With the Whirl Pass in hand, Ash made his way to the Whirl Islands, excited about the Tournament and curious about the Pokemon he'd encounter. For a moment the ship had been captured in the pull of a powerful whirlpool, but suddenly the waves shifted and the ship moved away safely.
Only Ash seemed to notice the shadows passing under the ship as the ship went to safety.
When the boy finally reached Inland City, a city in the first of the four Isles, he ran into Professor Elm. The two quickly caught up, the Professor a little disappointed that Brock and Togepi were not around. The two discuss the reasons they were there, Ash and the Whirl Cup and Professor Elm and studying the Sea. Ash asked about the shadow he saw but Professor Elm had no clue about it.
Ash then asked Professor Oak over the telephone, but Professor Elm took over that call quickly, much to Ash's awkward amusement. He also took over the call after Professor Elm was done and switched out all but his Wartortle for Kingler, Magikarp, Omanyte, Poliwag and Totodile. He wanted to keep these Pokemon close and train them so they were prepared for the Whirl Cup. Ash wanted Kabuto to join the team, but Professor Oak let Ash know that Kabuto was not fond of battling, so he went with Magikarp instead.
With his Pokemon at hand, Ash bid Professor Elm farewell and continued his journey across the Whirl Islands and trained his Water Pokemon in preparation for the Whirl Cup. Through his journey, he passes through a town and watches Chinchou migrate, catches a Corsola to give to Brock (it was part Rock Type and Ash thought Brock might like it), helps a girl named Luka hunt for treasure before finally reaching Scarlet City on Red Rock Isle, the venue of the Whirl Cup.
The rules for qualifying were simple, Nurse Joy told Ash once he'd registered at the Pokemon Centre. He needed to win two preliminary matches to advance to the main tournament, and both matches would be a one-on-one battle.
The Preliminaries began the next day, where Ash faced a trainer named Kyle at Stadium One.
Kyle used his Seel while Ash went with his Totodile. Totodile's quick footwork helped him avoid the multiple Ice Beams Seel fired at him. Ash had found Totodile's dancing amusing and he was right in thinking that he could incorporate it into the Pokemon's battle style. Totodile finished Seel off with a few Slashes and a Hydro Pump, the former he learned thanks to the training Ash put him through and the latter he learned from Wartortle.
The Second Battle went even smoother, where Ash battled a girl named Linda and her Shelder. Ash used his newly evolved Gyarados, a Pokemon he wanted for a long time. However, he did fear that the Atrocious Pokemon would be violent and cause him issues. But luckily his Gyarados was a sweetheart to him, on the battlefield, she was as violent as Ash feared, such as how she finished the Shelder off with one Hyper Beam. But Ash didn't mind that. Rather he loved it.
With both battles won, Ash moved on to the main stage of the tournament and watched with the rest of the contestants as the Whirl Stadium rose from the seas.
It was also when the contestants gathered that Ash ran into an old friend he did not think he'd run into.
"What are you doing in Johto?!" asked Ash, pleasantly surprised.
Misty grinned at him.
"I told you I wanted to become the world's greatest Water Pokemon trainer. I'm just on my journey to do so" she explained. "I didn't expect you to be in the Whirl Cup, though."
"At a Tournament of Pokemon Battles?" Ash raised a brow.
Misty thought for a moment before shrugging.
"I guess it would make sense" she conceded. "So what Pokemon are you using?" she asks.
Ash was slightly taken aback.
"Shouldn't we keep that little secret to ourselves? Since we might end up facing one another?"
The excited Misty deflated a little.
"You're right. Well, see you soon then!"
Misty waved before rushing off.
The next day Ash was matched up against a trainer named Christopher for his first main round battle, a two-on-two battle.
But before the battle could commence, there was a ceremony headed by the Sea Priestess Maya. The prize for the winner of the tournament was also declared a Mystic Water. Ash honestly expected it to be a Water Stone, like how he received a Leaf Stone for the grass competition and a Fire Stone for the Fire Competition.
After that Ash and Christopher were called on to begin the Whirl Cup!
Christopher sent out a Chinchou while Ash sent out his Omanyte.
Christopher immediately called for a Confuse ray and Ash called for Withdraw. Withdrawing allowed Omanyte to avoid the Confuse Ray but it left him open for a Spark attack that sent Omanyte reeling. It was also an electric type, after all, Ash had to be careful. Christopher called for a Bubblebeam while Ash called for an Ice beam. The bubbles froze on contact, as did Chinchou when the beam hit the Pokemon. Omanyte quickly followed up with a Hydro Pump, slamming the frozen Pokemon into the far wall and knocking it out.
Christopher and Ash both called their next Pokemon out, Kingdra and Gyarados.
"Kingdra, the Dragon Pokemon. Kingdra lives at extreme ocean depths that are otherwise uninhabited. It has long been believed that the yawning of this Pokémon creates spiralling ocean currents."
A water and dragon type, the fight would not be easy.
Christopher immediately went with Smoke Screen to hide Kingra and Ash commanded Gyarados to dive underwater. Kingdra was already there waiting for her though and fired a Hydro Pump. Gyarados went for Hydro Pump as well after taking on some damage, the two moves colliding and exploding, sending both Pokemon back. Kindra immediately went for Twister and so did Gyarados. Teo whirlpools clashed for dominance as both Pokemon poured more and more Power into Twister, cancelling one another out before clashing again. Ash took note of the interval after the moves cancelled each other out and right at that moment commanded a Hyper Beam. The move hit and sent Kingdra crashing into the pool floor. But Kingdra recovered from it and fired a Dragonbreath while Gyarados recovered, knocking her out.
Ash called Gyarados back and sent Omanyte back out.
Kindra raced across the water, stirring waves and turbulence. Omanyte clung to the platform with his tentacles. Ash called for Ice Beam and Omanyte froze the waves and eventually the pool. Kindra broke a considerable amount of the now icy terrain and floated up.
Exactly then Omaynte used Ancient Power to hit Kingdra out of the water and followed it up with a Hydro Pump. Much like Chinchou Kingdra flew into the far wall and was knocked out.
Ash had won his first battle.
"I didn't know you had a Gyarados" Misty rushed over to Ash after all the battles were done for the day.
"Had her since she was a Magikarp, only recently evolved her" Ash grinned, holding Gyarados' Pokeball.
Misty did not look too cheerful at that.
The screen lit up and both trainers rushed to see who their next opponents were.
Much to their surprise but excitement, it was each other. Ash and Misty were battling to move to the next stage.