AAML: Diamond and Pearl version

by EchidnaPower

Follow me as I remake the DP episodes in order and in sequence, all so I can add the biggest star besides Ash himself. Misty! Watch her and Ash's love grow as they go on their journey. A Pokeshipping series. Also includes Penguinshipping, Handymanshipping, slight mentions of Contestshipping, and a Brock shipping to be named later. Oh yeah, there's PikachuXBuneary here too.

26. Pokemon Summer Academy: Part 1

I just had to make this in two parts. It would've been RIDICULOUSLY long otherwise. Anyways, now it's time for Pokemon Summer Academy! Ironic since it is Summer Vacation. xD Get ready for some fluffiness, and not just between Ash and Misty if you catch my drift. (No, not Ash and Angie, blech!) I own nothing except the story.
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Chapter 26

Misty's POV

Psyduck here, Psyduck there, Psyduck everywhere! One of these days, I'll have to make sure I train Psyduck to not be so dopey. Evolving him into Golduck would be awesome! Then again, I don't think even I have the work ethic to go through what would be required to get that clumsy Pokémon to turn into a powerful Golduck.

But I have to admit; those "Psyducklings" as Dawn cleverly called them, were absolutely precious. It was a shame we couldn't stay longer, but my Psyduck might've drowned himself if we had. Strangely though, Dawn said that she saw a floating apple. And she insisted that she wasn't seeing things as we continued walking.

I just couldn't bring myself to believe her. She was the only one who had seen it, and according to her, it vanished just as quickly as it appeared. Excitement can make you imagine things. I've experienced it at times myself. So I tried to convince her that that was all it was.

After a bit more walking, we found a Pokémon Center on the route we were walking on, and decided to stay there for the night. I decided I would call my sisters, just to see how Daisy was holding up. They may have become more responsible, but I was still worried about them on their own.

Normal POV

"So, how are things going at the gym Daisy?" Misty asked. "Like, not bad…but I need to talk to you." Daisy replied. Misty suddenly felt her heart start to beat faster. Daisy didn't want Misty to come back did she? After all this time?

"W-What's up Daisy?" Misty asked nervously. "It's like, about your Corsola." Daisy replied. Misty exhaled with extreme relief, which did not go unnoticed by her older sister. "What? You thought I like, wanted you to come home so you could like, mope some more? Please." Daisy joked.

"That's good. I really don't think I'd go home now anyway, since I finally kissed Ash." Misty said proudly. "Oh my gosh Misty! You finally like, kissed him?" Daisy squealed. "Isn't that what I said?" Misty replied giddily.

"Like, I've gotta tell Lily and Violet!" Daisy squealed, suddenly getting up from her seat. "Daisy, come back!" Misty exclaimed through the video phone. Daisy apparently heard her; she came back and sat herself down. "Sorry, I like, got way excited." Daisy said with a sweat-drop. "I'm the one who kissed him, why are you excited?" Misty asked, somewhat suspiciously.

"My little sister has like, finally become an official adult!" Daisy exclaimed. "Very funny Daisy. You know that doesn't happen 'till I'm eighteen. That's a long way off." Misty replied, rolling her eyes. "I said officially, not legally." Daisy countered. "Whatever, you mentioned Corsola. Why?" Misty asked.

"Oh yeah. Like, I think your Corsola really misses you." Daisy said. "What makes you say that?" Misty asked. "Because lately she's been like, disobeying me, refusing to perform in our shows, and being all sassy." Daisy replied. "That sounds like Corsola being Corsola, what's the problem?" Misty asked, slightly amused at the aspect.

"Does Corsola usually like, attack me for no reason?" Daisy asked. That caught Misty by surprise. "Daisy, do you want me to take Corsola?" Misty replied. "I thought you like, already had six Pokémon with you." Daisy said. "I do, apparently Sinnoh has a slightly different rule set. I can have up to eight." Misty replied.

"In that case, yes, I do want you to like, take Corsola. I've been like, taking spikes out of my butt for weeks." Daisy replied, rubbing her sore rear end. Misty giggled at that. "Alright Daisy, I'll take her off your hands." she said.

Daisy nodded and sent Misty a specialized Lure Ball, which contained her water/rock-type. "Alright Daisy, is that all?" Misty asked. "Yep, now if you'll excuse me, I have to go squeal to Lily and Violet." Daisy replied teasingly. "Daisy wait!" Misty cried. It was too late. Daisy hung up, leaving Misty semi-alone.

"What was that all about?" Ash asked, walking up behind his red-headed girlfriend. "My sister's being a pain, what else?" Misty replied. "Hey, you know being an only child can be lonely." Ash said. "Somehow, I think I could handle lonely." Misty replied, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, isn't that your old Lure Ball?" Ash asked. "Yep, apparently Corsola's been giving Daisy some trouble lately." Misty giggled. "I see…say…Mist…how'd you like to get some dinner?" Ash asked sheepishly. "Why the awkwardness Ash? Of course I'll go with you." Misty replied.

"Because…I wanted it to be just you and me…maybe we could…head to our room and order room service…maybe watch a movie?" Ash suggested. "Ash Ketchum, I just realized that we've had a first kiss, but you've never asked me out on an official first date." Misty said, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously.

"Y-Yeah, go figure." Ash said, shrugging. "So, is this your way of asking?" Misty asked playfully. "No! I mean yes! I mean…maybe…" Ash stammered. Misty shook her head and giggled before snaring him into a loving embrace. "I take it that means yes?" Ash asked hopefully.

"No, it means I'm breaking up with you." Misty replied sarcastically. Ash chuckled and shook his head as well, which brought a small giggle from Misty. The two headed to their room, hand in hand all the way. "Why do they get to order room service?" Dawn asked, as she and Brock quietly spied on the couple from the Pokémon Center chairs.

"Because they're together. Everyone knows that a cafeteria is no place for a date." Brock replied. "If that's the case, I need a date." Dawn said. "You could always call Conway." Brock replied with a smirk. Dawn paled slightly before standing up. "So, who wants a cafeteria sandwich?" she asked hastily. Brock got a good laugh at the blue-haired coordinator before joining her. On the way there, she could've sworn that she saw something strange. Like a piece of fruit that was a different color than the rest.

"Brock, check out that apple, it's purple." Dawn said. Brock turned to see, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "I don't see anything." he said. "But it's right…not again." Dawn moaned, as she noticed that whatever she saw had vanished. "Dawn, are you feeling alright?" Brock asked. "Right now, I'm not so sure." Dawn replied.

Dawn walked past Brock and picked up a tray, making sure not to look at anything else to avoid seeing something else strange, and bring further suspicions from her friends. "That's twice now…am I cracking up or something?"

Back with Ash and Misty, the couple had just finished ordering room service. Ironically enough, all they ordered was a small pizza. After picking out a Pokémon movie on TV, the two sat themselves down on the loveseat for two. It was a tight squeeze to say the least; their bodies were so close to each other that one couldn't even breathe without the other feeling it. But that was certainly not a problem for Ash and Misty.

"I remember my mom used to have a chair like this. I'd sit on her lap when I was little and she'd tell me the story of Lance the Dragon Trainer taming his Dragonite." Ash said, reminiscing on old times. "You're lucky Ash. I didn't have anyone to tell me stories when I was little." Misty said.

"Yeah, I guess your sisters weren't all that great at storytelling." Ash said. "Nope, but I did have a great time listening to the stories that Brock would tell us around the campfire. It was kinda like making up for the childhood I lost." Misty said.

"Yeah, sometimes I miss it. But when I think about what I've gained, new friends, new Pokémon, growing up seems worth it." Ash said. "You forgot something Ash." Misty said playfully. "Really? What'd I forget?" Ash asked.

"Something you lost a long time ago but then got it back?" Misty hinted. Ash now knew what she meant and a mischievous smirk appeared on his lips. "Charizard?" he replied. Misty flicked him in the back of the head. "Wrong answer Ketchum." she said. "Hmm…my confidence?" Ash replied. Misty flicked him again. "Strike two. One more miss and I'll have to use my mallet instead of my finger." Misty said.

"But I'm not wrong." Ash said. "What do you mean?" Misty asked. Ash wrapped his arm around Misty's shoulder; a small smile upturned on her lips as she leaned into his embrace. "My confidence came back when you came back." he said softly.

"Guess you were right. Now I have to make up for hitting you." Misty said softly. "How do you intend to do that?" Ash asked. Misty's smile grew larger as she brought her face close to Ash's. Her heart pounded in her chest at how close they were. No matter how used to it she got, the thrill of being so close to Ash never wore off for her.

"You guess." she said, her eyes half-closed. Ash didn't have to guess, he knew. Misty tilted her head to one side and softly pressed her lips against Ash's. She could feel the familiar flame of love burning stronger in her heart as she held the kiss locked in. Ash also felt the flame, but he still needed some practice with controlling it.

Having his face heat up hotter than after Charizard fried him was something he had still not grown accustomed to. But the taste of Misty's luscious lips had always overcome any fear or discomfort. That showed just how much Ash really cared for her.

It was these times alone with her that he was the most vulnerable, but they were also the ones he enjoyed and cherished most of all. The only time either could let down their guard completely was when they were alone. Although they had had tender moments publicly many times before, they had always kept some of their guard and restraint up, even around Dawn and Brock.

Not now. It was just the two of them. Ash and Misty. Lips locked together, with the only key being when one or the other ran out of breath. Which unfortunately for the couple, was right now.

Ash broke the kiss, gasping for breath; his face flushed a deep red. "Yep, that oughta do it." he said breathlessly. Misty, just as red in the face, giggled at him. Her heart felt warm, and so full of love. And of course she didn't want to lose that feeling, so she snuggled her head into his neck, nuzzling her nose against it.

"I love you so much." she whispered. Ash nuzzled back, but said nothing. He didn't have to. At this point in time, both knew exactly how much the other cared. The movie was barely noticeable now; all they could hear were each other's beating hearts. That is until…

"AAAHHH!" a loud shriek was heard from the other side of the door, which gave Ash and Misty quite a jumpstart. Before they knew it, Dawn barged in, fuming mad. Ash and Misty tried desperately to slow their hearts and bring their color back to a more normal level.

"S-Something wrong Dawn?" Misty asked. "Whoever said: 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away' was way beyond wrong!" she screamed. She stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her, leaving Ash and Misty totally confused.

Just then, Brock came in as well. "What happened Brock?" Ash asked. "I dunno, all I know is that Dawn swears she saw something." Brock replied. "Let me guess…an apple?" Misty said. "I guess." Brock replied.

"Well…I can't get myself to believe it. She just suddenly starts seeing things?" Ash said. "Well, what if we…" Misty was cut-off by a ringing phone. Dawn came out of the bathroom to answer it.

"Hello?" she said. Dawn was caught by surprise when she found that it was Professor Rowan calling of all people. "Hello Dawn, how are you?" he said cordially. "I'm fine Professor! I'm about to enter another contest in Celestic Town." Dawn replied.

"Ahh yes, actually, there's something I wanted to discuss with you." Prof. Rowan said. "Discuss? What is it?" Dawn asked.

"You see, I would like to invite you and your friends to the Rowan Research Facility for a week for the Pokémon Summer Academy." Prof. Rowan explained. "Really? Awesome!" Dawn exclaimed. "Good, so I'll be expecting you at Mt. Coronet early tomorrow." Prof. Rowan said.

"T-Tomorrow?" When exactly?" Dawn asked. "Since it's the first day, it starts at 9:00 A.M. Try not to be late." Prof. Rowan said. "(Gulp) Yes sir, we'll try." Dawn said. "Excellent. See you tomorrow." Prof. Rowan then hung up.

Dawn slowly got up and made her way to where her friends should've been. But the only ones she saw were Ash and Misty cuddled up on the loveseat. Brock was nowhere to be found. "Guys, we just enrolled into school." Dawn said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked. "It means that that phone call was from Professor Rowan, and he's invited us to attend a sort of week long summer school at his research facility on Mt. Coronet." Dawn explained.

"Sounds interesting, I guess I'll finally get to meet this Professor you keep mentioning." Misty said. "There's just…one thing." Dawn said. "What?" Ash and Misty asked. "We have to be there by 9:00 tomorrow." Dawn replied.

