said they were the strongest material around, or something like that," he replied, barely remembering what the guy said in the shop.

"And, Corphish, you better make sure not to accidentally cut the tethers with your pincers!" she instructed, hovering over the Pokemon.

"Pheesh," Corphish grunted, waving its pincer in a know-it-all manner.

"I'd like to see that attitude during the race, Corphish," she said, leaning against the surfboard again, "You can go into a Bubblebeam and Crabhammer frenzy as long as you're not aiming it at the people but the surfboard and the Pokemon."

"Eh, let's not get Corphish too carried away," he said anxiously.

"Nevermind, Ash, Corphish! This is an opportunity to let out all your loose energy," she raised both her fists in an energetic manner, "Go nuts! Go insane! We need all that feisty energy to propel us to first place!"

"Cor-phish! CORPHISH," Corphish grinned, raising its pincers.

"May, I think you're going nuts yourself," he replied, covering his face.

"Nonsense, Ash! You saw how energetic Corphish was when it was Bubblebeaming the heck out of everything when you tried to tie the tether around it that very first time. We NEED that kind of stuff in the race. It's just like when I tell my Pokemon to focus their energy on a certain attack for a Contest, we need all that loose energy directed at our opponents. Right, Squirtle?"

Squirtle nodded.

"And what if we get disqualified for attacking another team?" Ash asked.

"We're not going to attack anyone, silly, we're just going to use the attacks to distract our competition and then propel ahead of them. Whatever is fair is fair!" she squealed.

"I guess I can see that strategy working, but we'll also have to use Squirtle and Corphish for defense against opposing attacks too," Ash put his hand to his chin and began to think, "Since we're up against all Water Pokemon, we're probably going to get hit by a lot of water attacks. You guys need to be ready on both defense and offense!"

Corphish and Squirtle listened intently. Ash started to give another piece of advice before he was distracted by Fredrick from above.

"To continue, if a trainer falls off the surfboard at anytime during the race, the surfboard must stop in its tracks and wait for the other trainer to climb back aboard. For example, if a surfboard crosses the finish line with only one human standing on top, then they are DISQUALIFIIIIIED! Both humans have to be standing on the surfboard when we come to the close, so if someone falls off, better stop in your tracks and wait for them to come back on!" Fredrick shouted, "Make no doubt, this will be a bumpy ride folks! Surfboards will constantly be bumping into one another, and you are allowed to forcefully knock your opponents off the surfboard to your advantage. Just remember only do what is necessary, any extra or persistent force against the same people will be met with a 15 second penalty, and if caught on repeat offenses then you are DISQUALIFIIIIIIIIIIED. If your Pokemon faint on the course for whatever reason, you are DISQUALIFIIIIIIED. If your surfboard breaks into itty, bitty pieces and you have nothing left to stand on, you of course, are DISQUALIFIIIIIIIIED!"

"Must he keep putting the same annoying emphasis on "disqualified?" Sheesh," Max said annoyed.

"He's actually a bit toned down from last year," Tana said, "Last year he ended up stripping while watching the race because it was too hot for him in his suit."

"Is that a fact?" Brock asked.

"And finally, there will be some surprises during the race. Don't be too "shocked" by what you may encounter as you ride the waves. This is a new installment for this years' race specifically, so put your pedal to the metal, or rather your Pokemon to the water, and get ready to have a grand time!" Fredrick declared.

The crowd roared with cheer as Fredrick took a bow to the audience. There was more excitement here than even in a Pokemon league stadium.

"The race shall begin in just five minutes folks, I suggest all participants let their Pokemon out of their Pokeballs now. Have them standing right near the water, as you'll have to tie the tethers around them after we signal the start of the race," he shouted.

"I'm so excited!" May squealed, jumping into the air, "I've been waiting all week for this moment and it's finally here!"

"By the way, do you want me to stand in the front and hold the tethers, since I'll instruct them when to turn and whatnot," Ash asked.

"Sure, Ash, we can always switch positions during the race if we need to anyway. I'll hold onto ya real tight though, just like always," she said flirtatiously, winking at him.

Ash smiled fondly. After today it would be all over, and there wouldn't be a reason for her to cling to him around his waist anymore.

"Well lookie what we have here," a female voice said, "The two children are ready to enter the race."

