A Hot Water Battle

Continuing their journey through the Johto Region, the heroes came to an oasis while on the way to Ecruteak City. It was a fortunate opportunity because the heat of the day was really beginning to make them feel hot and tired. Yugi and his friends decided to stop and relax in the hot springs. They changed out of their clothes, put on their swimsuits, and started soaking in the water.

Joey lifted his head out of the water and sighed contentedly. "The hot water is really relaxing."

Emily was in agreement. "My muscles and nerves feel so much better. We needed this after traveling on the road for so long."

Yugi saw Kaiba sitting on the edge and invited him to come in the water. "The water's great, Kaiba. Why don't you come in?"

The brunette kindly refused. "That's okay."

"All right, but if you don't want to come in, why don't you at least soak your feet?"

Kaiba turned away. "I'd rather not, Yugi."

He chuckled and gently pulled him over. "You need to loosen up."

Finally, the brunette gave in and moved his legs in the water. He hissed as he felt the hot water, but began to feel relaxed and sighed. "It's nice," he admitted. He also agreed with his friends that he was feeling a little sore and needed to relax and ease the tensions in his muscles after walking and traveling for so long.

Even the Pokémon were relaxing in their own way. Chikorita was lying down on her stomach and was sunbathing. Hoothoot was eating away at the berries on the trees. Houndour and Quilava were racing around the springs. Totodile was swimming in the water with Wooper and Poliwag. Mareep was grazing in the grass. Girafarig stretched his neck and ate the fruit in the trees. And finally, the siblings were having their own fun.

Shade was trying to take a nap under the sun, but Sylphid was keeping him awake as he was exercising. "Could you keep it down, Brother? I'm trying to get some sleep."

"Sorry, little bro," Sylphid apologized. "I'm too hyper to settle down."

Agitated, Shade charges at Sylphid and knocks him into the water. "Maybe a hot bath will change that." But a second later, Sylphid came to the surface, grabbed Shade, and pulled him into the water. Shade got up and gasped for air. "What was that for?"

"If you splash someone with water, they'll feel wide awake," Sylphid replied. "And if you're wide awake, you won't want to sleep and we can have fun." He got out of the springs and shook the water off of his fur.

Shade did the same thing and began chasing his brother around. "Come here, you! I'm gonna get you! Wait 'till I get you dirty!"

Undine was swimming around in the water while Lumina was grooming herself and Luna. When they heard their brothers yelling, they got out of the water to see what the commotion was. Sylphid continued to torment Shade as he was running from him. "Am I too fast for my little brother?"

"Just wait 'till I get my paws on you," Shade warned. Salamado was watching the chase too and rolled his eyes. He always liked getting into playful fights with his brothers, but he just wanted to relax this time. When Sylphid stopped at a tree, Shade tried to catch him. "I've got you now!" But just when he charged, Sylphid got out of the way and Shade crashed into a tree and a coconut fell and landed on him.

"Should we stop them?" Lumina asked Undine.

She shook her head. "Let them get their exercise."

Luna laughed as she watched her brothers. "It's always fun."

Shade got back on his feet and began chasing Sylphid again. "Hey, come over here," he cried.

Now the brothers were arching their backs and jumping around. "You dare to challenge the strongest and fastest of the family?" Sylphid challenged. "Haven't you any idea who you're dealing with?"

"Precisely," Shade answered. "A total pain!"

"Pain is right," Sylphid retorted. "And you're gonna be in a lot of it when I'm through with you." And they began butting each other and pawing each other. Because they were playing, they weren't really hurting each other. Sylphid would always torment his brothers and sisters to get them to play with him. But it helped his siblings too. They would get stronger and learn to defend themselves.

As much as the girls liked watching their brothers go at it with each other, they decided they wanted to play a game too. They decided to play with Emily's tambourine. Luna would pat it with her paws and her sisters would move to her command. When the music would stop, the girls would have to strike a pose. Lumina got on her hind legs and winked and Undine placed her tail close to her face like it was a fan.

As Emily watched her Pokémon, she saw that they were all having fun. But it was time to get going. "All right, everyone. We're leaving."

The siblings stopped their activities and gave her their attention. "So soon?" Undine asked. "We're having too much fun."

She nods and says, "I know it seems like we just got here, but we've really been here for hours. It's time to get back on the road."

To avoid causing an argument, they agree to get going. The boys had already called their Pokémon back, so it was time for the siblings to get back into their Pokéballs. They could rest while inside.

As the heroes continued down the path, they took notice of lots of trainers carrying fishing rods with them. They had all come to take part in the annual Seaking catching competition. Once every year, fishers would gather at this lake to take part in this contest. Whoever could catch the heaviest Seaking within the allotted time would be declared the winner and win a trophy and a year's supply of chocolate bars. Competitors could use any kind of rod, bait, and lure, but had to capture a Seaking with a Lake Ball. It sounded fun and the heroes wanted to take part in the competition.

Joey registered and picked Totodile as his partner. Emily joined in too and chose Undine as her partner. Yugi and Kaiba decided to sit this one out. They wouldn't be competing, but they would still get to join their friends on the boat they rented. The good thing about the competition was that two friends were competing, so Emily and Joey had better chances working together.