Ash and Misty fell off the chair and face-faulted. "Seriously?" Ash asked. "Yes Ash, seriously." Dawn replied. "Oh great…how am I supposed to wake up in time?" Ash wondered out loud. "Don't worry Ash; I'll be your alarm clock." Misty reassured.

"Not a good idea." Brock said, walking out of the bathroom in his pajamas, his spiky hair dripping water. "Had a good shower Brocko?" Ash joked. "Yeah Ash, anyway, knowing you two, you'll probably forget to get up and actually move." Brock said.

"Oh come on, we sleep late just once and suddenly we need manual alarm clocks." Misty groaned. "Come on Brock, I promise we'll get up on time." Ash said. Brock pondered this for a moment and was about to say no, but the puppy-dog looks on Ash and Misty's faces made him reconsider.

"Ugh, fine. But if you don't wake up on time, I'm leaving without you." Brock said. Ash and Misty high-fived victoriously before Misty went to take her own shower. "You know Ash; I never thought you'd stoop so low as to use the puppy-dog look on me." Brock said. "Hey, it wasn't my idea." Ash defended.

"Oh, so it was Misty's idea. I'll have to talk to that girl." Brock said. "She's right through that door if you want." Ash said. "You open that door and you'll both be unconscious until Christmas!" Misty threatened. Ash and Brock sweat-dropped before slowly backing away from the bathroom door.

"Men, they're all the same." Dawn said through the door. "Ain't that the truth?" Misty replied. After everyone was showered and in their pajamas, the group snacked on the small pepperoni pizza that room service had FINALLY brought up.

"What took so long anyway?" Ash had asked the delivery guy. "Hey, with better ingredients, comes better pizza, and time makes quality." the man had replied. Ash shrugged and paid the man the fee.

And it turned out he was right, the pizza was one of the best they had ever tasted. "We've gotta see if they have more of these places around Sinnoh, this is one epic pizza!" Ash exclaimed. "Just be careful that the pepperoni doesn't give you nightmares." Misty said.

"I'm not gonna get nightmares, I've got the belly of a steel-type!" Ash exclaimed, pounding his fist against his abdomen. Misty wasn't really all that worried of Ash having a nightmare; she was more worried about what would happen if he ate too much. "Do me a favor Ash, when you go to sleep, make sure your butt faces in the OPPOSITE direction of me." Misty said.

Ash rolled his eyes and chuckled before downing his third slice. "There are some advantages to being single. This is one of them." Dawn laughed. "I'd be willing to share tonight." Misty offered. "Ew, no way! He's ALL YOURS." Dawn said.

Misty sweat-dropped and gave a nervous smile. "Greeeat." she said. Dawn and Brock laughed at the red-headed trainer's predicament, but eventually let the joke die. Afterwards, the group turned on a short sports movie; Misty did sit with Ash again, but she couldn't help but be nervous that Ash would let loose after all that pepperoni.

"If he farts, I'm gonna KILL HIM." she thought menacingly. Luckily for the water-trainer, Ash's claim of having an iron-belly seemed to be true, he did not let even one go.

Afterwards, the teens slipped into their beds with barely a goodnight being uttered. They had a lot to do the following morning, and Misty had the toughest job of all: Making sure Ash woke up early, AND making sure that SHE woke up early. Ever since she started sleeping next to Ash, she found that it was becoming easier to sleep in.

"Remember Mist, you promised to wake me up." Ash said. "I know, I know. Don't worry Ash, I've got it covered." she reassured again. The two did their nightly routine of cuddling up to each other, sharing each other's warmth and comfort. With two whispered goodnights, Ash and Misty quickly fell into a deep slumber.

DAY 1

The following morning, Misty woke up to find that Dawn had disappeared, but seeing that Brock was only beginning to stir convinced her that she was alright time-wise. She turned to face her boyfriend and begin the grueling job of bringing him to consciousness. "Let's start from the top." she thought.

Misty softly nuzzled her nose against his face, occasionally kissing him. "Ash, time to get up." she said softly. Ash smiled and seemed to fall into a deeper sleep thanks to Misty's melodic voice. Well that backfired." she thought.

She thought of a rougher approach, but looking at his peaceful face, she couldn't help but think twice. She tenderly stroked his messy black-hair before planting another kiss on his sleeping form. "I'll let him sleep a while longer; he'll be up soon enough." Misty thought.

Misty went to check up on Dawn, who was currently in the bathroom working on a ferocious case of bed head. "What happened to you Dawn?" Misty asked in shock. "I don't know!" Dawn replied despairingly, "All I know is that I woke up to this!"

"Has this ever happened before?" Misty asked, as she took the brush from Dawn's hand and started brushing her out of control hair. "Not that I can remember. I've had bed head before, but NEVER this badly!" Dawn squealed.

"Oh wow, this is really bad." Misty said, as she battled with a tangle of blue hair. "Ow!" Dawn screeched. "Sorry, but you've got a lot of knots here." Misty said. "I've been at this for an hour now; it was actually a lot worse before." Dawn explained. "I'd hate to see what it looked like." Misty said. "Did you wake up – ow – Ash?" Dawn asked. "Umm…actually…h-he's too heavy a sleeper." Misty replied.

"In other words, you didn't have the heart to wake him." Dawn said. "Hey, you want me to leave and go try again? Or stay and help with your hair?" Misty said. "Touché Miss Waterflower." Dawn replied. So Misty and Dawn stayed cooped up in the bathroom, trying to fix the extreme mess that was Dawn's hair.

Ash's POV

I was about to wake up, when I felt something nuzzling my cheek. When I felt the kiss hit my face, I knew exactly who it was. In my half-asleep state, her voice was even more melodic than normal. How did I know this? I wasn't really sure. Probably had something to do with how much I cared for her. I suddenly felt a new wave of relaxation wash over me. And I quickly fell back into a slumber.

Later, I had a much ruder awakening from Pikachu. A 'Thundershock' to the feet was not how I would like to be woken up. "Aww, Pikachu, what'd you do that for?"

"Pika pika pikachu!" (Look at the time!) Pikachu exclaimed. I checked the clock and found that it read 8:30. "Oh man! I overslept! Why didn't Misty wake me?" I leaped out of bed and got dressed faster than I ever had in my life. Even faster than when I tried to rush to Professor Oak's laboratory to get my starter Pokémon. I packed up my things and slung my backpack over my shoulder.

I charged for the bathroom to give myself a quick splash of cold water, but when I tried to barge through the door, I wound up on my butt from the impact with the locked door. "Who's there?" Misty asked. "It's me, I need to wash my face, and fast!" I replied.

I heard the sound of the lock clicking, and I cautiously opened the door to make sure I didn't hurt myself again. When I opened the door, I found Dawn sitting on a chair with Misty standing behind her, brushing Dawn's hair. I was stunned for a moment when I saw Dawn's hair. "And just what is so interesting Ash?" Dawn asked accusingly. I snapped back to reality and splashed the water on my face and quickly made a break for it.

Normal POV

"Why's he in such a hurry?" Dawn asked. Misty shrugged and went back to brushing. But when she saw the clock in the mirror, she dropped the brush like a hot potato and ran for her backpack to get her clothes.

"Dawn, we gotta go NOW!" Misty exclaimed, as she stripped herself of her pajamas and replaced them with her normal outfit. Dawn quickly gave her hair a few more brushstrokes before placing her white hat on her head.

"We have everything?" Dawn exclaimed, as she grabbed her things and stuffed them into her backpack. "Yeah, we're done here! Let's go!" Misty replied. The two girls rushed out of the door to find Ash and Brock waiting by the door, although Ash seemed a bit out of breath.

"Took you long enough." Brock said. "Sorry, but my hair was just…ugh!" Dawn exclaimed. "Never mind that, we don't have much time!" Misty exclaimed. The group rushed out the door of the Pokémon Center, running as fast as their legs would carry them. They had maybe fifteen minutes to get to the Research Facility, and no one wanted to face the wrath of an angry Professor Rowan.

After much more running, and a couple more strange sightings by Dawn, the group finally got into range of the research facility, but they literally had seconds to get there. "We're gonna be late guys, I know we are!" Ash exclaimed.

"If you hadn't overslept we wouldn't have this problem!" Dawn exclaimed accusingly. "Hey, don't talk to Ash like that!" Misty exclaimed. "Thanks Mist." Ash said. "That's my job! Ash, why didn't you wake up earlier?" Misty exclaimed angrily. Ash would've face-faulted, but he was too busy running.

"Oh yeah? Well if you weren't so busy trying to fix Dawn's dumb bed head we wouldn't have this problem!" Ash countered. "It wasn't my fault my hair got so bad! It NEVER gets as bad as it did!" Dawn exclaimed. "It doesn't matter whose fault it is, hurry!" Brock exclaimed.

Just as the bell went off, Ash and Co. charged through the gates of the facility, panting with fatigue. "Looks like we made it after all." Ash said, wiping the sweat off his brow. "If you think getting in while the bell is ringing means you're on time, put a helmet on!" a voice yelled.

"I know that voice…" Dawn said. The group turned around, and gasped at what they saw. "Brad!" they exclaimed. "Well, lucky for you it was only me. If it was Professor Rowan, you would've been in trouble." Brad said, "Oh hi Professor."

"Very funny Brad." Ash said. "You're late!" a voice boomed. Ash and his friends' spines went straight, and they turned around again to see Professor Rowan standing behind them. "H-Hi Professor." Dawn squeaked.

"Sorry Professor, we were kinda running behind this morning." Ash apologized. "Behind who? Me? I'm not moving…no, because I'm waiting for you!" Brad exclaimed. "You have a skit for everything, don't you Brad?" Misty said, shaking her head. "Some of my best stuff I made right here." Brad replied.

"Now that Brad has given you his idea of a greeting, I would like to welcome you to the Rowan Research Facility on Mt. Coronet. And for all intensive purposes, your school." Prof. Rowan said. "This is incredible; I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!" Brock exclaimed, always willing to learn more.

"Just so you know, that bell was so everyone would prepare. So pull yourselves together and come over to that platform in five minutes." Prof. Rowan said. "Ok Professor, and thanks again for inviting us." Dawn said. With that, the Professor turned to leave.

"So, what are you doing here Brad?" Ash asked. "I work here as a janitor. I used to come here every year I was able. Once I got too old, I come here every year as a volunteer. This is where I met up with Torkoal actually." Brad explained.

"Really?" Misty asked. "Yep, it's an interesting story, I'll tell you later. Right now though, I'm interested in finding out why you were running late." Brad said, a sly smirk spread on his face. "Well you see, Dawn had an interesting predicament with her hair, so we had to run like crazy to get here." Misty explained.

"So you were RUNNING late. Hey, if you were running, you shoulda made it!" Brad yelled. Misty face-palmed. "D'oh, I walked right into that!" she said. "Hee hee hee, you should get ready, because you're gonna be hearing a lot of my jokes this week." Brad snickered.

"Say, you weren't serious about waiting for us, were you?" Ash asked. "Actually, yes. When Rowan told me that you were coming, I waited here by the gate, and I knew you'd be late." Brad said. "Sheesh, if I knew you were gonna be here, I might've moved quicker to avoid heckling." Misty said.

"From me? Not on your life. The summer academy is where I'm at my best." Brad said. "So, can you tell us where to go?" Brock asked. "Don't worry, I know when to stop joking and get down to business. I'll take care of you guys." Brad reassured.

"Gee, thanks Brad, we appreciate it." Ash said. "No problem, now get moving, they're about to announce the teams." Brad said. "Teams? What do you mean?" Dawn asked. "You'll see in a minute! Just go!" Brad exclaimed, pushing the group towards the bulletin board. After shoving the teens in the right direction, he went to hang with his two new janitor partners.

One of the instructors stood on the stage, waving his arms to get the attention of the variously aged children and teenagers. "Alright people, gather around to find out what class team you're on!" he announced.

"I'm on the red team!" Ash exclaimed. "Hey, me too!" Dawn exclaimed. "And me!" Brock added. "We're all on the red team!" Misty cheered. "But wait…doesn't that seem a bit too coincidental?" Brock asked. "I pulled some strings for you guys, in case you were interested." Brad said, walking by with his broom. "At this rate, we'll owe him so much that we won't be able to repay him." Misty said.

"Heh heh heh, looks like I'm on the blue team." A voice snickered. The teens turned around and saw Conway of all people standing behind them. "Oh no, you're here too?" Ash exclaimed. "It's Conway." Dawn moaned.

