Hello, everybody, and welcome back to "A Long Distance Ship"! Last chapter, Ash told Misty about his experiences on a deep sea dive and helping resolve a conflict. We are nearing the end of the Mossdeep Island Hopping arc, so let's see what Ash and friends will be up to today! Let's get going!

ashketchum497
To: misskwaterflower049
Subject: Muscle Island

Hey, Misty. I am currently on Muscle Island, the final island before we reach Mossdeep City and my seventh Hoenn League Badge! This island was basically a gym, but not the kind of gym where you work. Trainers come here to work on their physical strength. May, Max, Brock, and I did some of the training before Rocky, one of the people in charge of the Muscle Island Gym, took me aside asking for a battle on a private beach. Only I was allowed over there, sparing me from the rest of the workout. From what my friends told me, the rest of their training was tough. But for my battle, it was my Pikachu and Grovyle against Rocky's Quagsire and Walrien. Walrien had a tough move in Ice Ball, which gets stronger with each use. But more strength meant it took a lot longer for the move to charge, so Pikachu and Grovyle attacked during the charging for a victory. Anyways, the boat is here, so it looks like I need to get going. I will email you the moment I get to Mossdeep City's Pokemon Center. I should be there by tomorrow.

Ash

misskwaterflower049
To: ashketchum497
Subject: Muscle Island

Hey there, Ash. I just looked up a picture of Walrein, and it looks like a tough Pokemon to beat. And to think that it came from such a cute Pokemon like Spheal… I would totally love to have one for myself and use a strategy like Rocky did! Bias towards Water Pokemon aside, that sounded like you had a good battle, Ash. You did a good job of figuring out Rocky's strategy, and it was a good warm up for your upcoming seventh gym battle. I cannot wait to hear from you gain, and have a safe journey to Mossdeep!

Misty.

And that's it for this chapter of "A Long Distance Ship". We are almost to Mossdeep City, but anyone who watched this episode knows that the final leg of the journey will not exactly be... smooth sailing. But you are going to have to wait another two weeks to know how that will end up, as next week is "Misty Chronicles" week. Thanks to iancotterill56 and Force Smuggler for leaving a review. We are almost to 15,000 views on this story, so let's continue the push! I hope you have had a happy Thanksgiving for my American readers, and take care!