"I think Lugia might help," Falkner said, thinking. "But the place where it is sleeping is quite far from here. You think you could handle such a long journey, lady?"
That set Winona off. "Who're you calling 'lady'?" she fumed madly. "I'm just as good as any of you guys, and I'll prove it!"
Falkner looked ready to reply with an insult, but he just kept quiet, and instead made Winona a challenge. "Prove it by getting there!" he replied. "And don't lose me. Let's have a race."
Winona was burning with anger and pride, and she accepted immediately.
"Of course, you'll have to follow me most of the way," Falkner added. "You don't know the way, do you?"
"Once I see the destination, I'll overtake you!" she shouted, her pride hurt.
"Don't count on it," he replied simply. "Ready…go!"
Both of them shot off.
Winona's Altaria could hardly keep up. Maybe Falkner had been right…
"No!" she told herself, gritting her teeth. "I'll show that I'm not a weakling like those silly girls who go for contests! Go, Skarmory!"
Skarmory was much faster than Altaria. It sped on like a bullet in the direction Falkner and his Pidgeot had gone. Soon, they had caught up, and were level.
"Not bad," Falkner shouted. " For a girl, that is. This was only a warm-up. Full speed, Pidgeot!"
Somehow, Pidgeot managed to increase its speed, and went far ahead of Skarmory. Winona felt deeply insulted. Not bad for a girl,was it? Even so, she found it impressive that Pidgeot could go so fast. "Well, no reason not to try the same," she said to herself. "Hurry on, Skarmory!"
Skarmory raised its speed until the wind whistled as Winona and Skarmory flew, but it was no match for Pidgeot, which was much lighter.
"Faster!" Winona shouted, caring for nothing except to show that females could be just as good as males. Yet, Skarmory could not go any faster, and Winona had to accept that fact, and she felt defeat descend onto her like a dark veil, even before the race had ended. She really was not as good.
Finally, after an hour or two, Winona saw the destination. It was an island, completely empty except for a few Palmtrye trees. From afar, it seemed tiny, but as she got nearer, she discovered two things—that the island really was quite large, and that Falkner had already reached it. As she neared, he looked up and remained expressionless.
Winona landed Skarmory on the island, and it immediately fainted, falling to the sandy ground with a thud.
"Return," Winona sighed, holding out Skarmory's pokéball. She turned to see Falkner smiling with uncontained triumph.
"Fine, you win!" she shouted in bitter defeat. "You are better!" Why had she let an inexperienced gym leader beat her so easily?
"Don't worry, Winona," Falkner said calmly. "I don't believe you train your pokémon to reach high speeds everyday, as I do. Nothing wrong if you lose to me in a race. Besides, that was really good—"
"—For a girl!" Winona ended heatedly.
"No, that's not—" Falkner started but was cut off again by Winona.
"Always not as good, right?" she practically screamed, boiling with anger. "I'll show that girls can be as good at anything, including racing!" She stormed off into the shade of the nearest Palmtrye tree which swayed slowly in the late afternoon breeze, seeming not to care about Winona's feelings.
"Come on, we've got a job to do, and we can't waste any time!" Falkner pleaded. "Stop acting like that, please. It won't help the situation. And I'm sorry I said that earlier!"
"Alright," Winona relented. "Tell me what to do." She stood up and walked over.
Falkner began to explain. "Now, according to a legend, Lugia stays underwater just a little way east from here, in a glass cavern. It heals by sleeping, and will wake up when it heals completely. It recently fought a pokémon collector, so it's still resting..."
Winona nodded. "Alright, so how do we get it out?" Winona asked, slightly irritated that she was taking orders from Falkner.
"Erm…disturb Lugia?" he replied, quite uncertain.
"Ha! You don't know!" Winona exclaimed gloatingly. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's see if it works! Mewtwo might be ready with the resources for his transmitter any time now."
"Um…underwater? I don't think we can," Falkner said quickly. "You don't have any diving Water types, do you?"
At that, Winona sniffed with pride. "Of course I do!" she exclaimed, sending out her Pelipper. "Well?"
"Alright, that's great," Falkner replied, somewhat happier. "Make it take us underwater, if that's alright with you."
"Okay."
Pelipper waddled to the rolling waves of the sea, almost like a huge blue carpet. The two gym leaders followed it. With a few flaps of its wings, it jumped into the water and floated a few feet away. Winona waded after it, until she was knee-deep in the water. The waves rose and fell rhythmically, as if inviting them to step in further. The sky was beginning to turn slightly orange in the slowly descending sun, and the sea was awash with the warm chrome-yellow light.
Suddenly, Pelipper dove into the water. Both lunged for it, falling face down into the shimmering, glassy water, reaching for Pelipper's tail and feet. For a moment, neither breathed, trapped in the water. Then, suddenly, they were in a huge bubble of air, clinging to Pelipper's feet. Pelipper seemed ignorant of the weight, and began speeding through the golden water.
Soon Pelipper was in open waters. The blueness stretched on on all sides, and a beautiful coral reef carpeted the seabed in a riot of colours which shone brightly in the evening light. Pelipper slowed down.
"Which way, do you know?" Winona questioned impatiently.
"Do you expect me to know?" Falkner replied. The two began to look around, inside Pelipper's bubble.
Night was already nearing. As the sun cast its last pink-orange rays on the scene, some light got reflected straight into Winona's vision.
"Ow!" she shouted, shading her eyes from the blazing light. Suddenly, she realised what that had to mean. There was a shiny object there. Glass?
"Pelipper, that way!" she commanded excitedly, pointing to the source of the glare. Pelipper turned, and darted towards it, carrying the two gym leaders with it.