"Heh heh, somehow I just knew you'd all be coming." Conway snickered. "Don't forget me! The name's Jessilinda, and I'm on the green team, I'm also the school's resident cutie pie!" the overly perky woman exclaimed, putting her fingers in a 'peace' sign.

"Another perky creep. Anyway, you know this guy?" Misty asked. "Let's just say that we had a tag-battle and leave it at that." Dawn explained. "You know, I haven't stopped keeping tabs on you Dawn." Conway said. "You keep tabs…on girls?" Misty asked with a sweat-drop. "Why yes, but after seeing you I think I may have chosen the wrong girl to keep tabs on." Conway said with a snicker.

Ash walked up behind Conway and loomed over him. "Unless you want broken glasses and a black eye, you'll back off." Ash said menacingly. Conway turned around and sweat-dropped. He may have been confident on the outside, but inside he was scared of Ash's obviously physically superior form.

"No no, go on Conway, continue." Misty said encouragingly. Ash's jaw-dropped suddenly, and a gleam appeared in Conway's eye. "I know everything there is to know about Pokémon, and I need a girl of YOUR caliber by my side to help me become the best researcher ever." Conway said.

"Oh really? So you have brains then huh?" Misty asked. "That's right. You like what you see, don't you?" Conway asked knowingly. Before Conway knew it, he had been drilled into the ground by a mallet. "NOW I like what I see." Misty said with a snicker.

She went to give her real boyfriend a hug, which Ash more than gladly reciprocated. "Oh, you're attached already. Oh well, guess I'll go back to Dawn." Conway said coolly. "Great." Dawn moaned. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like some help getting out of here." Conway said. "Ok fine, Brad, could you clean up this mess for us?" Misty called. "Sure thing!" Brad replied.

Ash and Co. walked away laughing, as Conway struggled to get out of the ground. Brad walked up to Conway and stared him down. "You know how you always say 'put a helmet on'?" Conway asked. "Yeah, what about it?" Brad replied. "I think I should do just that." Conway moaned.

"Or maybe you should start treating girls like girls and not subjects." Brad said. "Just get me out of here." Conway said, irritation growing in his voice. "Don't you think you should say please to the guy who's helping you?" Brad replied. Conway suddenly became nervous that Brad would leave him. "Sorry." he said.

"Luckily for you, I'm not offended by people like you. But not everyone's like me, so you should probably be careful what you say." Brad suggested. Brad yanked Conway out of the ground with ease. "Say, you have anything I can clean myself up with?" Conway asked, brushing the dust and dirt off of his clothes.

"Oh sure." Brad said. Brad pulled a tissue out of his pocket and spit in it, then offered it to Conway, who looked at it with disgust. "Gross! Don't you have an antibacterial wipe or something?" Conway asked. "Oh please, you know what I had when I was growing up? Mom used to spit in a tissue and wipe my face! That was my antibacterial wipe, and look how I turned out!" Brad yelled. Conway sweat-dropped and ran away without another word. "I'm gonna have fun this year." Brad snickered.

Back with Ash and Co., Prof. Rowan had stepped up to the platform to begin a speech. "Just as there are various kinds of Pokémon in various parts of our world, you young trainers are no different. Today you young people of different ages and birthplaces have gathered together for a week of fun and excitement. Destiny has brought you all together, as you meet and work together with your fellow students and their Pokémon in your classes, so get to know one another this next week, and while you're at it, have some fun." Prof. Rowan said.

"I think this would be the perfect time for the Pokémon to introduce themselves, and the best way to do that is…" the instructor paused to allow Prof. Rowan to finish the sentence. "A Pokémon battle!"

Everyone cheered at the notion of a battle, and Ash wasted no time grabbing one of his Pokéballs. "Hold on, hold on, each and everyone will use THESE Pokéballs, and only one Pokéball per student." the instructor said, as he placed the box of Pokéballs onto the ground.

"I see, so the Pokémon we all end up getting matched up with is…" Brock paused. "From the luck of the draw!" Dawn finished. "Wait a sec, what if I wind up with a bug-type?" Misty asked worriedly. "This could be good for you Misty, a chance to overcome your fear!" Brock exclaimed. Misty gulped audibly in response.

"Come on guys; let's hurry before they take all the good ones!" Ash exclaimed. The teens ran towards the box and grabbed their Pokéballs. But as Ash reached for his, another hand had grabbed onto it as well, at exactly the same time.

Ash looked up and saw what seemed like a twelve year old clutching the Pokéball tightly. "Let go! I got it first!" the kid shouted. Ash certainly didn't want to give up his choice, so he yanked back. "You mean I got it first!" Ash yelled back.

After a few shouts of "It's mine", the kid had had enough. "There's nothing ruder than a guy who ignores the 'ladies first' rule!" the kid screamed. Upon hearing that, Ash dropped the Pokéball like it was on fire and stepped back as if he had gotten jab-punched in the gut. "You mean to tell me you're a girl?" Ash asked.

"Ok, now you're really getting me mad. The name's Angie, and I challenge you to a battle!" Angie screamed. "Hey, you've got yourself a deal! By the way, my name's Ash!" Ash grabbed another Pokéball from the box and stared down the pre-teen with determined eyes. "I feel like I'm watching a replay of history." Brock said, as he watched Ash and Angie face off against each other.

"We weren't that bad…were we?" Misty asked. Brock glanced over to Misty without a word, which quickly answered the water-type trainer's question. As the stare down continued to grow more intense, Prof. Rowan appeared to break it up. "Good, that's the spirit, but TOMORROW'S when the real battle starts, your only business today is to meet the Pokémon you chose." Prof. Rowan said.

"Alright, then come on out!" Angie screamed. She tossed out the Pokéball and a Monferno emerged from it. "Whoa, a Monferno." Ash said, pulling out his red Pokédex.

"Monferno, the Playful Pokémon and the evolved form of Chimchar. Monferno launches aerial attacks off of ceilings and walls, and its fiery tail is used as one of its weapons." the Pokédex explained.

"Angie's the name, nice to meet you!" Angie said cheerfully. Apparently, Monferno had a serious attitude problem. It turned its head away from Angie angrily. Ash snickered at that. "Looks like you rub Pokémon the wrong way too." he said.

"Hey guys." Brad said, walking up to the group. "Hey Brad, what's up?" Ash asked. "Something you should know, Rowan rewards points according to how well you interact with the Pokémon and their handlers. He's a lot less tolerant than I am, so I would suggest keeping the fighting to a minimum." Brad said. "Right, thanks." Ash said gratefully.

Ash threw out his choice, and a Raichu emerged from the ball and looked around. "Hey, a Raichu, great! Hi, my name's Ash, nice to meet you!" Ash said cheerfully. Raichu was frightened by Ash's presence, and dug a hole to hide in. "Ha ha ha! Ash, I think Raichu's scared of you!" Angie laughed.

"You know, you should probably cool Ash off before he gets in trouble." Brock said. "Not even I can cool off his ego Brock, you know that. Besides, if Ash needs to unload his competitive spirit on someone, I'd rather it be that Angie girl instead of me anyway." Misty replied. "Suit yourself." Brock said.

"Ok, come on out!" Misty exclaimed. Misty threw the Pokéball, and a Surskit emerged. "Wow, a Surskit!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokémon. Surskit inhabits ponds, rivers, and similar wetlands. They move about as though skating the water surface." Dawn's Pokédex said.

"Awesome, a water-type!" Misty cheered. "Misty, you do know that Surskit is also a bug-type, right?" Brock said. Misty suddenly turned pale, and stared down at the small Pokémon who was smiling at her. "Oh boy, now what?" Misty moaned. "It's the best of both worlds Mist; this'll help you get over your fear of bug-types." Ash said, taking a moment away from Raichu to comfort his frightened girlfriend.

"Get over it? Never. But…maybe I can cope with it since it's a water-type too." Misty said nervously. "That's it! Just keep reminding yourself that it's a water-type too! I'm sure you'll be friends with Surskit in no time!" Dawn exclaimed.

Misty glanced back down at Surskit and forced a smile. "H-Hi there." Misty said. The Surskit smiled and happily climbed onto Misty's head, which caused to her whimper. "It's a water-type, it's a water-type, it's a water-type!"

"My turn! Ok, come on out!" Dawn threw her Pokéball, and a Grimer emerged from it. The kids around Dawn and Grimer now looked on with disgust, which hurt the feelings of the poison-type. "H-Hey, you're pretty cute, you know?" Dawn said.

Grimer's expression brightened dramatically, and it affectionately hugged the coordinator in thanks. "Uh oh." Dawn said. Dawn had noticed a change in weight on her head, which could only mean one thing. "Where's Piplup?" Dawn asked. When Grimer stretched back down, Dawn freaked out when she saw Piplup stuck headfirst inside Grimer's body, desperately chirping for help.

"I'm next! Let's go!" Brock threw out his Pokéball, and a Magnemite emerged and started hovering around Brock's head like the moon around the earth.

Now that all the Pokémon had been released, the group proceeded to interact with their Pokémon. While Dawn and Brock got along with their Pokémon well, Ash, Misty, and Angie were having issues. Raichu refused to come out of its hiding place despite Ash's encouragement, Misty's instincts were battling for superiority inside of her. Whether to love Surskit's water-type affinity, or to be scared of its bug-type affinity.

Angie was the worst however. Monferno blatantly disobeyed her, and ran off to pick a fight with another trainer's Croconaw. "Uh oh, Pikachu, better try and stop that fight!" Ash exclaimed. Pikachu obeyed and stepped in-between the two angry Pokémon.

However, Monferno was unfazed and fired an 'Ember' attack that wound up hitting Pikachu instead. "Pikachu, are you alright?" Ash exclaimed. "Pika pika." (That hurt.) Pikachu replied. "Angie, I think you and Monferno owe me and Pikachu an apology!" Ash exclaimed angrily.

"No way! Pikachu shouldn't have been in the way anyway!" Angie countered. "Pikachu was only trying to prevent a fight that Monferno was about to start!" Ash yelled. "Why is it any of your business what Monferno does?" Angie screamed. "Because I'm trying to help this team, that's why!" Ash yelled back.

Angie backed down slightly, but her furious expression remained. "Never mind what me and Monferno do, go worry about your wimpy Raichu!" Angie screamed. Angie picked up the fussing Monferno and stomped away.

"Geez, what's with her?" Ash said angrily. "Look at it this way Ash; if you learned how to not fight with ME, I think you can handle that Angie girl." Misty said. "Good point. She's just like you when we first started travelling together." Ash said. "And the new, mature Ash won't have any trouble with her, right?" Misty asked expectantly. "Sure Mist. I promise." Ash said.

Misty planted a kiss on his forehead just as the bell that signaled the first hour was up sounded. "And so ends your first hour at the Pokémon Summer Academy." Brad said, walking up to and interrupting the couple. "Brad, can't you go clean somewhere else?" Misty begged.

"Ash, take this bit of advice from a married man." Brad said, ready to start a joke, "Once you get married, she'll be ungrateful for you. Why? Because you'll always be doing something she can't handle. Something that bothers her and she'll always be talking about it, yelling about it, just plain driving her crazy, here's an example: 'Put the seat down'!"

"Hey, that's pretty funny Brad, but I didn't know you were married." Ash said with a snicker. Misty gave a small giggle, but she was slightly embarrassed by the joke.

"Oh yeah, you just didn't meet the Mrs. But that's number one: 'Put the seat down'! That's what you'll hear all your life, you won't even hear 'I love you' as much as 'put the seat down'!" Brad yelled jokingly, using his usual strategy of body language and voice changing.

"And you know something? I never knew why it was such a big deal – Misty, what's the big deal about putting the seat down?" Brad asked. Misty gulped and thought about her inevitable response. If she lived through the embarrassment, she'd make sure to flatten Brad's head.

"W-Well, it's…more attractive?" Misty asked cautiously, trying to avoid further embarrassment. It didn't work.

"It's more attractive?" Brad said sarcastically, "Lemme tell you something Misty, I don't care how many stinkin' doilies you put on it, I don't care how many scented candles you light, I don't care what kind of rug you put around it. Listen up, it's still a toilet!"

By now Ash was laughing hysterically, but Misty wasn't nearly as amused.

