Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!

Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga

Chapter Twenty

Vs. Dice

"Look at those guys all drooling over Ashley..." Rina muttered to Pippi. "Its like I don't even exist! I'm cute too, aren't I?!"

There were six guys surrounding Ashley, all roughly her age and all at Ashley's beck and call. Ashley was lying out on a towel on the sand, wearing a green bikini and a pair of black sunglasses to keep the sun out of her eyes as she relaxed on the beach. Rina was sitting off much further away, watching the group from a distance.

"-She does seem very popular with the boys today...-" Pippi observed, tilting her head to the side. "-Does that normally happen when girls wear less clothes?-"

"Yes..." Rina muttered bitterly. "Especially if you have a nice body like she does...."

"-So...you don't have a 'nice body' then?-" Pippi asked Rina curiously, glancing over at her. Rina was wearing a yellow one-piece swimsuit, which Ashley had apparently bought for her while shopping in Celadon.

"I...I will when I'm older!" Rina shot back. She growled and stood up from her towl, clenching a fist. "I'm going for a swim!" She announced before stomping off across the sand, heading to the water.

"Was it something I said?" Pippi wondered, blinking in confusion. "Rina's been acting funny ever since those guys showed up and started talking to Ashley..." Pippi blinked again and scratched her head. "Whats the word for it? Jealousy?"

"-H-hey! Pippi!-" The sound of another pokemon calling out to her distracted Pippi from her thoughts. She looked behind her to see Bulbasaur bounding toward her and sliding to a stop in the sand. "-Pippi! Where'd Rina go?!-"

"-Umm...she went for a swim...-" Pippi replied, blinking in confusion. "-Why?-"

"-Damn it!-" Bulbasaur took off running again without another word. Pippi soon had her answer anyway, though, when she saw Tangela chasing him.

"-Come back! I want to be friends!-" Tangela called out to Bulbasaur, giving chase. Pippi giggled quietly, remembering how Bulbasaur said he didn't like Tangela. Pippi didn't even know Rina had caught one until they had arrived at the beach and Rina released all her pokemon. Rina had given Tangela the nickname Teri, which Tangela had no complaints about.

The rest of Rina and Ashley's pokemon were scattered around the beach as well, along with pokemon belonging to other trainers. Or at least, the six pokemon they could bring with them were out on the beach. Both Rina and Ashley had changed their teams around a bit after leaving the Safari Zone, for one reason or another.

Rina's Tangela had taken a liking to Bulbasaur almost immediately and had been chasing him around the beach ever since. Sarge was also among Rina's pokemon and had moved off to a less crowded area of the beach for a sparring match with Ashley's Mankey. Mankey was trying to get the other pokemon to fight him, eager to become stronger, and Sarge decided to take him on to keep him from causing trouble.

Ashley's Poliwhirl, recently evolved from Poliwag, had went for the water but decided it didn't like salt water much. Instead, he was wandering around the beach and greeting all the different pokemon. Similarly Rina's Berry, recently retrieved from storage, was busy getting to know all the new pokemon Ashley and Rina had caught recently.

Rina's Blastoise, Berg, was wading in the shallow water of the beach and almost looked as though he was meditating. Ashley's Jolteon was lying nearby on the beach, curious as to how Berg remained so calm after what he had been through with the hunters. Ashley's Golbat was keeping to itself, perched on top of a shack where various snacks and drinks were sold. The owner of the shack was rather nervous about the pokemon on his roof.

Haunter and Felicia were also with their respective trainers, however they were still inside their pokeballs. Ashley had tried to let Haunter out, however the ghost pokemon had apparently decided Rina was an easy target for playing cruel tricks on. Felicia, on the other hand, had requested to remain in her pokeball. She didn't want to get sand in her fur.

"Well, anyway, I'm sure Rina will be feeling better after a swim..." Pippi thought to herself, lying down in the sand and rolling over onto her side. She immediately saw several pairs of legs standing nearby. Glancing up at the nearest pair of legs, Pippi realized it was Ashley. The others were the boys, following behind her.

"Hey, Pippi, where's Rina?" Pippi blinked at the question, considering how to answer it for a moment before raising her hand and pointing out at the water. Ashley followed her direction and saw Rina walking out into the water, already at a point where it was up to her waist.

"Oh...too bad..." Ashley said disappointedly. "I thought she might be interested in a game of volleyball since these guys wanted me to play. Oh well, I guess I could just watch them play." Ashley headed off with the guys toward a nearby volleyball net, though the guys seemed less interested all of a sudden.