Ash and May turned around to see Precita and Dan walk next to them with their surfboard. Ash snarled at the couple as they placed their surfboard beside their own. Precita and Dan had their usual snobbish grins on their faces, but this time they didn't bother to say anything else. Precita looked at May out of the corner of her eye and grinned, May looked away and tried to ignore her.

"Four minutes till the start of the race! If you haven't done so already, let your Pokemon out!" Fredrick declared.

"I have my Pokeball, you have yours, right?" Dan asked.

"Yes," Precita turned to her opponents, "Would you like me to introduce you to our Pokemon?"

"We don't care," Ash said bluntly, "If all you're going to do is show off we couldn't care less."

"Apparently manners is not your best concept, boy," Precita said as she looked over at May, "What about you, May, would you like to see my Pokemon?"

May hesitated before answering, "It doesn't matter. Our Corphish and Squirtle will beat your Pokemon anyway."

"Is it just me or are these kids starting to act arrogant? It's almost as if they don't like us!" Dan laughed devilishly.

"Three minutes till we start!" Fredrick shouted into his microphone.

"I am insulted. Whatever did we do to get you to hate us so much?" Precita asked innocently, clasping her hands in a puppy-dog manner.

"Listen can you stop talking to us already?!" May finally blurted out, "We said we don't care, now just buzz off."

Precita remained calm, although her patience was wearing thin. She was not someone who could be told off easily, and was adamant about getting things her way.

"Guess I'll just have to show you my Pokemon anyway," Precita snarled, holding her Pokeball, "Come out, Sharpedo!"

The light that formed in the shallow water ahead of them soon materialized into a vicious shark Pokemon, Sharpedo. It was a shade of blue with a white underbelly and menacing red eyes. Its teeth were sharp and looked like they could even tear the hull of a ship apart.

"How do you like my Sharpedo?" Precita asked.

Sharpedo growled ferociously toward the shore. Squirtle got very intimidated and quickly ran behind May's legs. May bent down and put her hand around Squirtle's shell in a protective manner.

"Cor-phish!" Corphish yelled, raising its pincers at the Pokemon.

"Calm down, Corphish, we're not going to let a Sharpedo get the best of us," Ash said.

"Two minutes and counting!" Fredrick screamed, thrusting his crotch toward the audience.

"Time to show you my Pokemon," Dan said, throwing the Pokeball, "Gorebyss, I choose you!"

The light materialized into a Gorebyss right next to Sharpedo. In a sharp contrast to the menacing Sharpedo, Gorebyss was a beautiful pink Pokemon with dazzling eyes and a long snout.

"A…Gorebyss?" May stuttered.

"Not what you expected, huh? In any case, Gorebyss is the perfect Pokemon to use in this competition. Its sense of speed in the water is unmatched, not to mention how much it'll enjoy sucking the blood out of your Pokemon?" Dan mocked.

"What do you mean by that?" Ash asked.

"Study your Pokedex, boy," he replied, flicking his light brown hair, "Gorebyss may look beautiful and innocent, but looks aren't everything. Gorebyss drain the blood of their prey by inserting their snout into their body, and maliciously drain every ounce of juice from the inside of the Pokemon. The prey is helpless at the mercy of its aggressor as its bodily fluids are drained, killing it in the process. Why do you think it's called Gorebyss?"

"Bysssssss," Gorebyss hissed.

"You guys sure picked the most creepy Pokemon ever!" May shouted, clutching her Squirtle protectively in her arms, "And you probably chose them just to attack Ash and my Pokemon during the race! You make me sick."

"Heh, I'm thinking the girl is paranoid. We've caught these Pokemon long before we met you, Ms. Brunette. I suggest you lay off the conspiracy theories, because it'll only make you look more ignorant than you already are," Precita said.

May placed Squirtle on the sand and quickly tugged on Ash's arm. She brought him next to the tethers in front of the surfboard with Corphish and Squirtle standing next to it.

May urged him frantically, "Ash, we've just got to win this race! I can't bear to think of the gratitude those horrible people will get if they beat us."

"Definitely," Ash said as he nodded, he turned to Precita and Dan, "Last time I checked, good things don't happen to bad people!"

Precita and Dan looked at each other dumbfounded.

"Was that supossed to be some sort of comeback line?" Dan scratched his head.

"Oh I know what it was, he was just wishing us luck for our victory in the race," Precita laughed, "Oh and Ms. May?"