"It's never gonna get so attractive that we're gonna say: 'You know we oughta take that out of the bathroom and put it in the living room don't you think…? It's just being lost there in the bathroom'." Brad said jokingly.

"Brad, please stop." Misty begged, her face flushed with sheer humiliation. When Ash stopped laughing long enough to examine his girlfriend's face, he felt guilty for enjoying it so much. "Ahh, I'm sorry Misty. I admit that I can be a bit over the top at times." Brad said sympathetically.

"(Sigh) You're funny most of the time, but try to bring it down a notch, ok?" Misty asked. "Sure, by the way, the next hour starts in a few minutes, so grab your Pokémon and head to that classroom over there." Brad said, pointing them in the right direction.

"Thanks Brad, and uh, thanks for the laugh." Ash said. "Heh heh, sure thing. But all kidding aside, you have to try and keep out of trouble or fights. I'll do my best, but I won't be able to save you from EVERY single jam you get your team into, although I will have some fun joking about it when you DO get in trouble." Brad joked.

This time Misty got to laugh while Ash got embarrassed. "So, we even now Misty?" Brad asked. "Sure thing Brad, thanks for helping us out." Misty said. With that, Brad turned around to head to his next designated job: making sure the two new janitors didn't mess something up.

"Brad sure is something, isn't he?" Misty said. "Yeah, he sure is…something…but what exactly?" Ash replied jokingly. The couple recalled their Pokémon, and joined the other students in the classroom, where the assistant instructor was trying to get everyone's attention.

"Now, as we move on to our second hour, I want you all to work on getting closer to your Pokémon, understand?" the instructor said. The entire class replied with a unified "yes sir".

The students, which included Ash and Co., spent the next hour getting to know their Pokémon's likes and dislikes.

"Grimer, I made some delicious poffins for you so why don't you go ahead and try one?" Dawn suggested. Grimer happily agreed and downed one of Dawn's poffins. "Wow, you've got poffins that are homemade!" Angie said, impressed.

In the seat next to Dawn, was Brock and Magnemite. "Ok Magnemite, how about a little static electricity snack?" Brock asked enticingly. Magnemite absorbed the static Brock had accumulated by rubbing a board with carpet against his body. "Followed by…a brisk, speedy, polish rubdown! Ta da!" Brock had given Magnemite a polished shine, which impressed the entire class. And needless to say, Magnemite loved being the center of attention.

Meanwhile, Misty and Surskit were still having some social issues. "S-So, what do you like to do…Surskit?" Misty asked, still somewhat nervous. Surskit got on one leg and twirled around in a circle, saying that it enjoyed skating on water.

"You like skating? Hmm…wait here Surskit." Misty said. She got up to go to Dawn's table first. "Hey Dawn, can I borrow a couple of poffins?" Misty asked. "Sure thing Misty, how are you and Surskit doing?" Dawn asked, as she handed Misty four poffins. "I think I may have found something to keep my mind off of it being part bug-type." Misty replied.

"Awesome! Good luck to you!" Dawn exclaimed cheerfully. Misty walked up to the instructor next. "Excuse me sir, but I need to go outside a moment so I can get something for Surskit." she said. "Very well young lady, you have five minutes." the instructor replied. Misty nodded and headed for the door.

"Where you going Mist?" Ash asked. "I'm just getting something, I'll be right back." Misty replied. Ash shrugged and went back to handling Raichu, while Misty ran out the door and into the corridor. Unfortunately, she wound up running onto a wet floor; her foot slipped on the water and she slid all the way into the nearest wall. After colliding, Misty crumpled onto the floor in pain. "Ow." she moaned quietly.

Of all people, Brad came running to see what all the commotion was about. "For crying out loud, I know you wanna be friends with your Pokémon but maybe you should leave the pond-skating to Surskit, huh?" Brad said as he helped the poor trainer to her feet.

"I think a wet floor is the only thing water-related that I DON'T like." Misty replied. "What are you doing out of your class anyway?" Brad asked. "I'm looking for something Surskit can skate in. Don't worry, I have permission." Misty replied.

"Oh, is that all? I have something you can use." Brad said. "Really? Thanks." Misty replied gratefully. Brad ran off for a moment to dig through his janitor's closet, and he returned with a small inflatable pool, just big enough for Surskit to skate in, but small enough to stay out of the way of the other students.

"This oughta take care of your problems." Brad said. "This is perfect! Thanks Brad!" Misty exclaimed happily. "No problem, now you better hurry, you have about a minute and a half before you're due." Brad said. "Wait, how did you know? And come to think of it, why do you have an inflatable pool in your closet?" Misty asked. "That's the standard time distribution, and a lot of students come to me for all sorts of crazy stuff. Now get going!" Brad replied. Misty nodded and took off in the opposite direction, being careful not to slip on the wet floor again.

While Misty was with Brad, Ash, Dawn, and Brock were busy still. But poor Angie was having trouble controlling the temperamental Monferno. "Hey, stop! What are you two doing?" she screamed, as she broke up another stare down between Monferno and Croconaw.

While that was going on, Ash had pulled out his Pokédex to examine Raichu. "Alright Raichu, let's just see what moves you can use." Ash said.

His Pokédex made a few beeping noises, signaling the completion of its scan. "This Raichu can use 'Focus Punch', 'Dig', 'Thunderbolt', and 'Double Team'." the Pokédex chirped.

"Wow Raichu, you can use 'Double Team' too? I can't wait for out battle to start!" Ash exclaimed excitedly. Raichu flinched a bit at Ash's excitement, but willed itself to stay in one place.

Dawn had done the same with her Pokédex: She scanned Grimer. "Grimer, the sludge-Pokémon. It was born when sludge in a dirty stream was exposed to x-rays from the moon." her Pokédex explained.

"Cool, now let's see what moves you've got." Dawn said. After a few more beeping noises, Dawn's Pokédex chirped: "Poison Gas', 'Mud Slap', 'Sludge', and 'Gunk Shot'.

"Wow! No need to worry, I just know you're going to shine Grimer!" Dawn exclaimed encouragingly. She had apparently encouraged Grimer too much; it gave her a big, slimy hug. "Gee whiz, tell me how you REALLY fell." Dawn said, her face flushed red with embarrassment.

By this time, Misty had returned with a pool of water for Surskit. "Ok Surskit, show me what you've got." Misty said. Surskit did just that. It put on a show as it skated on the water like a graceful ice-skater; doing twirls and spins as if it was a professional dancer. As it took a bow to signal its conclusion, Misty applauded the bug/water-type.

"Wow Surskit! That was awesome! I bet my sisters would've loved to add you to their water shows." Misty said. Surskit blushed and crawled up Misty's arm with a smile on its face. Misty cringed a bit, but then she smelled something.

"Mmm, what's that smell?" Misty wondered, as she took in the pleasing scent. Surskit responded with a squeak. "Surskit, is that you?" Misty asked. Surskit nodded. "Thanks. That scent really relaxes me. Here, have one of Dawn's poffins." Misty said. Surskit happily took the poffin from her hand and munched it down.

"I wonder what moves you can use. Hey Ash, can I borrow your Pokédex?" Misty asked. "Sure thing Mist." Ash replied, as she handed the water-trainer his Pokédex. Misty scanned it immediately.

"This Surskit can use 'Bubblebeam', 'Quick Attack', 'Ice Beam', and 'Sweet Scent'." the Pokédex chirped. "Oh, so that's why you smell so nice. You used 'Sweet Scent' right?" Misty asked knowingly. Surskit nodded, and grabbed another poffin from Misty's hand.

"You know what Surskit, I don't care if you are part bug-type, you're a really cute water-type!" Misty exclaimed happily, as she gave the surprised though pleased Surskit a hug. "Good to see you've gotten past your fear Misty." Brock said. "Surskit is actually really cute once you get past the whole bug-type thing; I think we'll be great friends!" Misty exclaimed happily.

The happiness that filled the air suddenly changed into panic. Dawn's attempt to give Grimer an oil rubdown failed; her hand got stuck inside of its body. Raichu panicked and blasted Ash with a 'Thunderbolt' when the brush that Ash was using got stuck in its fur. And Monferno had shot Angie with an 'Ember' attack for no actual reason.

It then started jumping all over the classroom, with Angie chasing after it. Ironically, when Angie dodged another 'Ember' attack, it had nailed Ash, Pikachu, and Raichu instead. "Why me?" Ash yelled furiously. "Because you weren't paying attention, duh." Angie replied dismissively.

"I was minding my own business, I shouldn't have to 'pay attention' to other Pokémon attacking me!" Ash yelled. Angie didn't have a comeback for that, but she didn't need one. The instructor had broken them up with a blow of his whistle, and sent the two quarrelers outside to run laps.

"But that's not fair, Ash didn't do anything wrong!" Misty exclaimed. "Would you like to go and keep him company?" the instructor asked. Misty immediately backed down and turned her attention back to Surskit. "You know Surskit, I get the feeling this'll be a really interesting week." Misty said.

Outside, Angie and a very frustrated Ash were running laps around the building. "I don't understand why I have to run laps." Ash said. "Because you started that fight, dummy." Angie replied. "How could I have started it if I was minding my own business?"Ash asked.

"Because you just did." Was the rather immature response. "I wonder if me and Misty were this bad when we were her age." Ash thought. Before they knew it, the two punished students' stomachs were growling ferociously.

"Man, I sure could use something to eat." Ash said. "Why don't you eat something, and I'LL go ahead of you." Angie replied. Ash and Angie soon picked up the pace, not wanting to miss their chance at lunch.

Meanwhile, Misty, Brock and Dawn were enjoying a delicious curry mix made by the two newly hired janitors. "Is Ash still running laps?" Misty asked. "Yeah, the instructor gave him and Angie a pretty rough punishment." Brock replied.

"Why don't you go and save something for them? Knowing Ash, he'll be starving." Dawn said, silently laughing at what she said. Misty nodded and did just that; she got ONE big bowl of curry. "Ahem, Misty." Brock said sternly, tapping his foot disapprovingly. "Oh come on, it's Angie's fault that he's running laps!" Misty cried.

Brock's expression only grew sterner, until Misty finally gave in. "FINE, I'll get some for her too." she spat. Although her feelings were telling her no, her conscious told her yes, so she got some for Angie as well.

Just as she sat back down, Ash and Angie barged in, panting and gasping for breath. "I'm starving and exhausted." Angie said weakly. "Did you save us some?" Ash asked hopefully. Dawn smirked and said: "Sorry, no more."

Ash and Angie crumpled onto the floor in disbelief. "Say it isn't so." they said. "Ok, it isn't so." Misty said, handing Ash his bowl with a smile. "Thanks Mist." Ash replied gratefully. Angie watched Ash pig out on his meal and clutched her aching stomach. "Don't worry; we saved some for you too." Dawn said.

Angie snatched the bowl from Dawn's hands and ravenously ate the curry. "You're welcome." Misty hissed. Angie picked up on Misty's disgust and shot back a glare. "Misty, relax." Brock said firmly. Misty sat herself back down and finished her meal without another word.

"Well guys, how do you like your lunch?" Brad asked, as he came in to clean up after the students. "This is awesome Brad!" Ash exclaimed, his mouth still full of food. "For once, we agree!" Angie added. "Good, that means that those new guys did a good job." Brad said.

"You know you two; I heard that most world-class sprinters are narcoleptics." Brad said with a sly grin. "A narco-wha?" Ash asked, confused. "Basically, someone who has issues with sleep." Brock explained.

"That's right. It's like they go to an Olympic track meet, on your mark, get set, go!" Brad head-desked as if he had fallen asleep, which brought giggles from the group of teens. "That's one of your better jokes." Misty said approvingly. "Naturally. I came up with it right here at the academy. I got sent on a few trips around the building myself when I was a student." Brad said with a sweat-drop.

"You must've been quite the unique student." Brock said. "That's an understatement Brock. Well, I gotta get back to work. Hope you two sprinters don't fall asleep in your next class." Brad snickered as he walked away. "Why do I get the feeling that that was a bad omen?" Misty whispered to Brock.

"Better keep a water-type at the ready, just in case you need to wake them up." Brock whispered back. Just then, the bell rang for recess and the group ran outside with excitement pent up inside them. "Alright everyone, the goal here is to work together with your Pokémon to win in this simple game of tug-of-war!" the instructor explained.