"-Volleyball?-" Pippi blinked, looking out toward the water. "I think Rina missed out on something fun..."

After swimming out quite a bit from the shore Rina finally stopped and floated on her back, staring up into the sky. It was a calm day and the water hardly stirred.

"Stupid boys..." Rina said to herself. "We were going to just spend some time relaxing on the beach and then they show up and its like I don't even exist!" Rina raised her head slightly to scan the beach. She couldn't really make out who was who due to how far out she was, but she could tell Ashley and her followers weren't in their original spot.

"Since when was Ashley so interested in catching a boy's attention anyway? She's actually enjoying having those guys fawn over her!" Rina let out a 'hmph' and tilted her head back again. "Figures...I bet thats why she wears that skirt. Why else would someone planning to travel across a region on foot dress like that?"

Rina took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Ok...relax...there's no reason for you to get upset with Ashley, Rina." She said to herself. She took several deep, calming breaths before a splash behind her, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned around, her body slipping under the water and kicking her feet to float vertically. She took a quick look around, but saw nothing.

"Must have been a pokemon..." She thought, rolling her shoulders in a shrug. "Well its not like there's any big carniviorous pokemon in Kanto oceans anyway. Except Gyarados, but they're usually way out at sea..." She let out a sigh at the thought of what pokemon it might have been. "I bet there's a lot of cool pokemon in the ocean...I should have brought Berg and a couple great balls with me..."

Rina turned back toward the shore and debated swimming back in, but suddenly she felt something wrap around her ankle. Before she could react, she was pulled under the water, getting a mouthful of water as she opened her mouth in surprise. As soon as she was underwater she felt something wrapping around both her arms and her other leg.

"Wh-what? What grabbed me!?" Rina wondered, struggling in a panic to pull herself free of whatever it was that had her. She tried to turn around to see her attacker, but as she did she suddenly felt a searing pain in her left arm and leg. Poison was being injected into her through the limbs wrapped around her. Though she didn't see her attacker, she had a fairly good idea of what grabbed her now.

"A Tentacruel?! But...but they don't usually attack people, do they?" Rina managed to turn around to see her attacker. Though she couldn't see clearly, she could make out the distinct form of a Tentacruel further behind her and pulling her toward it. She tried to swim to the surface, only a few feet above, but her stung leg and arm had gone numb. She was starting to run out of oxygen from all her struggling.

"If only I could get above the water...I could at least try talking to it...but its no good!" Rina grunted with the pain of trying to move her leg, unconsciously using up her remianing air. "Is...is this how it ends...?" As Rina began to lose conciousness, she noticed the water seemed to rise up in a wave all of a sudden, and she could swear she saw a Pikachu on a surf board...

Rina awoke some time later, coughing and sputtering water. Her body was weak and she felt pain in her lungs, and her left arm and leg where she had been stung.

"Whoa! You're alive!" Rina heard a male voice above her and opened her eyes to see a blonde haired and blue eyed teenage boy staring back at her. "You had me worried for a moment there!"

"I-I did?" Rina replied weakly. The memory of what had happened had been already burried in the back of Rina's mind by the image of the boy standing over her. He looked to be about Ashley's age with his hair cut short and his skin tanned. He was dressed for the beach, wearing only a pair of green swim shorts, giving Rina a view of his well toned chest. She felt her cheeks burning up as she stared at him.

"Yeah, lucky for you I'm good with CPR!" The boy replied, grinning from ear to ear.

"C...c....c..." Rina couldn't even get the word out. Her mind was already filled with images of the boy with his lips pressed to hers. She started to feel dizzy and her cheeks turned bright red.

"Hey, you ok there?" The boy asked her. "You're looking a bit red. Wonder if its from the Tentacruel venom..."

"Tentacruel venom...?" Rina was suddenly reminded of the previous events. She remembered the Tentacruel, blacking out, and the image of a Pikachu riding across a rising wave on a surf board.

"Yeah, you were attacked by Tentacruel. Lucky for you the life guard got to you in time." The boy pointed over to the side of the room. "You shouldn't have gone out past the buoy though, we put those there for a reason you know!"

"Lifeguard? Buoy?" Rina repeated to herself, still trying to make sense of it all. She looked over to where the boy was pointing, to the open door of the hut, where a Pikachu was standing with its back to her and holding a small surf board at its side. She blinked a few times in disbelief.

"W-wait...the lifeguard is a Pikachu?!" Rina bolted upright but fell back down again as pain shot through her arm and leg. "Ah!"