"What is it?" May asked snootily.

"Just to add insult to the injury, I'll look much better in those prize swimsuits than you will. I'll make sure to rub my win, and my body, in your face."

"ONE MINUTES FOLKS! OH YEAH!" Fredrick waved his arms.

May grunted angrily as sparks appeared in her eyes.

"Swimsuits belong on beautiful people like me," Precita said, flicking her long dark hair and strutting her body toward Ash and May, "I'd shudder to think if those great swimsuits were wasted on someone as frail and pathetic as you."

May was losing her temper quickly, her hands clasped into fists and her grunts could be heard a mile away. Her face was bulging, but she managed to hold herself back. She was trying to restrain herself, as she didn't know what would happen if she snapped. This garbage had gone on long enough.

"45 SECONDS PEOPLE! Participants stand by your surfboards! OH YEEEEEEAH!"

No way is she getting those swimsuits, not after everything I worked for to win them, May thought, clenching her fists, I can't even imagine a person like her wearing a pink bikini with a Skitty and Torchic on it…I just can't let her have that satisfaction.

Ash put his hands on May's shoulders which snapped her out of her train of thought. She looked at him confused and startled.

"Keep your cool, don't listen to what she has to say anymore," he said in a serious manner, "We're going to win, and that's all there is to it!"

May took a deep breath and let go of some of her tension. Precita and Dan eyed the pair with envy.

"30 SECONDS PEOPLE! GET READY TO TIE THE TETHERS!"

"I'm…I'm sorry, Ash. I just don't want her to get those swimsuits," she said softly, "Even if we don't win ourselves, I'd rather one of the other participants in the race win instead. That way at least I'll know that Precita didn't get what she wanted either, and some other lucky girl will get those swimsuits instead."

"I wouldn't count on that!" Precita yelled, waving her hand in disgust, "Just because we're focused on you two doesn't mean we're ignoring the rest of the competition. We'll leave all these other losers in the dust as well. Nobody is going to stand in my way and the prize."

~*~*~

"I'm so excited, less than 30 seconds before they fire the signal!" Max shouted with glee.

"ASH AND MAY YOU CAN DO IT!" Brock shouted.

"PIKA PIKACHU!"

"They've been training all week, haven't they? They should do real well," Tana said happily.

"Hopefully my sister doesn't mess up on anything, she can get awfully clumsy at times," Max sighed.

"Put more faith in the female species, Max," Jamie said, "Girls can be just as wild as boys you know."

Tana gave Jamie a hard elbow to her stomach.

"I said STOP SAYING things like that!" Tana growled.

"Man, I sure can pick 'em can't I?" Brock sighed as he hid his face in his hands.

~*~*~*~

The race was about to start, the 30 different pairs of participants stood readily next to the surfboard, holding onto the tethers ready to tie them around their Pokemon as soon as the signal was fired. The anticipation was building, and in just a few more seconds the Pokemon would be racing as fast as they could.

"TEN SECONDS!" Fredrick declared.

"Ready, May?"

"Ready, Ash."

"After we take care of some of the other participants, we'll go after them," Precita whispered.

"As I always say, you're the boss," Dan replied.

"FIVE SECONDS!"

Corphish and Squirtle were as determined as their trainers to begin the race.

"THREE!"

"TWO!"

"ONE…LET THE RACE BEGIN!" Fredrick shouted, shooting a signal into the air.

The signal burst into a red firework in the sky which let the trainers know that the race had begun! The trainers scrambled to tie the tethers around their Pokemon, and as soon as they were tied around, they were off on the course.

"Quickly, Ash, get it around Corphish!" May said nervously as she was tying the other tether around Squirtle's shell.

Ash looked up around him as several of the other participants were already finished with the tethers and were getting a head start on the competition. Ash frantically looked to the right where a Walimer and Luvdisc pulled out from the shore and brought their trainers along with them out toward the course.

"Ash, stop blanking out and hurry up! The other people are on the race course already!" May shouted.

Ash quickly focused his attention back to the tether, but his fingers were stumbling while tying the knot. Apparently he was getting too nervous to focus clearly.

Precita and Dan hopped on their surfboard with the tethers secured around their Sharpedo and Gorebyss. Before Precita grabbed ahold of the tethers through the circular hole, she snickered watching Ash still struggle to tie the knot around Corphish.