"Alright! Time to see what these guns of mine are made of!" Ash exclaimed excitedly, flexing his arm with pride. "Yeah, squirt guns maybe." Angie joked. "(Giggle) She's got you this time Ash." Misty added. Ash flushed red with embarrassment and grasped at the rope along with the rest of the red team.

Meanwhile, Jessilinda was leading the green team against them. "If there's one thing I wanna see, it's that creepy Jessilinda taking an unwanted mud bath." Misty said mischievously. "Then let's make sure we win this thing!" Dawn exclaimed.

The instructor blew his whistle, and the two teams yanked on the rope with all their might. At first the teams seemed equal, but little by little the green team began gaining ground. "Come on you guys, give it all you got!" Misty screamed. As the red team battled to stay alive in the game, Misty's Surskit began sweating, and an unusual odor filled the air and blew towards the green team.

"Mmm, what a heavenly delight! The smell of maple syrup on pancakes." Jessilinda said suddenly, as she dropped the rope to enjoy the scent. "Miss Jessilinda, help!" one of the boys exclaimed. The green team quickly began losing ground, as the red team pulled with a surge of power. In a matter of seconds, the green team, with the exception of Jessilinda, was now stuck in the mud, leaving red victorious.

"Alright Surskit! We won because of you!" Misty cheered, twirling around with Surskit held high in her hands. When Jessilinda realized her team had lost, she snapped. "I demand a rematch! That stupid bug made us lose!" she screamed furiously. Just then, Brad walked up with towels for the green team victims.

"Oh for crying out loud, just take responsibility for your own actions, I hate those people who feel that they have to blame someone else for whatever happens to them. Oh, if you shoot somebody, not your fault, let's blame the gun industry, they invented guns!" Brad exclaimed sarcastically, "Or if you get fat, not your fault, let's sue fast food restaurants! Now here's what you sound like: 'I smelled Surskit's sweat and now my team lost!' So let me ask this: Who dropped the rope to begin with?"

"How dare you insult the great Jessilinda?" Jessilinda screamed, only growing more furious as Brad continued. "The way I see it, the truly great people are the ones who take responsibility for their own actions and mistakes. Are you gonna do that?" Brad asked. Jessilinda's ears spewed steam, and she stomped away with her new Smoochum under her arm.

"You sure got her good!" Angie exclaimed. "I was disappointed when she didn't get the mud bath, but you more than made up for it!" Misty added. "Why thank you, now get moving, the next class begins in a few minutes." Brad said.

"Aww man, can't we have a break first? I'm exhausted." Ash said. "Come to think of it, I am too." Angie added. "Come on guys, I'll race you to the class, you ready?" Brad asked with the familiar sneaky grin. "Not really, but whatever." Ash said.

"Ok, on your mark, get set, go!" Brad yelled. Brad didn't take one step, he stayed behind to watch Ash and Angie fall on their face and fall asleep. "Brad, what did you do?" Misty screamed, as she, Dawn, and Brock walked back.

"I didn't do anything. They've been running late, running behind, and running out of time, they've been running all day long, so they're exhausted, and that's why right now they're FAST asleep!" Brad laughed. Misty, Dawn, and Brock couldn't help but laugh at their friend's joke. "Ok, I know how to wake them up." Misty said.

"Misty calls Corsola!" Misty called out her recently reacquired Corsola, who leaped into Misty's arms with glee. "(Giggle) I missed you too Corsola." Misty said as she hugged Corsola tightly.

"Wow, a Corsola!" Dawn exclaimed. "Corsola, the Coral Pokémon. A combination of both Water and Rock-types, it sheds and re-grows the horns on its head numerous times." Dawn's Pokédex said.

"When did you get Corsola back Misty?" Brock asked. "Last night. Daisy said that Corsola was giving her some trouble." Misty replied. "Corsola? Cor sola sola cor corsola!" (Trouble? All I did was defend myself!) Corsola exclaimed angrily.

"Defend yourself? What do you mean?" Misty asked. "Corsola sola corsola cor cor corsola!" (They tried to use my coral for jewelry!) Corsola replied angrily. "They did what? Oooh, I'm gonna kill them!" Misty screamed furiously.

"Uh, Misty, did you forget about Ash and Angie?" Dawn asked. Misty quickly cooled off as she remembered her reason for calling Corsola in the first place. "Oh, right. Corsola, use 'Bubblebeam' on Ash and Angie. Softly please." Misty requested.

Corsola complied and fired a soft spray of bubbles in the faces of the two sleepers. "Wah! Ok ok, I'm awake!" Ash panicked. "Good, because the next class starts in about…a minute and a half." Brad said. "Oh no, we gotta go now! Return Corsola!" Misty exclaimed, quickly recalling Corsola into its Pokéball.

The teens waved to Brad and ran for the classroom, just barely making it before the bell rang. "Glad you could join us, students." the instructor said somewhat accusingly. "Sorry, we were run – err…falling behind." Brock said, remembering Brad's previous joke.

"Very well, please open your textbooks class." the instructor said. "Mist, I'm falling asleep again." Ash whispered wearily. "What do you want me to do about it?" Misty asked. "I dunno, have something to keep me awake?" Ash asked. "Hmm…Surskit, if you see Ash dozing off, spray him with 'Bubblebeam', and do it quietly." Misty said. Surskit nodded and watched Ash like a hawk.

Surskit fired about five times during that whole hour, but the mission was completed as Ash managed to stay awake. Angie on the other hand got caught sleeping; luckily for her the instructor did not send her outside to run laps, although she did get a firm talk from the instructor before class was dismissed.

The rest of the day was spent just interacting with the Pokémon and gaining their confidence. Although both Ash and Angie took a nap before dinner just to keep themselves from falling asleep in their food.

After dinner, Ash and Misty took some time to themselves to enjoy the sunset, and to discuss things. "Misty, today was weird." Ash said. "Weird how?" Misty asked. "I mean…I feel like I relived history today. Angie picked fights the way you and I did when we were younger." Ash said. Misty shook her head with amusement.

"She's just a kid Ash. And…now that you mention it, after seeing the way she acted, I kinda realized how dumb we looked whenever we fought, no wonder Brock kept begging us to stop." Misty said. "Yeah, we were bad weren't we?" Ash said with a chuckle.

"Worse, if what I saw today was really what we looked like. But I must say, Pikachu really impressed me today." Misty said. "Pikachu impressed you? I'm the one she fought with!" Ash exclaimed. "But you already matured, Pikachu's still adapting to your new attitude." Misty replied. "Ok, what was so impressive?" Ash asked.

"Well for one thing, when Monferno hit Pikachu with that 'Ember' attack, the old Pikachu probably would've fought back with a 'Thunderbolt' out of revenge. But instead it waited for you to come and help it. That's maturity." Misty said. "Huh, guess I never noticed." Ash replied.

"There are very few things you notice." Misty teased. "Oh yeah? Says who?" Ash asked playfully. "Says me." Misty replied. "At least I notice you." Ash said. "(Giggle) I'm glad you notice that much." Misty replied coyly.

She placed herself under Ash's arm and nuzzled her head into his chest. The two sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the sun set into the slowly darkening sky. Until it was sadly interrupted. "Sorry guys, but you need to head to bed now." Brad said.

"Already? It only got dark just now." Ash said. "I'm just giving you a warning. The instructors are gathering up all the other students now, and I figured Ash here didn't want to get to know that one instructor any better." Brad joked. Ash sweat-dropped nervously, which brought a giggle from Misty.

"Alright Brad, thanks for your help today." Ash said. "Hey, no worries, by the way, Dawn, Brock, and Angie are already in your room." Brad replied. "Wait, we all get the same room?" Misty asked. "Pretty much. Oh, and Dawn told me to tell you that…" Brad was cut-off. "Don't tell me…the room is one bed short and Ash and I will have to share." Misty guessed. "Actually she wanted me to tell you that she claimed the top-bunk, but now that you mention it, I think the green team needs an extra bed, I'll move yours." Brad snickered.

Misty flushed red almost immediately. "Well, we'll see you tomorrow Brad." Ash said. "Sounds good, have a good night you two." Brad said. "Whaddya mean by that?" Misty asked hastily. "Chill Misty, I was just saying goodnight." Brad replied. All fired up, Misty quickly walked to the dorms without another word.

"You noticed that she did the famous run-walk that businessmen do when they're late? You know, the one where they keep their knees stiff?" Brad asked. Ash barked out a laugh, but his concern for Misty made it less funny. "Brad, you're an awesome comedian, but I think Misty's had enough for a while. Could you lay off for a bit?" he asked.

"Yeah…I'll try to be less comedian, more friend. How's that sound?" Brad said. "I think that'll do it." Ash replied with satisfaction. "But hey, I still gotta be me, don't think you've escaped my sophisticated wit." Brad warned. "Heh heh, I won't." Ash replied. "Well, goodnight Ash, and tell Misty I'm sorry for hurting her feelings." Brad said.

"Sure thing Brad, I'm sure she knew you didn't mean to hurt her though. G'night." Ash said. Brad watched Ash run to find Misty, and found his way to his own sleeping quarters, where he wound up sharing with Jessilinda, and his two new partners.

"Listen, is that the sound of success I hear?" Jessilinda asked in her sleep. "It's speaking to me loud and clear." the tall janitor replied, also in his sleep. "Yeah, in your ear." the short one added.

"I've heard that before, and I know who said it." Brad thought. Brad tip-toed to the short janitor's bed and slowly removed the blanket. And he wasn't completely surprised when he saw the janitor totally naked. But that wasn't a problem since it was just a Meowth.

"Oh for crying out loud. Jessilinda? What a stretch, I can't believe I didn't recognize those three earlier. Maybe I should put a helmet on." Brad thought, "Well, James and that Meowth did a good job with lunch, and I still need help around here…I think I'll let them stay for a while, as long as none of the Pokémon disappear that is."

Brad decided to leave the three Team Rocket members be for the time being, and got himself ready for bed.

With Ash and Co., the teachers had caught Ash and Misty and sent them to their dorm rooms. By the time they had their pajamas on and were settled into bed, the teachers had rounded up all the stragglers. "Ok everybody, lights out!" the male instructor yelled. "We've got a busy day tomorrow, so let's hit the hay!" the female one added. After the footfalls of the instructors vanished, the group of teens, plus the pre-teen Angie, got active once more.

Ash and Misty were huddled together on the bottom bunk, Angie was right above them, on the other side of the room was Brock, and on top of him was Dawn. Needless to say, none of them were ready to fall asleep. Especially Ash and Angie who had been energized by their afternoon nap.

"I can't believe they make us go to bed so early." Brock said. "I know right? I'm not even tired; we usually don't go to sleep for another two hours." Misty added. "We have some time to kill then. Any ideas?" Ash asked. "You know, I've got a deck of cards that May gave me from her huge travel bag." Dawn said enticingly.

"Then what are we waiting for? Come on guys, let's play!" Angie exclaimed excitedly. Dawn and Angie were just about to climb down from their top bunks, when shrieks of shock echoed through the air from the mouths of Misty, Dawn, and Angie. The reason for said shrieks being Conway, who had barged in with a nightgown and night hat.

"What do you want you creep?" Misty shrieked furiously, the urge to drill Conway into the floor again itching in her mind. "Nothing at all, but I'd be more than flattered to be Dawn's partner in a game of cards." Conway said coolly. "Get out! This isn't even your room!" Dawn shrieked, chucking her pillow at the glasses wearing boy.

Conway ducked and avoided the assault. "Very well, perhaps Misty would enjoy having a smart partner for a change?" Conway suggested. "Not on my watch!" Ash yelled angrily. Ash charged Conway with a raised fist. Conway panicked and shut the door to avoid Ash's wrath.

When Ash's fist slammed into the wooden door, he gave a cry of anguish and held his now aching hand, flexing it occasionally to check its condition. "That was pretty stupid of you." Angie said. "…Brock, you got anything I can do about this?" Ash asked, ignoring Angie's jab.

"I have some arnica cream here. It'll keep it from turning into a bruise, but it'll still hurt for a while." Brock replied. Brock applied the cream to Ash's hand and then wrapped it up in a bandage. "You really shouldn't let jealousy get the better of you." Brock said in a hushed tone. "That Conway…he's got some nerve making a move on Misty." Ash hissed.