"Whoa, easy there. Your body will still be numb from the venom for a while." The boy said to her. The Pikachu looked back over his shoulder briefly with a rather uncaring look, shrugged, and turned away.

"Numb? Thats all the venom did?" Rina wondered. Though she was in pain, it was only her stung arm and leg that were causing her problems. She could barely move them at all. Her lungs hurt as well, but that was because she nearly drowned.

"And yeah, that Pikachu is the lifeguard. I'm his trainer, and assistant life guard." He grinned sheepishly and scratched the side of his head. "Kinda funny, huh? I'm the trainer yet I'm still only his assistant! The name's Tom, by the way."

"Tom..." Rina repeated quietly to herself. She looked over at the Pikachu lifeguard and smiled. "Pikachu, thanks for rescuing me!" Rina called out to him. Pikachu snorted in response.

"-Idiot. Shouldn't have been out that far in the first place.-" Pikachu muttered. Rina, overhearing him, blinked in surprise at the hostility.

"So, are you here by yourself? Anything you need or anyone we should contact for you?" Tom asked her. Rina thought of Ashley first, but then she remembered the guys Ashley was with and decided against it.

"Well...I have a Pikachu out on the beach, named Pippi..." Rina replied. Though her other pokemon were still out on the beach as well, it was Pippi that was looking after Rina's things.

"Alright. Pikachu?" Pikachu made a sound that sounded like a 'hmph' and put down his surf board.

"-Fine. This should be the assistant's job but I'll do it since you can't exactly go asking around for names.-" Pikachu ran down the wooden steps in front of the door, leading out of the lifeguard's hut, and took off to the beach to find Pippi.

"-I'm...so...bored...-" Pippi mumbled, lying flat out on the sand. "-I hope Rina gets back soon...I don't want to just sit here all day...-" Pippi turned her head to the side, looking off toward the volleyball net where Ashley was. She was sitting off to the side, watching the boys play volleyball.

"-I bet that'd be fun...-" Pippi said with a sigh.

"-Are you Pippi?-" Pippi blinked and bolted upright, quickly turning to the source of the voice and finding a male Pikachu standing next to her.

"-Umm...that'd be me...-" Pippi replied, blinking back at him. "-Do...I know you?-"

"-No.-" The Pikachu replied flatly. "-Your trainer was attacked by a Tentacruel. I was sent to find you.-"

"-WHAT?!-" Pippi cried out in shock. "-Is she ok?!-"

"-She's fine.-" Pikachu replied with a shrug. "-Though I don't think idiots like her should live.-"

"-What? You take that back!-" Pippi growled. Pikachu shrugged again, maintaining his uncaring composure.

"-You want to see her or not?-" Pikachu asked. He didn't wait for her response before staring off on his way down the beach.

"I've never met such a mean Pikachu before!" Pippi thought. She started off behind him, but followed from a distance.

"-Hey, Berg, Pippi's leaving Rina's stuff unattended.-" Ashley's Jolteon said to Berg, watching the scene from the water's edge. "-Looks like she's running off with another Pikachu.-" Though Jolteon had seen the two Pikachus, he didn't hear the conversation between them. To Jolteon, it seemed as though Pippi had taken interest in a male of her species.

"-We should take her place then.-" Berg suggested. "-Its odd she would run off like that, however, so watch where she goes. We'll follow her later.-" Berg turned around and slowly walked out of the water. Jolteon followed along beside him and the two made their way toward Rina's belongings.

"-I don't think I'll ever get over how you can be so cool and collected after everything you've been through.-" Jolteon said to Berg. Berg smiled to himself and dutifully continued toward their destination.

"Two Pikachu. An otherwise worthless species but with no shortage of special techniques..." Dice of the Grand Hunters watched Pippi and the surfing Pikachu running across the beach, manuevering around the same rock formation that he himself had chosen to watch from. Of course, he chose that spot due to its proximity to the life guard hut.

"A surfing Pikachu, and a Volt Tackle Pikachu, both in the same place." Dice grinned to himself and lowered his binoculars. "My lucky day. With Aqua's new toy we'll get that Pikachu for sure this time." Dice glanced down at his watch. "She's late. Shouldn't be taking her this long to test it out. Hmm..."

Dice reached into his pocket and took out metal coin with a Magikarp on one of the coin's faces. The turned the coin over in his hand, flipped it into the air, and caught it. He placed the coin against his wrist then removed his hand to check it again. The coin had landed blank side up, meaning tails.

