Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another exciting chapter of "A Long Distance Ship". Last time, Ash had one of his Pokemon evolve, which I am sure will be helpful for him later on. And now, Ash has arrived in Petalburg City on the eve of his gym battle with Norman. What happened? Well, let's find out!

ashketchum497
To: misskwaterflower049
Subject: Maple Wedding Anniversary

Hey there, Misty. It has been a long couple of days, but I have finally arrived in Petalburg City proper for my gym battle against Norman. And oh boy, what a time it was getting there. Not long after sending you my previous email, I caught the attention of some of the people living in North Petalburg… and to make a long story short, they were not happy with the fact that I wanted to challenge Norman for my next badge. They battled me non stop even when all of my Pokemon were unable to continue fighting. I don't know why they got all worked up with me wanting to battle Norman… Brock even pointed out to the crowd that it is a gym leader's job to test the strength of challengers, and challengers are entitled to challenge a gym leader whenever they pleased. Even when I saved May's Torchic from Team Rocket, they weren't grateful for me helping Norman's daughter… Anyways, after arriving here in Petalburg City, I saw Norman talking with Nurse Joy about something. I didn't find out about it until later, but it was about something special that happened tonight. (May and Max told me this later, but their mother thought that Norman was cheating on her.) I ended up finding the Maple's greenhouse, where I met all of the Pokemon Norman planned on using in the gym battle tomorrow (Slakoth, Slaking, and the same Vigoroth that beat Pikachu when we began our adventures in the Hoenn region.) Anyways, after dealing with Team Rocket once again, we got to see what exactly Norman was planning. You see, tonight just so happened to be his and Caroline's anniversary, so he had a little fireworks show planned with Nurse Joy. The fireworks exploded into Beautifly, a Pokemon very important for the two of them. The spectacle was so amazing to see, Misty. A shame you aren't here with me to see it… anyways, I am going to go and get some rest now. The big battle is tomorrow, and I want to be well rested for it!

Ash

misskwaterflower049
To: ashketchum497
Subject: Maple Wedding Anniversary

Hey there, Ash. Glad to hear that you made it to Petalburg City safely in spite of what happened in North Petalburg. Even though I wasn't there, just HEARING what Norman's supposed fans do to you makes my blood boil. Maybe that is because I am a gym leader, too. Brock is absolutely right with what he said. Gym leaders are supposed to test the strength of a trainer. Even though I could have easily swept every challenger who comes in here with a Gyarados, I don't do that. After all, most of the challengers who come here are looking for their second badge, and I recognize that Gyarados is way too tough of a Pokemon for them to face early on. If I DID do that, I would continue to give the Cerulean Gym a bad name, and for the complete opposite reasons my sisters gave it a bad name. Man, even typing this up made my blood boil, to the point where I want to fly to North Petalburg right now and beat the ever loving stuffing out of the fans! *deep breaths* Anyways, I am glad to hear that what Norman did for his wife went well. And seeing how romantic it is, I surely would have loved seeing it. Anyways, good luck on your battle with Norman. Togetic and I will be rooting for you!

Misty

And that is it for the penulitmate chapter for Pokeshipping Week 2023, everybody! This was one of the tougher chapters to write, not only because it covered the events of one of my least favorite season 7 episodes, but because I thought that "A Double Dilemma" and "Love, Petalburg Style" would be covered in sepearte chapters before I had to look at my outline! Anyways, tomorrow is Pokeshipping Day 2023, so I would appreciate it if you call come and review, favorite, or follow. I will see you then for an exciting gym battle and a promotion for a chapter of "The Misty Chronicles"!