"Let me give you a going away present!" Precita sneered, reaching her foot down toward the sand.

She then quickly dug her left foot in the sand and flung a large clot of sand into Ash's eyes. The sting of sand hitting his eyes forced Ash to fall backward and rub his eyes in pain.

"Have fun, suckers!" Precita laughed maliciously, "I've got a race to win!"

Sharpedo and Gorebyss pulled their surfboard into the ocean as Precita and Dan looked behind them to see Ash still sitting on the sand and rubbing his eyes.

"I HATE YOU!" May blurted out toward Precita.

Ash continued to wipe his eyes nervously, "She flung that damn sand into my eyes…you don't know how badly this stings!"

May grabbed Ash under his armpits and helped him to his feet, she brought her hands to his face and tried to help him any way she could. Ash finally squinted and blinked a couple of times until the sting started to fade. His eyes were red from the impact, but at least now he could open them again.

"CORPHISH!" Corphish shouted.

"Are you ok now?" May asked, her hands scanning his face.

"Ugh, I'm as good now as I'll ever be. I'll get her back for that, I swear!" Ash pushed May aside and kneeled down in front of Corphish, trying to tie the knot around him once more.

"And so the race begins!" Fredrick said, "Most of the surfers have already left the shore, but there seems to be trouble with a certain pair of participants. Looks like a young boy and girl are struggling to tie a tether around their Corphish, I wonder what the mishap was?!"

"What's taking Ash and May so long to get in the race?" Max asked, "Everyone else is out on the course already!"

"I don't know, I didn't see anything from here. All I saw was Ash falling backward for no reason, it was hard to make out what happened," Brock said, "They better get a move on, they're about 20 seconds behind the competition already!"

"Every one of our participants is now on the course except for one pair of young trainers still at the starting line. Seeing as how this young boy and girl are having some problems, why not call them the "Little rookies?" Yes, I must say I come up with great names for our participants, will the "Little rookies" manage to catch up with the competition?" the loudspeakers declared.

"There, it's on!" Ash said happily, securing the knot, "Get on the surfboard!"

Ash hopped on the surfboard and grabbed the two tethers through the circular opening. May quickly jumped on and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. Once Ash commanded their Pokemon to go, Squirtle and Corphish pulled the surfboard along into the water and started swimming. Corphish propelled its pincers in a clockwise motion to try and make up for loss time, while Squirtle kept its mouth underneath the water and its eyes above, hoping that it would be able to swim quicker that way.

"Whaddya know, folks? The "Little rookies" have finally left the starting line! All the participants are on the course, let's here it for them!" Fredrick said happily.

The crowd roared with cheer, while Max, Brock and Pikachu especially shouted out to Ash and May as loud as they could.

"The rest of them are so far ahead of us!" Ash shouted while he squinted, "We gotta pick up the pace!"

Corphish and Squirtle heard their master and began swimming as fast as they could. There were wooden signs floating in the water attached to buoys that had arrows pointing on them. They were to show the correct way through the race course, as it was hard to make out which direction the participants had to go otherwise.

Ash and May peered ahead as they saw several stone pillars in the water. They were large stone rocks designed specifically so the surfboards would bump into them. May noted how this was pretty much the same thing as practicing with the buoys they did all week, and that they should use the same strategy here.

"These pillars are larger and fatter than the buoys, just zigzag through them!" May commanded.

"I see them!" Ash said, pulling the tethers to the right, which indicated to the Pokemon to swim in that direction.

The surfboard began to zigzag through the series of pillars in the water, successfully avoiding impact with all of them. That was until Ash got careless when they approached the last pillar, and the side of the surfboard smacked into the heavy stone which nearly knocked Ash and May overboard. Quickly regaining their composure, they continued along hoping to catch up to the other surfers.

"I think I see the first surfer in front of us!" May said.

"We'll just have to pass them up, c'mon, Corphish!" Ash declared.

Corphish pulled the surfboard to the right as they approached the other surfboard that was ahead of them. The young couple and their Shellder and Slowbro didn't take kindly to being passed up, especially by current last place participants. The young man ordered his Sheller to use a Bubble attack against the opposing surfboard.

"Use your Bubblebeam attack to blow away those Bubbles!" Ash commanded.