"We'll wait a bit longer then. The coin never let me down before." Dice smirked to himself, sliding the coin back into his pocket. A collared, female Espeon standing next to him stared ahead blankly.

"-RINA!-" Rina was sitting in the sand outside the wooden hut when Pippi came around the rocky formation that separated it from the rest of the beach. Pippi rushed toward her and jumped into her lap.

"-Rina! Whats this about a Tentacruel and why was this jerk sent to get me?!-" The other Pikachu seemed completely unphased by being called a jerk. He shot Tom a stern look and jerked his head toward Pippi, but said nothing. Tom looked at Pippi rather curiously, as if he knew what his Pikachu was trying to say.

"Pippi! Relax, I'm fine! I just...uh...got stung by a Tentacruel and overreacted a bit, thats all!" Rina said to Pippi, trying to sound reassuring and putting her good arm around Pippi. She was getting some feeling back in her left arm, but still had trouble moving it. She had to talk Tom into letting her sit outside and he had to carry her out, not that Rina complained about being carried.

"-You would have to be an idiot to buy that. Oh wait...-" Pikachu glanced over at Pippi, grinning to himself.

"-Why you!-" Pippi turned sharply toward the other Pikachu, seething with rage. Though she had full control over her electricity now as a Pikachu there were sparks shooting out several inches from her cheeks, as if she were about to attack. "-Just what's your deal anyway?! Why do you have to be such a jerk?!-"

"-You want to do something about it? Lets see you surf.-" Pikachu pointed to three surfboards lined up beside the hut. One of which was sized for a Pikachu. "-Take that board and we'll see what you've got. Not that I expect much.-"

"-Hey! Thats not how pokemon settle their differences!-" Pippi growled at him.

"-I suppose you'd rather battle? Well too bad.-" Pikachu shot back while grabbing his own surf board from within the hut. "-I don't do pokemon battles anymore. Unlike you, I have a real purpose now. Saving the lives of idiot human swimmers.-" Pippi twitched and gritted her teeth as the Pikachu's words grated on her. She quickly grabbed the surfboard from beside the hut and stormed off toward the water alongside Pikachu.

"That Pikachu of mine can be a real jerk at times, but he's a real softie deep down ya know?" Tom said to Rina, grinning to himself while watching the two Pikachu start bodysurfing out into deeper water.

"I don't know...he just sounded like a jerk to me..." Rina replied, shaking her head. "I've never seen Pippi get so mad before. She completely forgot about me, though that might have been a good thing since I don't think she was buying that story..." Rina smiled and rubbed the back of her head in embarassment. Remembering her numb arm she tried flexing her hand a bit. She still felt weak, but she was getting movement back.

"Well, its not like we really know what they're saying anyway, huh?" Rina couldn't help but smile to herself. Her ability to understand pokemon had gone completely unnoticed by Tom.

"Anyway, those two will be fine. In fact, I think he might be trying to teach your Pikachu the Surf technique!" Tom said to Rina. Rina was about to ask him about it but fell silent when he rested a hand on her shoulder, her cheeks gaining a slight red tint.

"Its rare, but some Pikachu can use that technique and summon a wall of water to attack. My own Pikachu took up surfing when we discovered that technique, and your Pikachu wouldn't be the first he's taught it to either."

"-Now what, genius? How are we supposed to surf without any waves?!-" Pippi angrily demanded of Pikachu, gesturing toward the calm waters around them. The two of them had swam out several hundred feet from the shore and were standing on their surfboards, waiting for a wave to ride with none in sight.

"-I'm surprised you even know that much about surfing. As for waves, I make my own.-" Pikachu placed his hands together and focused intently, reaching out to the water below him with his mind. Pippi raised an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly as she watched him.

"-You can't be serious! You don't honestly expect me to believe you can just summon a wave at will, do you?-"

"-Fine. Don't believe then.-" Pikachu replied with a shrug. "-That'll leave you hard pressed to explain this, though...-" Pikachu dropped his hands to his sides. The water under the two pokemon began to bulge, pushing them up as if a hill was forming in the water. It then began to move forward, shaping into a typical wave with the two Pikachu riding on top. The life guard Pikachu smirked at Pippi.

"-Whatever! I should just Volt Tackle you and get it over with!-" Pippi growled at the other Pikachu.

