Hello, people of planet Earth (unless you're from a different planet, in which case... I KNEW IT!).

Here is chapter... which chapter is this? Forty-something? *Someone whispers something in my ear* Forty-SEVEN? Wow! It's nearly been a year since I started this, and we've reached chapter forty-seven! It would be interesting to see how far I get the day this story turns a year old. That day would be July 5. Hey, I should have a countdown until this story's bir- um, I mean, start-day! Right now, there are 49 days, so about seven weeks. Wait, why am I rambling? On with the story!

Today's topic was suggested by PokeSpeBanette!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!

The Runaway Orange Juice

Grade Two

May (7), Ash (8), Gary (8), Leaf (7), Misty (8), Paul (8), Drew (7)

It was Ash's birthday. Yes indeed, Ash Ketchum had turned eight years old! Naturally, this meant he needed to have his birthday party the following weekend (since school prevented it from being during the week).

So on Saturday, Ash invited his best friends, May, Misty, Leaf, Gary, Drew, and Paul, over to his house to celebrate. The party wasn't nearly as loud and rambunctious as Gary's birthdays were, as, unlike Gary, he didn't invited the whole class. But nevertheless, the seven of them felt it was pleasurable to the maximum.

After enjoying games, and jokes, and pretty much all the fun things one does at a birthday party, it was time to eat. Ash cut the cake excitedly (with supervision from his mother, Delia), handed out slices to those who wanted them (Paul didn't). After gathering more food like pretzels and chips and pizza and vegetables and fruits (Delia insisted that they eat healthy food as well) in their plates, they all settled down to eat on a plastic mat on the floor, as the table didn't have enough room for seven people.

"This is so good!" May said dreamily, finishing off the last bite of her cake.

"There's a lot left over, so you can have more if you want!" Ash offered enthusiastically.

"Yay!" May cheered, getting up to run to the table, where she tried to cut herself another piece.

"Gotta say, Ash, today was a lot of fun!" Leaf said, grinning.

"Yeah, it was!" Ash said. He then noticed Drew getting up. "Where are you going?" he asked Drew.

"I'm going to go get myself something to drink," the green-haired boy answered. "I'm kinda thirsty."

"Get me something too," Paul ordered in a bored voice as he popped a pretzel into his mouth. "Get me some orange juice."

"You know, you can get it yourself too," Drew pointed out. "It'll be kind of hard for me to handle two glasses of juice at once, so it'll be better if you get yours yourself."

"Just get it," Paul said, not caring about his friend's reasoning. Drew frowned, but reluctantly obeyed.

"You know, now that I think of it, you always drink orange juice," Misty noted.

Paul shrugged. "So?"

"Yeah, you're right, Misty!" Ash chimed in. "I never really thought of it that much, but you always drink orange juice!"

"So?" Paul repeated, showing visible signs of annoyance.

"Really? I never noticed," Gary commented, a spark of mischief lighting his eyes.

"I noticed," May said, as she walked back to where she had been seated with a plate with a huge cake slice in it. She sat down. "You guys didn't notice before?"

"I did. It's like you're obsessed with orange juice, Paul!" Leaf giggled. "Whenever there is orange juice, you have some! It's like your thing!"

"Yeah, like Drew's obsessed with flipping his hair!" May laughed. Paul just gave the girls an annoyed glare, but they continued giggling at their jokes.

"Um, guys? A little help here?" Drew called out. He was holding two cups of juice, one in each hand. However, the thing that was causing him trouble was the fact that the carton of orange juice (which was closed, fortunately) had fallen off the table, and Drew was trying to prevent it from landing on the ground by using his foot to hold it against the leg of the table.

"Okay," Gary said, smirking in a way that immediately made Drew alert. The spiky-haired boy made his way to his friend, and, instead of helping him out, gave him a little push, making him lose balance, and thus drop the cups he was holding. The juice spilled on the carpet, creating a large, visible stain.

"Hey!" Drew said angrily. "You made me drop my apple juice and Paul's orange juice! Now my shirt is wet, and there is juice all over the carpet!"

"Pour me some more!" Paul called differently from where he was seated, not caring about Drew's misfortune.

However, Gary was not done with his pranks. He grabbed the orange juice carton, and then jumped back from his friend. With an impish look on his face, he yelled out to Paul, "No orange juice for you!"

This brought a look of surprise on Paul's face, as he had evidently not been expecting to be denied his favourite drink. His surprised expression was short-lived, however, as it was soon replaced by one of anger. He stood up, facing Gary, who was cautiously keeping his distance.

"Give me the orange juice," he demanded.

"Nope!" Gary smirked.

"Gary..." Paul began approaching him dangerously.

"Yes?" Gary gave him a mockingly innocent smile... and then bolted. He darted off, attempting to escape an oncoming Paul. Paul sped after him, furiously shouting at him to hand over the carton.

"Gary, come back here right now!"

"And let you catch me? No way!"

"We're not playing tag! Give me the carton!"

"You'll have to catch me first!"