"Corphish!" Corphish shouted, opening its right pincer and firing its Bubblebeam attack. The stronger force of Corphish's Bubblebeam managed to blow back Shellder's Bubble attack, and the blast fired right back into the Pokemon in which it fainted upon impact.

"Shellder!" the male surfer gasped, seeing one of its Pokemon fainted in the water.

Ash and May grinned as they passed up the other trainers at a high speed toward the rest of the group in front of them.

"And what's this?" Fredrick shouted, "Looks like the "Little Rookies" are no longer in last place, and have managed to faint a Pokemon from an opposing team! Since this was only a single attack used for defense, there will be no penalty imposed on the "Little Rookies!" On the other hand, our current last place participants are sure going to have a rough time racing with only one Pokemon!"

"Are you kidding us?" the last place female trainer whined, clutching her Shellder in her arms, "Forget this! We quit! This race is too violent for our poor little Pokemon!"

"AHA! And with that entry #17 is DISQUALIFIIIIIIIIIED! Only 29 racers remain, who will claim the #1 spot?" he shouted.

"Good, I can see several surfboards right ahead of us. Maybe we're not as far behind as we thought we were!" Ash cheered.

"Well we're in 29th place now, I don't think we should be celebrating just yet, Ash!" May said.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR WAY!" Precita threatened to a pair of unsuspecting trainers.

The two female surfers looked innocently toward Precita and Dan, not really sure what to expect.

"Gorebyss, use Ice beam and freeze their surfboard in its tracks!" Dan commanded.

Gorebyss' snout glowed a white and blue tint and fired a beam of light upon the female trainers surfboard. Their two Luvdisc were frightened by the attack, and even more so when the Ice beam turned into a giant ice sculpture, thus propelling the two girls and their Luvdisc about 10 feet into the air!

The two young teen girls hugged each other desperately, with their surfboard teetering over the edge of a large ice sculpture.

"Another entry has been put on ice! Looks like they're out of the race!"

The Luvdisc jumped out of their tethers and into the arms of the two girls.

"Oh who cares about this stupid race anyway, I just wanted to prove my love for my friend!" the blonde girl complained.

"Oh, Sarah, you know I love you anyway, our Luvdisc proved that," the dark hair girl confessed.

The two girls cried humorously as some race officials raced to the scene to get them down and bring them off the course.

"That's another one down, let's kick the crap out of the rest," Precita said.

Ash and May managed to pass by three more surfers without even exchanging attacks. It started to become apparent that some of these other participants haven't even spent much time training for the competition, while Ash, May and their Pokemon trained for several hours for a full week.

"NEXT UP, IT'S TIME FOR ONE OF OUR SURPRISE TWISTS THIS YEAR!" Fredrick grinned, "Oh it's going to be the BOMB! Quite literally!"

As Ash and May made a left turn to continue staying between bounds on the race course, a bunch of canon shots were fired from outside the course and into the water.

"What the heck?" May said amazed, "What are they trying to do, kill us?"

The balls fired into the race course weren't canon shots at all, but the large balls managed to float to the surface, almost as if they had a mind of their own and were waiting for the surfers to approach them.

"Creepy, now I'm glad we didn't participate in the race this time," Jamie said flabbergasted.

"I can't tell, what did they fire onto the course? There's about a dozen of them scattered about!" Max said.

"Let's wait and see…" Brock whispered.

"Corphish?" Corphish said confused as it approached one of the floating black balls.

"Wait a second…" Ash gasped, as he spotted beady eyes appearing from the top of the balls, "Those aren't just balls, they're Electrode!"

"WHAT?" May said frantically.

"ELEC-TRODE!" Electrode said emerging to the surface so its red and white colors appeared in front of them. The round Pokemon then began to heat up as sparks started flying out from its sides.

"Ash, turn to the left, it's going to use Self destruct!" May gasped. She reached her hands over Ash and grabbed the tethers from him, pulling them to the left as quick as possible so Squirtle and Corphish would know to make a turn. Ash quickly moved out of the way and stood behind her, this time clutching her around the waist.

"TRODE!" The Pokemon declared before…

BOOM!

The explosion created a tremendous wave in the water, in which their surfboard was catapaulted into the air! The two trainers held on tightly while their surfboard came crashing back down into the water.

"HOLD ON!" May yelled back to Ash.