"-Take your best shot then.-" Pikachu replied with a shrug. "-In fact, go ahead and launch every attack you have at me. If you can actually land a hit on me, while surfing, I'll even teach you how to use the Surf attack yourself. Not that that will happen.-"

"-Oh yeah? Well I'll show you!-" Pippi gathered electricity quickly and fired a bolt at the opposing Pikachu. The Pikachu effortlessly manuevered his surf board to slide back on the wave, evading the attack. Pippi was knocked off balance by the act of attacking, however, and fell off her surf board. Pikachu dropped the wave and tapped his foot against his surf board impatiently until Pippi surfaced, gasping for air.

"-You didn't think it'd really be that easy, did you?-" Pikachu asked Pippi.

"-The thought crossed my mind...-" Pippi muttered, clinging onto the side of her borrowed surf board.

"-Would you like to try again then?-" Pikachu asked her, a knowing smile spreading across his face. "-It makes no difference to me how many times you try, I could evade your attacks all day like this.-"

"-Just watch me!-" Pippi growled, hopping back on her surfboard. Pikachu summoned up another wave, ready for them to try again.

"What do we have here?" Dice thought, training his binoculars on the two Pikachu. "Don't tell me that surfing Pikachu is teaching the other one." Dice grinned to himself. "Seems like this deal just got sweeter."

Dice observed the two, watching as Pippi continually tried to attack the other Pikachu. She tried over and over, using Thunderbolt and Volt Tackle almost exclusively. As Dice was watching them, a vibration in his pocket alerted him to an incoming message on his communicator. He reached into his pocket and took out a device that looked like an ordinary cellphone.

"This is Dice." Dice said into the phone.

"Dice, this is the boss." Dice heard a deep voice reply on the other end. There was never a doubt in Dice's mind that the man he was speaking with didn't actually sound like that. Very few hunters actually met the head honcho. "Aqua has fallen now as well. Remaining hunters are to avoid the two female trainers, Ashley and Rina. Underestimating them has cost us far too much already."

"Understood, boss." The line went dead after Dice replied. He shook his head, placing the phone back into his pocket and taking out his coin again.

"Direct order from the boss to avoid those kids, but with two prime pokemon ripe for the taking. What do you say?" Dice positioned the coin on top of his thumb and gave it a flick, sending it into the air...

The repeated use of Surf during Pippi's attempted attacks had brought the two pokemon closer and closer to shore. With each failed attack, Pippi felt herself growing more frustrated. She had stopped thinking about how she should attack and instead was just throwing everything she had at the other Pikachu. Their 'battle' had brought them within almost a dozen feet of the shore.

"Pippi! You're trying too hard!" Rina called out to her. "You need to stop and focus on your next move instead of blindly attacking like that!"

"-How pathetic. You really need a trainer to tell you what to do?-" Pikachu knew his taunting was getting to Pippi. Pikachu was about to use Surf again to summon up a wave, but caught a glint out of the corner of his eye. He could see a metal object spinning through the air, flying toward Pippi.

"Them again? And after her? Damn it, why now?!" Pikachu switched his focus, tightening his muscles in preparation. He jumped off his board, shooting toward Pippi in a flash of movement and slamming into her. Pippi was caught off guard and knocked into the water by Pikachu's sudden Quick Attack, with Pikachu getting hit at the waist by a metal collar meant for Pippi. The collar wrapped around him and clamped down. Pikachu landed on Pippi's surfboard with a blank expression, already losing control.

"No way! Pikachu!" Tom cried out in dismay. He gritted his teeth and looked around the beach. "Show yourself! I know you're out there!"

"Another hunter in Fuschia? But who?" Rina wondered, frowning. She got up from the sand and tried to stand up, but was a bit wobbly on her feet. "I need to get the rest of my pokemon somehow..."

"Well damn it...what were the odds of that happening?" An orange haired male wearing a pair of pointed sunglasses and a black trenchcoat stepped into view from around the large rocky formation next to the hut. An Espeon soon joined him, jumping down from the top of it. "Well, it hardly matters. I was taking both anyway." The hunter, Dice, looked over at Rina and Tom, a smirk crossing his lips. "Doesn't matter though, since it seems neither of you have any other pokemon to defend yourselves!"

"What? You don't have any other pokemon?" Rina asked Tom, blinking in surprise. "How does he know that?"

"That Pikachu is my only pokemon." Tom replied through gritted teeth. "That's Dice, one of the Grand Hunters. He's been trying to catch my Pikachu for a while now because it can surf. Evading them has never been a problem for him before now..." Tom looked out toward the water, where his Pikachu stood on a surfboard wearing a slave collar. Pippi surfaced nearby and swam away when she saw the collar around Pikachu.