The two ran all over the house, going in circles. The others watched, May apprehensively, Ash unsurely, Misty exasperatedly, and Leaf amusedly. Drew, on the other hand, was too busy cleaning up to care. Finally, Gary was cornered. His back was facing a wall that had a window, while Paul was standing in front of him, only a few steps away. There was no escape, no way to run without getting caught.

"You thought you could get away with it?" Paul said quietly, but menacingly, as he slowly began drawing nearer. "Hand over the carton, Gary Oak, or face my wrath. Don't mess with me when it comes to that citrus juice that you have clutched within your grasp."

Gary's face reflected his confusion. "Huh? What?" he said, his eight-year-old mind not recognizing one of the words that had just been spoken. "I thought this was orange juice, not citrus."

Paul rolled his eyes. "Orange is a type of citric, Gary Oak!"

"How do you know? You're as old as me, and I never heard that word ever!"

"I know, because I know all about orange juice. It's a serious thing!"

"You really are obsessed..."

"Give it to me!"

Gary's eyes flickered around, but he saw no escape. Until a clever idea popped into his head.

"Catch!" he said, acting as if he were about to throw the carton. This stunned Paul for about a second, during which Gary tossed the carton out the open window behind him, shocking Paul further. He then dashed past his stupefied friend, scrambled to the front door, and hurried out. It took a moment for Paul to regain himself.

"GET BACK HERE!" he roared, running out as well.

The other five nervously looked at one another, and then went to the window to see what was going on outside. Gary was picking up the carton (which was still miraculously in perfect condition) from under the window where it had landed, and then, when Paul was heading for him, he began running down the street like a maniac, with an enraged Paul in his pursuit.

"Did someone go outside?" Delia appeared suddenly, having apparently heard the front door opening. The kids were surprised she hadn't heard all the commotion as well, but maybe she had thought they were all just playing.

"Um, yeah, Gary and Paul," Ash answered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hm..." Delia looked a bit worried. "You should tell them to come back inside. You guys shouldn't be leaving the house without telling me, especially since I told all of your parents that you all will just be staying in the house."

"Yeah, but we'll have to catch them. They're running fast!" Leaf explained.

"Why are they running?" Delia asked.

"They're, um, playing tag!" Ash blurted out.

"Oh. Well, it would be tough to catch up to them, then."

"I can do it," Misty offered. She was a fast runner, after all.

"Yes, that would be a great help. Thank you, Misty!"

"No problem, Ms. Ketchum!"

Misty went to the open front door, and positioned herself, so that she was turned in the direction Gary and Paul could be seen running. As speedily as a Sharpedo, as swiftly as a Vaporeon, and as smoothly as a Milotic, she took off. She ran faster and faster, her speed accelerating by the second, until she had nearly caught up to the boys.

"Hey! Ms. Ketchum wants you two to come back!" she yelled out to them.

"N-no... can... do!" Gary puffed between gasps. "Paul's... going... t-to get me!" Misty couldn't understand how he could keep running, as he looked exhausted. Maybe the terrifying Paul was a great motivator.

"G-get back here!" Paul gasped, clearly drained as well. But apparently, his orange juice was too important to abandon.

Misty huffed in irritation. It looked like she would have to drag them back herself. All because Gary was just too stubborn to give up the carton of orange juice to his friend. Misty suddenly realized that since the juice was the cause of all this, all she had to do was take it from Gary, and then they could all go back. With a burst of speed, she passed Paul, and arrived beside Gary. With one hand, she snatched the carton away from him, causing him to shout out in indignation.

"Hey, that's mine!" he said, still running.

"No, it's not!" Misty said. "Oh, and you guys can stop running now. I have the juice, and I'm taking it back to the house."

"Can't stop!" Gary said. "Paul wants to get me for taking it!"

"Yeah, I want to make him pay for taking the orange juice!" Paul said angrily.

"Oh, come on! You do want your juice, don't you? Or should I drink it all?"

That got a reaction. Paul slowed to a stop, huffing and puffing. He scowled as he eyed Misty. "Fine!" he snapped. "Give me the carton!" Misty handed it to him, and he began walking back, breathing heavily.

Gary stopped as well, and watched his purple-haired friend warily, as if he were going to suddenly turn around and start chasing him again.

"Come on!" Misty ordered. "Ms. Ketchum wants us back."

"Okay," Gary said as he began walking, his eyes trained on Paul just in case.

The rest of the party had no more escaping Garys or chasing Pauls. In fact, the two were so exhausted from all running, that they could hardly get up from the sofas they flopped down on. Well, at least Gary was still alive, and Paul got his orange juice.

The group learned a valuable lesson that day. Never take Paul's orange juice away from him.

I can't believe I actually managed to update today! I was expecting that I would end up posting this chapter next month or something, because I have so many tests and stuff for school.

Just a heads up: my school year is slowly coming to a close (four weeks left!) which means exams will be coming soon, and that means I'll be very busy doing school stuff, so I might not be able to update soon. We'll see, though. Hopefully, I'll get at least some free time! But don't have your hopes high on reading the next chapter next week.

Thanks for reading!

Bye bye for now! Have a sublime day, and smile the whole way! :)