The surfboard crashed flat down into the water while Squirtle and Corphish were submerged beneath it. May and Ash peered over the edge of the surfboard hoping that their Pokemon didn't faint from the explosion, but their fears were put to rest as their Pokemon appeared back above the water with energetic expressions.

"The race this year not only features obstacles on the course, but Pokemon obstacles as well! Isn't it just the bomb? Yeah, I know I said that already but when you're as cool as me, you just GOTTA say everything twice!" Fredrick declared, "Now that the surprise is over, fire out more Electrode!"

"Alright guys, keep going! And watch out for the Electrode!" May commanded, clutching the tethers tightly.

Electrode started raining down all over the race course, but some other trainers weren't as lucky as Ash and May were. Several trainers came into head on collisions with Electrode in the water which automatically triggered a self destruct. The explosion managed to destroy their surfboard, and without it they were disqualified from the race. Another pair of trainers had an Electrode fired right on top of their surfboard! The two trainers gasped in horror as the sly electric Pokemon burst to bits in their faces, sending the trainers and their Pokemon flying backward into the water. After their surfboard was destroyed, more officials and Officer Jenny's then tugged the defeated participants and trainers off the race course and into the safety zone.

"And that's two, no three…no wait…SEVEN…that's right…SEVEN more participants… DISQUALIFIIIIIIIIIED from the race! No surfboard means you're screwed!" he said, dancing on stage with mic in hand.

"What the heck is this, some kind of warzone?" Max panicked.

"Pika, Pikachu," Pikachi said worried.

"Ash'll be ok, Pikachu, as long as they don't get hit directly by an explosion their surfboard should hold together!" Brock said reassuringly.

"They're coming down on us! There's three right ahead of us and one falling right above us! You gotta turn, May!" Ash screamed.

"I hear you!" May panicked, pulling on the tethers.

"ELECTRODE, ELEC-TROOOOOODE!" the Pokemon shouted before exploding.

Another fierce wave splashed upon the trainers, soaking them in the process, but the surfboard managed to stay in the water this time. More Electrode started to wade in the water toward Ash and May, waiting for their chance to send them flying. May craftily maneuvered the surfboard through the gaps of water where the electric types weren't wading, and managed to quickly speed past them before they exploded. The explosions from behind still sent a force of water toward the back of their surfboard, but it was nothing that didn't stop them for more than a few seconds.

"ELECTRODE!"

May looked up in horror as an Electrode got dangerously close to the surfboard. Ash screamed to pull the surfboard to the side but May didn't have any time to react. The Electrode grinned excitedly ready to deliver a hefty blow to its prey. The Pokemon started to heat itself up and with only seconds before the explosion, it didn't look like they would make it through this one.

"If I can't outrun this one, we'll just have to knock it away!" May declared, "Corphish, use Crabhammer quickly!"

"Cor-phish!"

Corphish jumped out of the water and smacked the round Pokemon with its pincer. Electrode was flung into the air and exploded in the distance, leaving Ash and May unscathed.

"I got us through that mess!" May cheered.

"Don't look now but we've got bigger problems!" Ash gasped, pointing ahead.

"Huh?" May looked forward in shock.

A large Blastoise stood on a pillar in front of them with its two canons aimed right at the trainers.

"It wouldn't!" May gasped.

"Squirtle, squirtle-squirtle!" Squirtle yelled.

"Blas-toise," the Pokemon said with a glimmer in its eye.

"It would!" Ash concluded.

Blastoise fired a Hydro Pump attack toward the trainers. The powerful projectile water attack came into contact with the front of the surfboard, damaging a piece of it in the process. A sole piece of the front of the surfboard tore off the front and into the ocean. It was the nose of the board, but a relatively small piece that the trainers didn't notice with the predicament at hand. May and Ash clung aboard desperately as the force of the water rushed against their bodies, threatening to submerge them beneath the waves.

"The "Little rookies" just came into contact with some of our other surprises! Our officially trained Pokemon will use attacks to slow down participants, how will they manage to break free?!" Fredrick gasped.

"I…can't hold on much longer!" May gasped as the water splashed across her face.

"Squirtle…you've got to try and reason with it!" Ash gasped, as he knew it would be their best bet.

"Squirtle?" Squirtle thought quickly, "Squirtle, squirtle!"

The tiny Pokemon frantically shouted toward the large Blastoise on the pillar. Once its meek little cries were heard by the burly tortoise, Blastoise lowered its canons and stopped its Hydro Pump attack.