"So its my fault he was caught..." Rina mumbled quietly. She looked toward the collared Espeon and shook her head, putting on a more determined expression. "No! No feeling sorry for myself! I'm not going to break down and cry this time! I'll find a way to free both of them somehow!"

"Can you really do that?" Dice asked her, grinning widely. "Since the odds are in my favor as it is, I'll even play by your rules. Your Pikachu against my Espeon and Pikachu." When Dice said this, his captured Espeon moved across the beach to line itself up with Pippi. Pippi was stuck in the water, positioned between both collared pokemon.

"I'm at a disadvantage, especially with Pippi in the water, but I have to try!" Rina thought determinedly.

"That Pikachu of your's seems pretty tough, but I don't think you can pull it off..." Tom said to Rina, casting a quick glance toward her. "I don't think you should be standing yet either..."

"I'll be fine!" Rina shot back. "Pippi! You have to get to the shore or we don't stand a chance! Swim underwater!" Pippi nodded and dove under, hoping to avoid any attacks from either pokemon while she swam as fast as she could toward the shore.

"'Fraid thats not going to work." Dice said, shaking his head. "There's plenty of ways we could counter that, I think this one will work best. Pikachu, drive the other Pikachu into the shore with Surf!" A wave formed under the Pikachu's surf board and left Pikachu behind as it moved toward the shore. Pippi was scooped up by the wave and thrown onto the sand at Espeon's feet as it came crashing down near the shore.

"Now, Espeon, throw it back to sea with a Psybeam!" The gem on Espeon's forehead glowed, focusing her psychic powers. Pippi looked up and cried out as a beam fired out from Espeon's head, hitting Pippi hard and pushing her out across the surface of the water. Pippi was dropped into the water when the beam reached its maximum range and faded out. She soon surfaced again, gasping for breath.

"How are we going to free them when Pippi can't even defend herself?" Rina thought. "I have an idea to deal with Surf, but there's still Espeon..."

"I think you see how hopeless this is now. So lets end this..." Dice reached into his trenchcoat and took another collar in his hand. He raised his hand back and then threw the collar like it were a frisbee, despite being unaerodynamic. The collar flew through the air, spinning toward Pippi until suddenly another larger spinning object erupted from the water below.

The spinning object, a Blastoise withdrawn into its shell, connected with the collar and knocked it off into the water. The Blastoise then emerged from its shell as it approached the shore, hitting the sand on its hands and feet and skidding across the beach for several feet before coming to a stop and extending his twin water cannons.

"Berg?!" Rina shouted in disbelief. Berg nodded, focusing his gaze on Espeon.

"-Pippi, I'll take care of this one!-" Berg called out. Pippi, floating out in the water, nodded quickly and turned around to face the surfing Pikachu with a smirk on her face.

"Damn it...I don't like this at all. Better get out of here while I...ARGH!" A sudden jolt of electricity shot through Dice's body. He fell face first into the sand, his body paralyzed by an attack from behind.

"-Be thankful thats all I'm going to do to you.-" Jolteon growled, slamming his foot down on Dice's head and rubbing the hunter's face in the sand. "-You're not getting away this time...-"

"Jolteon too? But how did you guys know?" Rina asked.

"-We saw Pippi going here.-" Berg replied. "-We decided we would follow her after we found someone else to look after your things. Sarge was happy for the excuse to get away from Mankey apparently...-"

"-Rina! Without an order from Dice, they will only defend themselves!-" Jolteon called out to her. "-You've got one free attack against them before they fight back! Use it!-"

"Right!" Rina called back. "I won't hold back, even against my parent's pokemon! Berg, attack Espeon with Blizzard! Pippi, knock Pikachu off its surfboard and take it for yourself!"

"WHOA!" Tom exclaimed in shock. "Wait, you can understand them?!" Tom asked Rina. Rina nodded in response, maintaining her focus.

Berg fired a blast of cold air mixed with ice and snow from both his cannons, blasting Espeon with a powerful ice attack. Ice began to form on Espeon's body, but she quickly broke free of the attack and fired back with a Psybeam. Berg grunted as the attack struck him, staggering and taking a step back.

"-This weakened state you've left me in has hindered me long enough...-" Berg said quietly. "-I will not be held back any longer!" A white glow surrounded Berg's body as he called out. It was very brief, as Berg was already in his final evolution. When the glow faded, the cracks that had covered Berg's body like some kind of skin disease had been healed and the broken holes in his shell where the cannons extended repaired themselves. Berg felt his full strength as an evolved Blastoise flowing through him.