"Stay calm Ash. You know who Misty really cares about." Brock said. "Right…I'll try." Ash replied. Ash turned from Brock to find all three females looking at him. "Hey, I'm alright, let's play!" Ash exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood.

Dawn and Angie gave him a smile, but Misty still had that familiar look of concern for his well-being on her face. "Can you move it?" she asked. "We can find out with a game of cards! Come on, let's just have some fun." Ash replied. Though unconvinced, Misty nodded and sat herself down.

"So what do we play?" Dawn asked as she pulled the card deck from her backpack. "Might I suggest Old Maid? I did it all the time when I was bored in Cerulean. Of course it wasn't easy getting my sisters to say yes." Misty said. "Sounds good to me, let's do it!" Angie exclaimed. "You all know the rules, right?" Misty asked. The group responded with a nod. "Ok Dawn, cards please." Misty said.

Dawn shuffled the cards and handed them out evenly amongst the players. After they sorted out their matches, the rotation began, and so did some conversation. "So…Angie, have you started on your journey yet?" Ash asked, trying to break the ice and avoid hostility.

"No, I've been working in a Pokémon Daycare Center." Angie replied, as she took a card from Ash's hand, "It's so busy that I barely have a free moment."

"I can see that it would be hard to find time for a journey." Brock said, taking a card from Angie's hand. "I always felt so unique, and here there are so many people who are blocked by work or something similar." Misty said. "I don't follow." Angie said.

"See, I used to be the Gym Leader in Cerulean City, but now that Ash finally got my sisters off their lazy bums, I've been able to travel again. And needless to say, running the gym was torture." Misty explained. "Oh, well it's not like I WANT to leave. The center is actually lots of fun, and I'm learning a whole bunch! I wouldn't trade it, you see, someday I'm planning to take over the business!" Angie replied. "Awesome, good luck to you then." Ash said. "Thanks, so what about you guys?" Angie asked.

"Me? I'm gonna become a Pokémon Master!" Ash exclaimed, the familiar glimmer of determination sparkling in his eyes. "A Master? You? Oh please." Angie heckled. Ash growled with frustration, but was cooled off by Misty's hand on his. "I think he's quite capable of the feat, as long as I keep him in check that is." Misty joked. "Very funny Mist." Ash said with a roll of his eyes.

"You have the same dream he does?" Angie asked. "Sort of, but to a more specific extent. You see, my goal in life is to become the world's greatest water-Pokémon trainer." Misty explained. "And you guys?" Angie asked.

"I'm going to become top coordinator!" Dawn exclaimed. "And I'm going to be a top Pokémon Breeder." Brock added. "I'll say one thing, you all dream REALLY big!" Angie said in awe. "I think that any dream can be achieved, as long as you're willing to put in the work with your Pokémon." Ash said.

Angie stopped for a moment to ponder Ash's statement; on the inside, she was impressed with Ash's determination and willpower, but her competitive nature kept her from realizing it.

The game was quickly stopped when the door to their room was swiftly opened. "Busted!" Brad exclaimed. The group leaped into their beds in shock, until they realized that it was only Brad, although the sight of Brad in his pajamas was pretty scary, to them at least.

"Geez Brad, you scared the snot out of us." Dawn said, panting for breath. "If you're getting scared because you got caught, you should be! Imagine if it had been a teacher instead of me. Luckily, I had a feeling you guys wouldn't head straight to bed, so I came to check." Brad said.

"Thanks Brad, we owe you." Ash said. "I'm not counting…yet." Brad snickered. "Goodnight everybody." The group said, as they shut off the light. Brad closed the door and left the group in the dark. "Hey Misty?" Ash said. "Yeah Ash?" Misty replied. "Brad told me to tell you he's sorry." Ash said.

"I know he doesn't mean to hurt people, but jokes like that…never mind, the point is, I accept his apology." Misty replied. "I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that." Ash said. Misty snuggled close and leaned into his embrace. She was just starting to relax when suddenly…

"AAAAHH!" another shriek. The lights quickly turned on, and all eyes fell on the source of the disturbance. "What is it Dawn?"Brock asked. "I saw something…outside that window…I don't know what though, but it was like…looking at me." Dawn said, all shaken up.

"If it's Conway again I'll…" Misty was cut-off. "It wasn't human! I don't know what it was, but it definitely wasn't human!" Dawn exclaimed. "Let's check it out Brock." Ash said. Ash and Brock climbed out of their bunks, Pikachu perched on Ash's shoulder, ready to strike; Brock holding Croagunk's Pokéball tightly in his hand.

Brock opened the window and scanned the area with a keen eye, but did not see anything out of the ordinary. "I don't see anything, do you?" Brock asked. "Nothing. Do you sense anything Pikachu?" Ash asked. "Pika pika." (Nothing.) Pikachu replied.

Ash and Brock closed the window and looked back up at the trembling Dawn. "Whatever you saw isn't here anymore, you can relax." Brock said. "A-Are you s-sure?" Dawn asked nervously. "Tell you what, Pikachu; can you stand guard for Dawn tonight?" Ash asked. "Pika chu pi pi pika." (No problem, I'm on it.) Pikachu replied.

Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder and onto Dawn's bunk, keeping a watchful eye for any danger. "See? Pikachu's gonna make sure you're alright." Ash reassured. "O-Ok, I…guess that'll be good. I feel a little better already knowing that Pikachu's standing guard." Dawn said, still nervous but not quite as frightened.

When a white light shone, the group jumped back, but quickly relaxed when all they saw was Buneary. "What is it Buneary?" Dawn asked. Buneary hopped onto Dawn's bunk and sat herself down next to Pikachu. "Bun bun eary bun eary." (I'll take turns keeping watch.) Buneary said. "Oh, so you're going to be the changing of the guard so Pikachu can get some sleep too?" Dawn guessed.

Buneary nodded to confirm. "Aww, isn't that sweet of Buneary, Pikachu?" Misty asked, knowing she had put the electric mouse on the spot. "P-Pika…chu." (Y-Yeah…thanks.) Pikachu replied sheepishly. Buneary blushed slightly and made herself comfortable, allowing Pikachu to take the first watch.

By the time everybody was asleep, Pikachu was still keeping watch, although he was having a little trouble focusing. The sleeping form of Buneary had unconsciously cuddled up to him, leaving Pikachu a little nervous. But Pikachu was not without instincts. Like his master, he was slowly gaining knowledge in things involving the opposite sex.

He glanced over at his beloved Pikapi and Pikachupi, who were comfortably snoozing, cuddled up under the covers. He then glanced over at the rabbit-Pokémon sleeping next to him; he thought about what he should do. He finally decided to just place his tail over Buneary to act as a sort of electric blanket. When Buneary grabbed onto it, his first instinct was to use 'Thundershock' and make the holder release his tail, but he suddenly thought twice and permitted Buneary to softly hug his yellow tail.

Pikachu actually felt good by allowing Buneary to affectionately hold his tail; the feeling of her paws was pleasant to him, and Buneary learned that she had mastered the fake sleep technique.

DAY 2

Early the next morning, Ash, Misty, and Angie woke up early to privately train their Pokémon. Misty had already conquered her main problem, but Ash and Angie still had their unique problems as bad as ever. Ash went down near the stream under Misty's suggestion that the serene atmosphere would calm Raichu a bit. While Misty and Angie stayed on slightly higher ground, and watched the trainer do his thing.

"Raichu, use 'Thunderbolt'!" Ash ordered. Raichu complied and fired at a nearby rock, but the attack was rather weak in power due to Raichu's extreme timidity and nervousness. Ash knelt down next to Raichu after the attack. "Hey what's wrong? Your 'Thunderbolt' has gotta be stronger than that, come on." Ash said encouragingly. Raichu panicked at how close Ash was to it, and it dug a hole for protection. "Hey, don't go hiding again, please! Come on out and try again." Ash said encouragingly. Ash attempted to pull Raichu out of the hole, but a 'Thunderbolt' fried him instead.

"Ha! Now Mr. Pokémon Master will lose his temper." Angie laughed. "That's where you're wrong, watch this." Misty replied. Misty and Angie watched closely as Ash sat up and confronted Raichu.

"Now check this out!" Ash exclaimed, his hair even messier than before thanks to Raichu's electricity, "You've gotta be strong to do this, the only thing you need more of is confidence!"

Raichu reluctantly crawled out of the hole and faced the rock again. "Ok, now use 'Focus Punch' and be confident!" Ash ordered. With a loud battle-cry, Raichu recklessly charged for the huge rock, and even it was surprised when its 'Focus Punch' managed to completely obliterate the rock to smithereens. It blinked a few times to assure itself that it wasn't dreaming, and was eventually convinced when the sound of Ash and Pikachu cheering behind it finally registered in its ears.

"What'd I tell you?" Misty said. "Using his own bad luck to make good luck?" Angie asked. "(Giggle) It seems that way doesn't it? Ash has always given 100% in his training, but it wasn't too long ago that he'd get mad if something like that happened. I've watched him grow from beginner to almost an expert, and now I'm proud to say that any new trainer can look up to him and learn something." Misty said with admiration.

Although she didn't verbally admit it, Angie herself had just learned something from Ash's approach to training. "Well, I'm gonna go and train Surskit now. Good luck with your training!" Misty exclaimed as she ran off. Angie waved and stood in place for a moment. "It's my turn." she said to herself.

"Monferno, come on out!" Angie threw out a Pokéball, and Monferno emerged soon after. "Monferno, I want you to face me and use 'Ember'!" Angie ordered. Monferno glanced at Angie, confusion all over its face by what she had just ordered.

"Hey I mean it! I want you to hit me with your best shot!" Angie repeated. Monferno was still confused, but it certainly didn't want to pass up an opportunity to fry Angie, so it did what it was told. As the burning embers flew towards her, Angie easily stepped out of harm's way and avoided the attack.

"Come on, you're calling that your best shot? Try putting something behind it!" Angie heckled. Monferno became enraged, and launched multiple 'Ember' attacks at the twelve year old girl. Angie easily dodged each one, which brought Monferno's temper to its breaking point.

With one ultra-powerful blast, Monferno fired its fastest and strongest 'Ember' attack of the whole day. Instead of dodging, Angie crossed her arms in an 'X' formation and took the hit. "That's more like it!" she said as she got showered with fire.

"Great move! That's showing me some real heat!" Angie exclaimed. Monferno scratched its head with pure bewilderment. It still couldn't figure out why Angie was purposely allowing it to attack her. "Now take a whack at 'Mach Punch', and face me like before!" Angie ordered.

Monferno happily obliged, and swung its fists at the girl. However, just as before, Angie dodged each one, which got Monferno all fired up again. "Ha! Too slow. Speed it up and focus!" Angie exclaimed. Monferno did just that, and eventually managed to nail Angie in the gut. "Oof, nice punch." Angie said.

Monferno finally stopped its assault. "You fight like that in the battle today and we're sure to beat Ash and his Raichu!" Angie exclaimed. Monferno liked the idea of winning, so it decided on a truce with its trainer.

"She means business doesn't she?" Ash said, as he and Misty watched Angie train from the stream. "Looks like it. You know she took a page from your book." Misty replied. "How do you mean?" Ash asked. "Well just look, she's recklessly using herself as a target for her Pokémon's attacks. Sound like anybody we know?" Misty said teasingly, playing with a lock of Ash's electrified hair.

"Heh, I guess I kinda have a tendency to do stuff like that." Ash replied sheepishly. "It's almost time for the battle, you ready?" Misty asked. "We're set. How about you and Surskit? I didn't see you do any training." Ash replied. "Oh, we trained earlier this morning. Me and Surskit had a nice swim while the sun rose." Misty said.

"That early? I didn't even know you had left." Ash said. "You weren't supposed to; I tried hard not to wake you. We ALL know how grumpy you get when you wake up too early." Misty joked. "Fair enough. Let's head on back then, I have to do something with my hair." Ash said.

"Good luck with that." Misty said teasingly. The two trainers walked back to the academy, hand-in-hand. Just before they reached the academy, they saw Angie jogging up with Monferno. "Ash, pretend you don't know anything." Misty said quickly. "But why…" Ash was cut-off. "Just do it!" Misty hissed.

"Hey guys!" Angie said. "Err, no offense, but you look kinda beat up." Ash said. "Well news flash, so do you." Angie countered. "So, how did your training with Monferno go?" Misty asked politely. "We really had it out and cleared the air, so we're friends now!" Angie said, putting Monferno in a playful headlock.