"Squirtle squirtle!" it shouted in an attempt to sway the giant.

"Blas….Blastoise…oise Blastoise!" Blastoise said happily.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle squealed.

"Why did Blastoise stop its attack?" May asked.

"Blastoise must be letting us go easy because Squirtle is from its evolutionary line. I knew trying to reason with it would work, nice job, Squirtle!" Ash said proudly.

"Pheeesh," Corphish grunted, jealous that it never got such praise for getting rid of the Electrode.

The two Pokemon swam along, pulling the surfboard away from the Blastoise. When Blastoise saw two more sets of trainers appearing behind it, the former team with a Wartortle and Kingdra and the latter with a Marshtompt and Staryu, it chose to fire its Hydro Pump attack on the latter. The trainers with the Wartortle shouted with glee as they were happy to be spared from the might Blastoises' wrath, due to having a Wartortle in their possession. The other team was blown backward by the projectile, nearly 30 feet back from whence they came, only to end up colliding with one of the Electode in the water, in which they then felt themselves blown to bits by the electric type.

"TRIPLE KO! Entries #2, 18, and #23 are OOOOOOOUUUUUUUTTTTTAAAA heeeeeeeere!" Fredrick shouted, awaiting the responses from the roaring crowd.

"Jeez, and the rules say you can't bully another team by attacking them a lot?" May said sarcastically, "If I didn't know better I'd say the officials are doing a pretty dang good job of that themselves."

"That's the twist it seems, although it didn't have to be so crazy!" Ash panted, "I don't know how much more of this we can take."

"Oh we can take this all right," a determined May said, "We'll take everything they throw at us, because at the end of the day those swimsuits are going to belong to me!"

~*~*~

"We're still in possession of that Electrode, right?" Precita asked.

"My Gorebyss has it ready my dear," Dan said.

An Electrode encased in ice was being pushed along by Gorebyss' mouth. The Electrode was in the middle of an explosion, but the Ice beam managed to freeze it in its tracks before it exploded. The electric Pokemon could do nothing as it was being helplessly pushed along against its will. It tried to maneuver its body and break free of its icy shell, but it was completely immobilized.

Precita peered to her left where she spotted two young boys racing with their Tentacool. She licked her lips as she instructed her Pokemon to pull their surfboard closer to their opponents.

"Hey, boys!" Precita called out, waving her arms.

The two boys looked no older than 12, they appeared to be twins, with each boy having the same features as the other boy. They looked at Precita with child-like innocence wondering why the nice lady was calling over to them.

"We're going to beat you, lady!" the first boy said happily.

"Our parents are watching from the stadium, they're cheering for us to win this race!" the second boy said.

"Your parents sure put a lot of faith into you kids, they're still watching now I assume?" Precita asked with a smile.

The two surfboards continued to race side by side with a few feet of distance between them, Precita instructed her Pokemon to keep up with the same pace as the Tentacool.

"Yeah they are! I'm just so happy we're in this race, especially on a day like today!" the first boy said naively.

"Oh, and what's so special about today?" Precita asked.

"It's our birthday!" the boys cheered in unison, "We're twins, and we both turned 12 today!"

"Twins, eh?" Dan muttered.

"Happy Birthday, kids!" Precita said jovially.

The Electrode encased in ice was getting restless, it appeared as if the energy built up inside was ready for an explosive release. Gorebyss continued to push it along with its snout gently, knowing that if it tapped it too hard it might trigger an explosion.

"Thank you, miss!" the second boy said, "You're a really nice person, it's great having friendly competition."

"Since it's your birthday I might as well give you boys a present," Precita grinned.

"REALLY?" the boys said in unison.

"Sure," Precita cackled, "Happy Birthday!"

She pulled on Gorebyss' tether which instructed the Pokemon just what to do. Gorebyss used its snout to pick up the encased Electrode on its nose, and then tossed the Pokemon in the air over in the direction of the two boys. Before the twins could react, the giant ice prism holding the Electrode crashed down on top of them, and a second later the Electrode exploded in their faces, sending the boys ricocheting off the surfboard and destroying their board in the process. The boys screamed from the pain as tears cascaded down their faces until they finally plummeted back down into the water, Tentacool and all. All that could be seen was remnants of the shattered surfboard in a dozen pieces.