"Wait a sec! Did that Blastoise just evolve into another Blastoise?" Tom asked, staring wideyed at the seemingly evolved Berg. "Dude I'm...really confused..."

"-Rina! Allow me to finish this myself!-" Rina nodded affirmatively to Berg's request. Berg trained his cannons on Espeon and let loose with a massive blast of water. The spray from his cannons quickly spread out until each blast was as tall as Blastoise, merging together and carving out a channel across the sand.

Espeon tried to move out of the way, but was caught up in the blast and pushed across the sand until Berg's attack could reach no further. She continued skidding across the ground even further than that, though, eventually smashing into the large rock near Dice and Jolteon. Espeon hit off the rock and landed unconscious next to them.

Meanwhile, Pippi had been swimming toward an almost motionless Pikachu standing on a surfboard. Pippi pulled herself up onto the back of the surfboard and grinned as she faced down the other Pikachu. "-I'm SO going to enjoy this!-" Sparks erupted from Pippi's cheeks and formed into a low-amp pulse as she fired off a Thunder Wave attack at her opponent. The electricity passed through the Pikachu's body, causing him to drop to his knees as he became paralyzed.

"-Now take this!-" Pippi curled her small hand into a fist and smashed Pikachu in the face with a Slam attack, knocking him off the board and into the water. The paralyzed Pikachu sunk like a rock, but quickly rose up again as the water bulged to form into a wave moving toward Pippi.

"-As much as I'd hate to help you at this point...-" Electricity crackled around Pippi's body as she prepared to attack. "-Here we go! VOLT TACKLE!-" Pippi jumped off the surfboard, shooting through the air with a trail of electricity following behind her. She rammed into him, striking the metal band around his chest. A small fracture formed from the impact and the Pikachu was knocked off his wave.

The two Pikachu plummeted into the water following Pippi's attack, and the broken collar slid off Pikachu's body on its own. Since Pikachu was still paralyzed, Pippi grabbed his hand and dragged him with her as she swam to the surface.

"-Looks like I've managed to hit you afterall.-" Pippi said to Pikachu with a grin.

"-That hardly counts, but you wouldn't have hit me otherwise...-" Pikachu coughed up a bit of water. "-So...I'll teach you the basics...you're on your own from there. Lets head to shore first...-" Pippi nodded and they piled onto the nearest surfboard, grabbing the other one as they headed in as well.

"You're one odd chick, you know that?" Tom said to Rina. "I get the feeling this wasn't the first time you battled these guys..."

"Far from actually." Rina replied, smiling sheepishly. "Someone should take his smokeballs from him too..."

"On it!" Tom nodded and ran over to Dice's side. Jolteon stepped off him, allowing Tom to turn him over and take his smokeballs out of his trenchcoat. While Tom was busy with that, Pikachu and Pippi arrived on shore.

"Pippi, Berg, Jolteon, great work guys!" Pippi congratulated them all. "Pippi, think you could get that collar off of Espeon?" Pippi nodded and ran over to the still unconscious, standing several feet away to give her room to charge.

"-Ok! One collar-cracker coming up!-" Pippi threw out her arms and charged electricity around her. "-Volt...TACKLE!-" Pippi shot forward, ramming into the unconscious Espeon and scoring a direct hit on the collar around her neck. This time the hit shattered the collar with ease, showing a bit of wear on the device.

"-She never used to say that before, did she?-" Jolteon asked a stunned Rina. Rina shook her head.

Rina decided to wait next to Espeon until she regained consciousness, eager to talk to her mother's partner pokemon. Jolteon pinned Dice down again, keeping an eye on him while Tom went back into the hut to call the Fuschia City police department to take him away. The two Pikachu went back out into the water as well so Pippi could learn the basics of trying to use the Surf technique, something which actual surfing played a big part in if you wanted to 'do it right' according to the other Pikachu.

After about fifteen minutes, Espeon finally began to stir. It took her a bit longer than usual to recover, thanks to Pippi using Volt Tackle while she was out. Espeon shook her head, trying to shake off the grogginess she felt as she rose onto her feet.

"Miss Esp! How are you feeling?" Rina asked her.

"-All things considered...I think I am doing well...-" The Espeon, nicknamed Miss Esp by Rina's mother, replied. She slowly turned her head to face Rina. "-Rina...I'm sorry about your mother...-" Rina shook her head.