"And what about you and Surskit?" Angie asked. "We'll be ready, don't worry." Misty replied. "Oh ok, how about you and Raichu, Ash?" Angie asked. "You see, the problem was that Raichu had no confidence at all, but all our hard work will pay off in today's battle, you'll see." Ash said.

"If you're gonna beat someone, it won't be us!" Angie exclaimed determinedly. "Heh, we'll see. Seeya later!" Ash jogged into the academy with Misty close behind. Leaving Angie by herself. But her competitive spirit was still not satisfied, so she decided to start a little race with him around the building.

"You three are as slow as molasses!" she said provocatively. "Oh yeah, watch this!" Ash yelled determinedly. Ash broke into a sprint and quickly passed up the twelve year old girl. "No you don't Ash!" Angie screamed. Angie broke into a sprint as well, but had issues keeping with her taller and stronger opponent.

Misty watched Ash and Angie race around the building and rolled her eyes. She spotted Dawn and Brock sitting by an open window, and joined them. "That girl is way too competitive. Ash is leaving her in the dust." Misty said.

"Maybe, but now we have to make sure those two don't beat us at the Pokémon battle." Brock said. "Good point. I watched Angie train today; she just might be able to give Ash a run for his money." Misty said. "The only thing I'M thinking about is making Grimer shine like a star!" Dawn exclaimed. "Shine' being a relative term of course." Misty joked.

"Of course, I know Grimer won't LITERALLY shine, but I want Grimer to be the best it can be." Dawn said. "Good! That's the spirit!" a voice said. The three teens turned around to find…

"Professor Rowan." Dawn said. "What did you mean sir? If you don't mind my asking." Misty asked. "Those two are perfect examples of trainers who don't get along that well at first, but in the end they wind up as formidable rivals…and that's what I love so much about this school." Prof. Rowan explained.

Their attention went back to the two sprinters; Angie had just given up chasing Ash, who had already gone ahead of her by twenty yards. "Looks like the race is over." Misty laughed.

"The race may be over but the battle is about to begin. Prepare your Pokémon; we will be starting in a few minutes." Prof. Rowan said. The group followed Prof. Rowan outside, where they found Ash and Angie panting and gasping for breath.

"Did you have fun?" Misty asked teasingly. "Yes, I did." Ash countered. Misty giggled and kissed Ash's cheek, but quickly regretted it. "Ew, you're all sweaty and salty." Misty said, spitting onto the ground. "Hey, men sweat." Ash said with a shrug. "You're not a man; you're a sad excuse for an adolescent." Misty teased. "Well you're a scrawny teenage girl." Ash countered.

The banter continued for a few moments before Professor Rowan ascended to the stage and got everyone's attention. "Alright, our Pokémon battles are about to begin! I want you to keep in mind that your goal is to battle in such a way as to bring out the best in your Pokémon!" Prof. Rowan announced. All of the students replied with a loud: "yes sir"

The students and their Pokémon circled the battlefield, where Brock and Jessilinda started their battle.

Now Magnemite, 'Thunder', let's go!" Brock ordered. Magnemite complied and fired a furious electric attack. "Smoochum dear, won't you please show us 'Sweet Kiss'?" Jessilinda ordered somewhat calmly. Smoochum complied and showered a spray of hearts towards the magnet-Pokémon.

However, the affection-stricken Jessilinda lost track of where she was and wound up being zapped by the 'Thunder' attack. "Are you alright?" the instructor asked. "To be totally honest…I'm not." Jessilinda replied weakly.

Smoochum walked up to comfort its temporary master, and Jessilinda quickly got up to glomp Smoochum. "My problem is with your terminal cuteness your Jessilinda can't bring herself to battle a bit!" she squealed.

"Err…in that case we'll call your battle with Brock and Magnemite a forfeit." the instructor said with a sweat-drop. "Next up is Misty of the red team!" Prof. Rowan announced. Misty took her place and looked around for her opponent.

"Who am I going up against anyway?" Misty asked. "He's coming, don't worry." the female instructor replied. Indeed he was. He was short, blonde, and wearing a janitor outfit. "I'm battling Brad?" Misty asked. "Yep, whenever we have an odd number of students, I'm used as a substitute." Brad explained.

"If Misty loses this battle, the points of the win will be split evenly between the green and blue teams." Prof. Rowan announced. "Ok then Misty, ready for a rematch?" Brad asked determinedly. "You bet, Misty calls Surskit!" Misty threw out the Pokéball, and the bug/water-type emerged.

"Ready Torkoal? Let's do it!" Brad threw out his own Pokéball, and Torkoal emerged with smoke spraying from its nostrils. "Battle begin!" the instructor announced.

"Ok Torkoal, use 'Flamethrower'!" Brad ordered. Torkoal complied, and launched a burning flame at the small bug/water-Pokémon. "Use 'Bubblebeam' to counter!" Misty countered. Surskit leaped into the air and extinguished the flames with a powerful stream of bubbles. "Awesome job Surskit!" Misty cheered.

"Not bad, but try this on for size! Use 'Stone Edge'!" Brad ordered. Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Angie gasped in shock, but Misty's face contained a smirk, as the small, sharp rocks charged towards Surskit. "Ready Surskit, just like we practiced!" Misty exclaimed. Surskit fired a 'Bubblebeam' towards the ground, making water spread all over the ground. Then Surskit skated out of the way as the rocks wedged themselves into the ground after the miss.

"Awesome! Misty used Surskit's natural ability to give it an extra speed advantage!" Brock exclaimed. "Use 'Quick Attack'!" Misty ordered. Surskit's speed increased as it skated towards the turtle for a swift tackle. "Iron Defense'." Brad countered.

Torkoal withdrew into its shell and blocked Surskit's speedy attack. "Brad's defense is as strong as ever." Dawn said. "C'mon Misty, show him what you're made of!" Ash cheered. "Surskit, use 'Sweet Scent'!" Misty ordered.

Surskit emitted a pleasing aroma that eventually hovered over to Torkoal. "Awesome! Misty's using 'Sweet Scent' to distract Torkoal!" Ash exclaimed. "Now use 'Bubblebeam'!" Misty ordered. Surskit fired, expecting the attack to hit dead-on. "Use 'Flamethrower'!" Brad countered. Torkoal complied and countered the attack, bringing gasps of shock from everyone.

"Did you forget that my Pokémon don't pay attention to distracting attacks like that?" Brad said, "Use 'Solarbeam'!"

Torkoal began absorbing energy, and Misty took that as her chance to attack. "Quick! Use 'Bubblebeam' while Torkoal's charging its attack!" Misty ordered. Surskit swiftly and gracefully skated across the wet ground, and at point-blank range, fired the stream of bubbles into Torkoal's face.

Torkoal stepped back and winced at the water-attack. "Fire 'Solarbeam'!" Brad ordered. Torkoal's mouth opened and a huge, blinding white light was fired at the pond skater Pokémon. "Spin and dodge it!" Misty countered.

Like a graceful ice-dancer, Surskit jumped and twirled in the air, avoided the attack, and softly landed back onto the wet ground. "Whoa, what was that?" Angie exclaimed in awe. "I made up that move for contests! And it's turned out to be an effective battling strategy too!" Dawn replied.

"Use 'Flamethrower' at the ground!" Brad ordered. Torkoal fired at the ground, causing steam to rise wherever Surskit had made a puddle. With the water now gone, Surskit began to panic. "Stay calm Surskit, we can still win this!" Misty exclaimed.

Surskit's connection with Misty had grown strong, her encouraging words convinced it that Misty knew what she was doing, so it calmed itself and readied for battle. "Why doesn't Misty have Surskit just wet the field again?" Angie asked. "Because if she did, Torkoal could evaporate the water all over again. Misty'll have to come up with a new strategy." Brock explained.

"Use 'Flamethrower'!" Brad ordered. Torkoal fired, and Surskit flinched a bit when it saw the attack coming its way. "Surskit, use 'Quick Attack' and hurry!" Misty countered. Surskit gained some extra speed from the 'Quick Attack' and managed to dodge the flame, and smacked Torkoal before it could withdraw into its shell. "Now, use 'Ice Beam' from right there!" Misty ordered.

From almost point blank range, Surskit fired a freezing beam that froze Torkoal in solid ice. "Awesome job Misty!" Ash cheered. "Hold on a sec Ash, look." Brock said. Ash looked back at Torkoal, and noticed that the heat from its body was slowly defrosting it from the ice.

"Get ready Surskit." Misty said. Surskit braced itself for whatever Misty was about to tell it. Torkoal's head finally defrosted, and Brad wasted no time getting back into the battle. "Torkoal, use 'Flamethrower'!"

Torkoal managed to fire despite it still being half-frozen, but the attack missed. "Now! Use 'Bubblebeam' and give it all you got!" Misty ordered. Surskit leaped into the air and fired the stream of bubbles at Torkoal's head.

After the barrage of bubbles, Torkoal had finally had enough. It fainted. "The battle is over! The winner is Misty on the red team!" the instructor announced. Misty ran towards Surskit and embraced it in her arms, laughing with joy. "You did it Surskit, you were awesome!" she cheered.

"What do you think Torkoal?" Brad asked it. Torkoal nodded in response. "Yep, I think so too." Brad said. Torkoal was returned to its Pokéball, and Brad went to congratulate Misty. "Nice job with that battle. You learned how to counter my defense." Brad said.

"It was all Surskit, believe me." Misty replied. "Unfortunately, this is where you and Surskit part ways. You have to give it back at some point." Brad said. Misty's expression grew sad, and Surskit's followed suit. The two had become really good friends in the past two days, and to think that it all started with Misty being scared of it because it was part bug-type.

Now Misty saw it as a cute water-type that just happened to be bug as well, and they unfortunately had to say their goodbye right there. "Well Surskit, it was nice meeting you." Misty said sadly. Surskit seemed on the verge of tears at having to leave the water-trainer, which brought Misty's cerulean-blue eyes to tears as well.

Sadly and with much reluctance, Misty recalled Surskit back into its Pokéball, and handed it back to the instructor. Without a word, Misty turned to walk away and rejoin her team, where they greeted her with sympathetic expressions. "I'm sorry Misty." Brock said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Surskit is a one-of-a-kind. One of the few bug-types I'm not afraid of, and the only one who understood my love of water." Misty said sadly, fighting back hot tears. Brad walked up to the girl and offered his condolences, then turned to leave. Before he left however, he exchanged glances with Prof. Rowan.

"Well…we have to keep these battles going, so if Dawn of the red team and Conway of the blue team will please take their places on the field." the instructor said. Dawn gave Misty a quick hug before charging onto the field to face off against Conway.

"You'll be ok Mist, you're tough." Ash said comfortingly. Misty took a deep breath, and miraculously managed to hold back the tears that were trying so hard to pour out of her eyes. And after a few minutes of watching the trainers prepare their Pokémon, Misty actually managed to give a small smile.

Conway released his Venonat without so much as a word, but the determination was there nonetheless.

"Now Grimer, spoooootlight!" Dawn had placed Grimer's Pokéball inside of a contest seal, so when Grimer emerged, hearts flew out in all directions. "Heh, you know Dawn, this ISN'T a contest." Conway said smugly. "So what? We're just getting ourselves pumped up!" Dawn replied.

"You show that creep, Dawn!" Misty exclaimed. Misty had gotten herself fired up to hide the pain she was currently feeling in her heart, but it wasn't exactly hard to do so since she REALLY wanted to see Conway get beaten. The instructor started the battle, and Dawn got off the first attack.

"Alright Grimer, use 'Sludge', let's go!" Dawn ordered. Grimer fired small globs of slime at the bug-type. "Venonat, 'Psychic'!" Conway countered. Venonat's eyes glowed in an eerie blue color, and the globs of slime were redirected back to where it came from. Grimer braced itself and took the hit.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Conway's really good. He's in total sync with that Venonat." Brock said. "So what you're saying is that Dawn can't win in a power battle." Misty guessed. "Maybe, but she's faced worse." Brock replied.

"Ok Grimer, use 'Sludge' once more!" Dawn ordered. Again, globs of slime were fired towards Venonat. "Using the same attack? Then we'll use 'Psychic'!" Conway countered. Just like before, Venonat redirected the attack with 'Psychic'.