The key to knowing where the best place to fish was by the direction of the wind. When the wind changed, the heroes decided to head north. All they had to do now was be patient. Emily was the first to feel her fishing line vibrate. The problem was the Millennium Star gave her limitless strength, so she wouldn't know if her catch was heavy or light. Before doing anything, she let the Seaking taste the bait. Suddenly, it started pulling the line with effort. Emily reeled it in and fished out a Seaking. It looked big, so she decided to catch it. First, Undine smacked it with her tail and sprayed water in its face. Emily wasted no time and tossed her Lake Ball. She decided to hold on to this Seaking.

Just then, Joey felt his line being pulled. He kept a tight grip and based on how much his line was being pulled away, this was a big one for sure. When it came to the surface, it definitely looked bigger than the other Seaking. Totodile tried to clinch it in his mouth, but Seaking used his strength to knock him away. Totodile tried again and attacked with Scratch. Seaking tried to use his Horn Attack, but Totodile dodged and used Water Gun. Quickly, Joey tossed his Lake Ball and caught Seaking.

Pleased with their catches, Joey and Emily decided to return to the dock with their prizes. Competitors who couldn't catch a Seaking received a commemorative badge as a consolation prize. Those who did catch a Seaking got their catches weighed. Joey and Emily got the heaviest Seaking out of all the others who were caught. But they both weighed Fifty-five kilos. As per the rules of the competition, the tiebreaker had to be settled with a Pokémon battle and the competitors had to battle with the Pokémon they registered for the competition. Joey and Emily agreed and went to the designated arena.

Undine and Totodile had battled each other many times for sport. But this time, it was a contest. But the outcome wouldn't affect their friendship. Emily and Joey also promised that they would be friends no matter what. Joey knew there wouldn't be much at stake in this battle like there was when he dueled his friends in the tournaments he attended. For that matter, he promised to have fun. Emily was going to have fun too. In petty contests, friends come before victory. And it doesn't really matter who wins because in the end, they get to share the prize.

When both Pokémon jumped into the arena, they started going at it with each other. Totodile tried to scratch Undine with his claws, but Undine blocked his attacks by raising her arms in the air. She also tried to push him away, but the water made both Pokémon too slick to touch. Undine tried to smack Totodile with her tail, but he clamped it in his jaws. Undine cried out in pain and was tossed across the arena. It didn't hurt much before when her tail was furry, but now that it was like a fish's tail, it was sensitive to bites. Thankfully, Totodile's teeth didn't tear through the skin, but she was in pain. Totodile was shocked when he realized what he just did to his friend.

Even Joey agreed it was a little too harsh. "You're taking this too hard, Totodile," he scolded. "I know it's a contest, but we gotta try to have fun and take it easy." Totodile looked down sadly. Joey apologized too. "I want to win this, believe me, but not if it means hurting our friends. It wouldn't be fair. There's a lot of stuff that's more important that winning in contests like these. When nothing is on the line, friendship really is. It's just a game, Totodile."

Undine whimpered as she held her tail. "It hurts," she whined. But she couldn't be mad at Totodile. It was one of his best strengths and he often got carried away with it. Was it because they were in a contest that he was so serious? I didn't think Totodile felt strongly about this match. And after hearing what Joey told to him, it makes sense. So I can't be mad at him.

Emily approached Undine. "Undine, do you want to stop?"

"No, I can keep fighting," she answered. "It's just my tail. It's okay, the pain's going away."

"You don't have to do this."

"I know I don't have to, but I want to," Undine debated. "It's not about my pride as an older sister or because I want to win. And I'm not angry with Totodile either. I know he's sorry for what he did. I saw it when Joey was reasoning with him. We were both about to forget our friendship. I didn't think this battle would put us in so much hot water," she joked. "I want to go back out there and let Totodile know that he'll always be my friend and I forgive him."

Emily respected Undine's choice and sent her back into the arena. Totodile was ready to get back in the game too. And from here on out, they were going to make it a friendly game. To refresh Undine and make her feel better, Totodile used Water Gun. It was a good thing her special ability was Water Absorb, causing water-type attacks to replenish her strength. And now that she was feeling back to normal, they could resume the match. Undine tried to use her own Water Gun, but Totodile dodged and Head Butted Undine. He also whiplashed her with his tail. Undine was tossed in the air, but she whiplashed Totodile back. They were both panting and about to collapse. They smiled and winked, signaling what a great battle they had. Undine fell flat on her stomach and had enough. Totodile was declared the winner.

As Joey and his partner cheered in triumph, Totodile began glowing. He also became larger and a bit stubbier. He had evolved into Croconaw.

Emily approached Joey and congratulated him. "Way to go, Joey. You won the battle and your Totodile evolved into Croconaw. Your victory was well deserved."

"You mean it, Em?"

"I do. And like we promised, it doesn't affect our friendship. Undine agrees that this doesn't affect her friendship with Croconaw either." It was true. Both Pokémon almost lost sight of what was important, but they didn't. Joey and Emily shake hands and hug each other. Croconaw and Undine hug each other as well.

The truth was Emily and Joey were both winners of the contest because they got to share the prize of chocolate. Yugi and Kaiba would get their share too. They even agreed to save some chocolate for Tristan, Téa, Max, Bakura, Mokuba, Serenity, Duke, Alister, Valon, and Rafael. Of course, until the heroes could get home to their friends, they would have to hold on to everyone else's share.