"Don't be...I'm sure there was nothing you could have done..." Rina replied. She smiled lightly and patted Miss Esp on the head. "I'm just glad I was able to rescue one of my parent's pokemon..."

"-Rina, we will rescue Knight too, I am sure.-" Miss Esp replied. "-I can tell by the company you keep that you have become a talented trainer in my absence. Your mother would be proud, and would especially be impressed by your record against the hunters. You and your friend have been causing quite the stir...-"

"Well this one here..." Rina pointed to Dice, who wasn't at all thrilled to be being used as a bed by Jolteon. "...makes six hunters. So only five more to go, right?"

"-Yes, but the last five will be the hardest for sure. They don't seem to work 'in the field' like the others. I am not sure what their purpose is.-" Miss Esp thought for a moment and shook her head. "-In any case...then there is also the leader. Your parents were close to finding his identity before the hunters finally caught on. Though they didn't have enough evidence to prove it for sure, it seemed likely that the retired Kanto champion is their leader...-"

"WHAT?! Are you serious?!" Rina staggered back in shock of this revelation.

"Huh? Whats going on out here?" Tom asked, arriving late on the scene.

"N-nothing!" Rina stammered in response. "So, umm, are those police coming?"

"Yeah, hope they'll get here soon though. I promised my girlfriend I'd take her out tonight." Tom replied. "Hey! Think you could wait here in my place?"

"Umm...sure..." Rina replied, blinking. "Figures a cute guy like him would be taken..."

"-Hmm...you like him, don't you? I can feel it.-" Miss Esp said to Rina, forgetting about their previous conversation entirely. Rina blushed slightly at the Espeon's accusation. "-Well don't worry about it, dear. There's plenty of guys out there. You'll find a nice one someday, you're still young.-"

"That sounds like something mom would have said..." Rina thought.

Tom left long before the police arrived, leaving his Pikachu to watch over the hut. The police had a few questions for Rina, but nothing more than that. They carted Dice off to jail and took his smoke ball as well. After Dice had been taken to jail and Pippi learned the basics of using Surf, Rina returned to the main beach with the rest of her pokemon and the life guard Pikachu returned to his lookout on top of the rock.

"Where did you all run off to?" Ashley asked Rina when she arrived at their spot on the beach. She was alone, save for Bulbasaur and the rest of Rina's pokemon, with no sign of the boys in sight. "Wait...is that your mother's Espeon?" Ashley then asked, noticing the Espeon with Rina. Berg, Pippi, and Jolteon were with Rina as well.

"Its a long, long story..." Rina replied sheepishly.

"Well you can explain it to me over some hamburgers. I don't know about you, but I'm starving now..."

"Sounds good!" Rina replied enthusiastically.

"-Ah, so this must be Ashley.-" Espeon noted. "-Well its good to see you've had an older girl looking after you at least...-"

"Who was looking after who?" Rina wondered, smiling slightly. "Oh, so how did it go with all those guys? Get any phone numbers?" Rina then asked Ashley. She wasn't really interested in whether or not Ashley decided to keep in touch with any of them, but she was curious as to what she ended up doing after Rina left.

"Of course not! None of them were my type anyway." Ashley replied, stifling a giggle with her hand. "Rina, one of these days I'll teach you the finer points of toying with guys like them. It will be a precursor to Manipulating Guys 101."

"I don't know whats worse, that she'll teach me that or that I actually want to learn..." Rina thought, recalling her poor luck with Red and Tom. "Though...could Red really be manipulated?"

"Anyway, lets go already!" Ashley said impatiently. "I really want to hear what you've been up to this whole time. We could have beaten the boys at a game of volleyball, you know. Though I guess what you ended up doing was more important anyway..."

"Hehe...yeah, I guess you're right. Though that would have been fun." Rina smiled to herself as she set about gathering up her things and recalling her pokemon. She realized now she was wrong to get upset and jealous with Ashley, though she couldn't even remember why she was in the first place...

Author's Notes: Really late with this one, yeesh. Haven't gone into Tuesday yet at least (I have 40 minutes left on the clock as of writing this!) So, Rina gets Espeon, Berg finally evolves, and Pippi can try to learn Surf now. Surf? Volt Tackle? Pippi's quite the special little Pikachu!

It wasn't enough that In had all those assignments last week though. On top of that, I ended up visiting family a lot. Random family outings? I thought I'd be rid of those now, what with the whole not living at home thing. Anyway! Next update should be on time. Clear for the week now pretty much.