"Now Grimer, use 'Poison Gas' to surround that sludge!" Dawn ordered. Grimer opened its mouth, and a putrid, foul-smelling cloud of gas came out, surrounding the sludge holding it trapped. The cloud then spread over to Venonat, who got immersed in the cloud and wound up taking the hit from the 'Sludge' attack anyway.

"Alright Grimer! It's 'V' for victory!" Dawn cheered. Dawn posed and put her fingers in a 'V' shape, and Grimer followed suit. "Wow, Dawn was just great!" Angie exclaimed. "Yeah? You just wait!" Ash replied. "More combinations on the way!" Misty added.

"Ha ha ha, it's getting exciting. Alright, Venonat, 'Stun Spore'!" Conway ordered. Venonat fired rings of paralyzing spores at the sludge-Pokémon. "Spin and use 'Poison Gas'!" Dawn countered. Grimer twirled in the air as it spewed its gas cloud, and it resulted in a perfect block.

"Hey, that was really cool." Ash said in awe. "That was quite nice, but Conway never gives up!" Conway yelled determinedly. "That makes two of us!" Dawn replied with the same determination.

"Use 'Supersonic'!" Conway ordered. Venonat sent out sound-waves at Grimer, who could merely brace itself for the imminent impact. "Now Grimer, use 'Sludge' and do it quickly!" Dawn countered. Grimer fired before Venonat could counter with 'Psychic', so it hit dead-on.

"One minute!" the instructor announced. A few more attacks were fired from both sides, but in the end, it turned out to be a tie. Dawn and Conway shook hands, congratulating each other for a job well done, although Dawn did sweat-drop when she had to literally yank her hand out of Conway's.

Before Dawn could return Grimer, a crowd surrounded them, all wanting to get close to the sludge-Pokémon, and needless to say, Grimer absolutely loved the attention. But eventually Dawn did have to give Grimer back, so she said her goodbye and returned to its Pokéball, and then returned that to the instructor.

"Next battle!" the instructor exclaimed.

Battles between the teams were notably less exciting than gyms or contests, but there were a few trainers that Misty, who had still retained some gym leader instinct, made note that he/she could go far. Finally the moment that Ash and Angie had been waiting for arrived. It was now their turn to battle each other.

"It's time. We're finally up! Just be confident and give it all you got Raichu!" Ash exclaimed. Raichu nodded determinedly, something that it very rarely did. "Monferno, give it 100% all the way." Angie said from the other end of the field.

The instructor began the battle, and Angie made the first move. "Monferno, 'Mach Punch', let's go!" she ordered. Monferno charged ahead for a light-speed punch. "Ok Raichu, use 'Focus Punch'!" Ash countered. The two punches met in mid-air, and eventually both jumped back when neither one budged.

"Flame Wheel' now!" Angie ordered. Monferno charged ahead in a wheel of flame. "Raichu, use 'Dig'!" Ash countered. Raichu quickly dug a hole to avoid being hit by the powerful flame. "Use 'Ember' toward the hole!" Angie ordered.

Monferno turned around and fired the red-hot embers at the hole Raichu had hidden in. "Quick Raichu, dodge it now!" Ash countered. Raichu quickly leaped out of the hole and just barely missed being singed by the attack.

"Angie has Ash playing defense!" Dawn exclaimed. "Angie's using a whole bunch of attack moves, which means Ash has to keep making Raichu dodge and counter, he'll have to do something soon or Raichu won't have any energy left to go on offense." Brock explained.

"Monferno, use 'Fury Swipes'!" Angie ordered. "Raichu, 'Double Team'!" Ash countered. Raichu glowed white for a split second, and then seemingly disappeared. But then over six different Raichu's seemed to appear, leaving Monferno confused as to where to attack. "Now, 'Thunderbolt'!" Ash ordered. The real Raichu launched a powerful electric-attack at the monkey.

Monferno landed on the ground and nearly passed out from the fatigue it had from all the attacking. "Hey, don't quit! 'Flame Wheel'!" Angie ordered. Monferno quickly stood back up and charged ahead at the now vulnerable Raichu. The attack hit dead-on and Raichu hit the ground with a thud.

"C'mon Raichu, are you ok?" Ash asked. Raichu quickly got up and faced its opponent once more, something that Misty noted in her mind that Monferno was not going to do unless Angie had barked out another attack.

"You two are pretty good." Angie said. "So are you two." Ash replied. "Boy, Ash and Angie are sure getting heated up." Dawn said. "Eh, I've seen hotter." Brock replied. "Hotter? What do you mean?" Dawn asked. "You forget that I watched two hot-heads grow up together for two years, this is nothing." Brock replied. "How'd you like a mallet to the face Brock?" Misty asked threateningly.

"See? I rest my case." Brock said smugly. Misty lowered her weapon and face-faulted, which brought laughter from Dawn and Brock.

"Ember'!" Angie ordered. Wanting to try and get in another attack, Ash ordered 'Double Team' once more. Raichu split into more than ten different Raichu, once again confusing the fire/fighting-type. "Attack every one of them!" Angie ordered.

Monferno charged up and fired an 'Ember' that went in all directions. Just when Ash thought the attack would miss, one lone 'Ember' managed to knock Raichu out of the sky. "Yeah, nice work! Now 'Fury Swipes'!" Angie ordered.

With quick feet, Monferno's nails extended into claws, and it ran forward to slash where Raichu would land. "Raichu, use 'Focus Punch', full blast!" Ash countered. Raichu went out of free fall and used its momentum to deliver an extra hard punch to Monferno's cheek, just as Monferno slashed Raichu against the face with 'Fury Swipes'.

"Now Raichu, 'Thunderbolt'!" Ash ordered. Angie countered by barking out 'Ember'. The two attacks collided with an explosion, and the instructor called time soon after. Raichu fell over onto its butt and relaxed, letting the fatigue roll over it. "Wow Raichu, you fought hard." Ash said. Raichu sighed out a tired reply.

Angie was busy putting Monferno in a playful headlock. "I knew you could do it!" she cheered. Monferno replied rather sheepishly, which was rare for its attitude. Ash and Angie exchanged fist-pounds with each other and then returned their temporary Pokémon to the instructor just as the sun began to set.

Prof. Rowan gathered everyone's attention and stood on the platform to make his announcements. "You've all done very well working and battling with your new Pokémon, and so from this moment on I would like all of you to make it a point of making friends with the rest of the Pokémon in attendance." he said.

"And now, it's time to announce the student who most developed his or her relationship with their Pokémon…and the winner is…Misty from the red team!" Prof. Rowan announced. Applause rang out from all directions, cheering for Misty. "Wow, me?" Misty asked in shock, blushing with embarrassment. "Of course! You started out scared of Surskit, but in the end turned out to be great friends!" Brock explained.

"And now I would like to ask Misty to come up to the stage and accept this special prize we have for her." Prof. Rowan said. Misty slowly made her way up to the stage, and faced the professor. "You've worked hard making friends with your Pokémon, and so I would like to present you with this." Prof. Rowan said.

Prof. Rowan handed Misty a Pokéball, and Misty's free hand went to her mouth in shock. "I-Is this…?" Misty asked. Prof. Rowan nodded to acknowledge. Misty softly tossed the Pokéball, and Surskit happily emerged and climbed onto Misty's head. "Surskit is yours. The Pokéball is registered in your name." Prof. Rowan said. Overwhelmed by the moment, Misty hugged the professor tightly, thanking him over and over.

She eventually released the somewhat bewildered Professor, who straightened his tie once Misty left the stage. She walked back to her friends with Surskit happily perched on her head, and they congratulated her gleefully. "So does this mean you're not afraid of bug-types anymore?" Ash asked. "Oh please, of course I'm afraid of bug-types, but like I said, Surskit is literally, one-of-a-kind." Misty replied.

Just then, Brad walked up with Torkoal by his side. "And now you know the story of how I met Torkoal." he said. "You mean…you got Torkoal here at the academy?" Dawn asked. "Yep. Torkoal used to be extremely sensitive, and being perfectly honest, I owe that sensitivity a lot. Torkoal refused to leave me, so Professor Rowan ended up giving me Torkoal as my own Pokémon, and ironically enough, it was my last year as a student." Brad explained.

"But how did the Professor know?" Misty asked. "Well, let's just say that I pulled some strings for you." Brad replied. "You? You convinced the Professor to let me keep Surskit?" Misty asked. "Not really convinced; Rowan was already thinking about it, I just reinforced it." Brad explained.

Misty embraced the short, blonde man in thanks, and Brad reciprocated the gesture. "You're welcome." Brad said with a smile. Brad turned to head to the kitchen, where he would help finish making dinner for the students.

"Attention everyone, we've tallied up the points from the past two days, and we've found that the team with the highest accumulative score is the blue team!" Prof. Rowan announced. The blue team cheered, while their "leader" Conway just snickered knowingly.

"And despite the quarreling and unexpected daytime nap; thanks to the valiant battling, second place belongs to the red team." Prof. Rowan announced. "Heh, guess we got lucky." Angie said with a sweat-drop.

"And coming in dead last is the green team." Prof. Rowan said with considerable disgust. "How dare you? My Smoochumkins was the best out of any of these Pokémon!" Jessilinda screamed. "Let's put it this way, maybe you would've gotten somewhere if you didn't get distracted every stinkin' time you saw that thing!" Brad yelled.

Everyone in the area laughed, even the green team itself. The only one not amused was Jessilinda, who stomped away furiously.

Just then, James and Meowth, who Brad had discovered were disguising themselves as janitors, called the students into the mess hall for dinner. "Chow time!" James yelled. "Time ta strap on the ol' feedbag!" Meowth added.

"Well I'm sure after today; you've all worked up quite the appetite, so everyone is dismissed for today." Prof. Rowan announced. "C'mon everyone, last one there has to use chopsticks!" Brad took off towards the mess hall with all the students close behind.

And after dinner, the group headed to their dorm room and enjoyed a good night's rest, of course the night did not go without incident. "You saw something AGAIN Dawn?" Ash asked in disbelief. "I must be going crazy or something, why is it always me?" Dawn shrieked.

"Well I still don't see anything out there; your imagination must be out of control." Brock said. "I-I don't suppose Pikachu would be willing to stand guard with Buneary again, would he?" Dawn asked. "No way! Pikachu needs to get some sleep too you know!" Ash yelled. A quick shock to his feet changed Ash's mind.

"Pika pika pikachu." (I'll stand guard.) Pikachu said seriously. "Fine, have it your way." Ash said dismissively. Pikachu hopped onto Dawn's bed once more, and Buneary emerged from her Pokéball soon after. "Buneary will take first watch tonight, would that be ok?" Dawn asked, still a bit jumpy.

"As long as it's ok with Pikachu, it's ok with me." Ash replied. Pikachu nodded and curled up into a ball on Dawn's bed, giving Buneary the first watch of the night. A few hours into the night, Buneary glanced over to the window and saw a strange shadow that kept changing shape.

Panicked, Buneary shook Pikachu awake, pointing towards the window. Pikachu rubbed his eyes and looked over to the window and saw nothing. Buneary uncovered her eyes and noticed that whatever she had seen had vanished. "Bun bun buneary!" (I know I saw something!) Buneary exclaimed softly, so as not to wake the humans.

"Pika pi pi chu pika." (Just relax, I'll stand watch now.) Pikachu said soothingly. Buneary took a deep breath and allowed her body to relax, even though her heart remained racing for a short amount of time. Pikachu even offered his tail to Buneary, who gratefully accepted it, and hugged it like a pillow.

Within a few moments, Buneary was comfortably snoozing, with Pikachu keeping a vigilant watch.
_

A/N: lol, any ideas now? For all you reviewers out there, all of your guesses were logical, but wrong. xD I pushed in a few more hints, so try again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and special thanks to Sullimike23 for giving me the idea of Misty and Surskit! I was wondering how I would fit that in, but the academy gave me an excuse!

And don't worry, I didn't bring back Corsola for nothing, she'll have an important part in this too. And to top it all off...Brad's back! xD And still cracking jokes as you can see! I was dying to get Brad back in there, for anyone who wants to see him for real, go to youtube and search for "Brad Stine". I bet you'll laugh. That's enough out of me, get ready for the rest of Pokemon Summer Academy! Please review everyone!