"I hope they enjoyed their present," Precita laughed.

Gorebyss and Sharpedo swam at breakneck speed, pulling their surfboard along in the distance.

~*~*~*

"There's a sharp right turn here!" Ash yelled.

"I know! I know!" May panicked.

Corphish and Squirtle nearly bumped into one another as they attempted to turn the surfboard without crashing into the stone walls. The surfboard scraped against the walls during the turn which again broke off a few pieces on the right side of their board. May gripped the tethers with all her might, preparing to go in a straight line again, as the twists and turns appeared to be behind them.

"Phew," May said relieved, wiping her brow, "I hate all these curvy turns, they should just make the race course go straight!"

Their surfboard continued to ride along the waves and between buoys until the came across an open man-made canyon with green specs flying in the sky. Ash and May squinted, trying to make out what was flying in the sky, hoping that it was nothing for the obstacle course.

"My eyes are still a little strained from the sand, can you make out what those are, May?" Ash asked, struggling with his blurry vision.

"They looked like green dots to me," May shrugged.

"After entry #16 was wiped out by an unsuspecting Electrode blast, we now have 14 participants still on the course!" Fredrick projected, "Hmmm, let's see now….FOLKS! It looks like the "Little rookies" have entered Slash Valley!"

The crowd roared in anticipation, some knowing what was going to happen due to earlier participants already making it through that segment.

"That's right my faithful fans, will the "Little rookies" be as unlucky as the other contestants?" Fredrick said.

"It's kinda quiet at this part," May said softly.

"Maybe a little too quiet," Ash said.

"Don't say stuff like that, Ash! It gives me the creeps," May retaliated, "Every time in the movies when someone says something like that, something bad happens!"

"What could possibly go wrong?" Ash whined.

"SCY-THER!" a green Pokemon screeched from above.

The Pokemon swooped down toward the surfboard and raised its scythe, aiming for the two tethers that were tied around Corphish and Squirtle.

"Stop the surfboard!" Ash yelled.

May instructed a halt frantically as the winged Pokemon missed its mark and slashed the right side of the surfboard instead. The two trainers gasped as they looked behind them to see what happened.

"That was a Scyther!" Ash said astonished.

"I can see that!" May said, "It looked like it was trying to cut the tethers off our surfboard!"

"That was a close call for the "Little Rookies," but it looks like they managed to get by a striking Scyther through some quick thinking, with only a piece of their surfboard slashed off instead," Fredrick said, "That was just a taste though, are they ready for the eye of the storm?"

"If the tethers are cut then we get disqualified from the race," Ash reminded her.

"Well at least he missed then, so we don't have to worry about that anymore," May said relived.

"I dunno, usually when something bad happens it doesn't just happen once," Ash pondered, "Something tells me that there's going to be a hundred more of them, and they'll all appear out of nowhere and when we least expect it!"

"You watch too many movies, Ash," May sighed.

"SCYTHER!" was screeched across the skies above.

Ash and May were startled as they looked above at an entire school of Scyther soaring down toward them! The Scyther were all in formation, with about three on both sides, and two in the center. They all had their scythes raised, ready to be triggered into a primitive slashing release.

"There's a whole lot of them!" Ash cried.

"You and your big mouth!" May yelled.

Without hesitation, Squirtle and Corphish quickly pulled along the surfboard without their trainers orders, knowing full well what would happen if the tethers were cut. Ash nearly fell off the back of the surfboard when they started moving again, as he was still staring up at the sky at the wave of green forming above them.

"SCY-THER!" cried out the leader, twisting its body into a circular motion with one scythe extended.

"IT'S GOING TO HIT US!" May shrieked.

"We gotta keep moving!" Ash panicked.

Fredrick continued his dictation of the race, "It seems like the "Little rookies" were taken by surprise in the valley, and are now at the mercy of a dozen Scyther ready to slash their surfboard – and their hopes of winning the race – into pieces! Will the young trainers manage to escape the Scyther's wrath in time and keep going in the race, or will they only find themselves in the losers circle after they're torn to shreds? It's going to be a split-second and heart pounding moment here folks, stay tuned for the next exciting installment!"

Fredrick took a deep breath, covered the mic with his hand and muttered to himself, "Jeez, I could probably get a job narrating a children's cartoon show with this voice. I am just THAT good."