What Dreams Are Made Of

[mr_pikachu]

I am so, so, so sorry I did not reply sooner. Please allow me a chance to explain. My grandfather passed away this week, so with the funeral service, speaking with relatives, etc, I did not get a chance to come online for the past week. I hope you will understand, and I hope this does not detract from the reading experience for any of you.


ZeldaFan20: I'm glad you liked the first chapter! Trust me, things are going to get much more interesting in the coming chapters! Hang on tight, cause this ride's gonna be a thriller! (I hope!)

Anyway, I just finished Chapter 2! Instead going into a long, boring rant, I'll just let you read away!

btw, this chapter has mild language and some crude humor.


What Dreams Are Made Of


Chapter 2


Everyone except Ash gazed at the pristine waters south of Pallet Town. The water was so clear you could almost see straight through it. Misty was in awe of the masses of water Pokémon swimming beneath the gentle waves. Corsola were in abundance, and the water was filled with Poliwhirl and Magikarp. A Croconaw with two baby Totodiles was entertaining her children at the shore. In the distance a school of giant Gyarados was diving in and out of the water. You could even pay a $10 fee to pet a Mantine! Trainers were also letting out some of their Pokémon to bask in the beauty. A particularly friendly Blastoise kept hugging and nuzzling its trainer (which of Ash's Pokémon does that remind you of?) and a group of Horsea was playing with a trainer’s Kingdra. Come to think of it…

“Hey, Misty, haven’t we seen that trainer before?” Ash knew he’d seen that guy around. But he had to make sure.

“Hm? Which one? The one with the Poliwrath, or the Starmie, or the Lanturn, or do you mean-“

“That guy, over there, with the Kingdra. Didn’t I battle him in the Whirl Cup?”

“What are you… hey, wait a minute! That’s Christopher!”

“I knew it! I’ve gotta say hi to him!”

As Ash ran off to talk to Christopher, May leaned closer to Brock. He would know what Ash meant.

“Hey Brock, what’s the Whirl Cup?”

“Oh, you weren’t with us then, were you? Well, the Whirl Cup is this big all-water Pokémon competition held in the Whirl Islands. Ash and Misty competed in it the year before we met you. Ash beat Christopher’s Kingdra in the opening round.”

“Wow, he beat a Kingdra? I haven’t heard much about them, but from what I have heard, they’re really tough to defeat.”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t want to be Ash right now. Christopher was kinda steamed about the loss.”

Meanwhile, Ash had run all the way to Christopher, who was sitting on the dock. He appeared to be fishing.

“Hey, Christo-”

“Shh… quiet. They’re just starting to bite.” Christopher’s gaze never left the water as he whispered to Ash.

“But why would you want a Magikarp? They’re one of the very weakest Pokémon!”

“Why do I have to deal with idiots like you? It’s not the Magikarp itself. Don’t you know they evolve into Gyarados, one of the world’s strongest Pokémon?” Christopher was getting upset at Ash’s naivety. He whirled around to face Ash. “These are very high level Magikarp, so--- erp!” Rod, ball, pack, and everything else went flying into the water. Christopher’s face was bright red, and Ash backed up a few steps.

“Uhh… hey, uh, Christopher, I didn’t mean to-”

“YOU! Ash Ketchum, you beat me last time by sheer luck. It won’t happen again! GO! Slowking!” Christopher launched a Lure Ball into the air, and with a burst of red energy, a Slowbro materialized. Or at least that’s what Ash thought at first. Then he noticed that the Shellder was clamped at the head of the Pokémon, and not the tail. He whipped out his new, recently upgraded Pokédex, and listened to what Dexter had to say.

“Slowking: The Royal Pokémon. This Pokémon is combined of a Slowpoke and a Shellder. However, this Shellder bit on the head, and not the tail. It has very powerful Water and Psychic attacks.”

“A Slowking, huh? Well, then, I’ll just use-”

“STOP!” Ash and Christopher both spun to see a fuming Officer Jenny. “This is a protected area, Pallet’s only National Park! There are no Pokémon battles allowed here!” Her eyes opened wide as she saw some Magikarp gnawing on a fishing rod. “And just which one of you was fishing here?”

“Uh, I-I was, but-”

“Christopher, you, of all people, should know that fishing is even more illegal than battling here!”

“What? But I-”

“You can explain yourself down at the station, young man!”

As Officer Jenny dragged Christopher away he gave a sharp look at Ash. “Next time, *******. Next time…”

The rest of the party was just reaching Ash. “What the hell happened? I thought Christopher was a pretty nice guy!” Misty was in a state of shock. “How could a Water Pokémon trainer like Christopher be so mean?”

“What, you mean you didn’t hear?” Brock was in disbelief. She’d competed in the tournament, how could she not have heard?

“What do you mean?”

“After the first round of the Whirl Cup you guys were in, someone trashed the arena. That’s why they had the delay before the second round; they were cleaning the mess up! A few witnesses said they thought they saw a Kingdra, but it couldn’t be positively confirmed, and Christopher wasn’t charged with it. And now that I see this…” the breeder trailed off, not really wanting to say any more.

“Wow. I didn’t know he had a temper like that. That’s even worse than Ash’s!” Misty snickered at the last comment. May just stood dumbfounded at Misty’s remark.

“And the pot calls the kettle black,” Ash replied.

“Just what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know very well what that means!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Uh… Brock… what’s there to argue about?” May asked Brock.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. They do this all the time.” The two of them slunk away from the quarreling pair.

Ash went into an imitation of a very prissy woman with a high-pitched voice (even higher than his usual one, if you can imagine that). “My bike! I want a new bike! Give me a new bike, Ash Ketchum! My bike!” Misty was turning red. Ash thought about stopping, but the momentum carried him into a very rash and very stupid move. He grabbed Misty’s pack and began swinging it around wildly. “Aah! Bugs! Get away! Get away!”

He’d gone too far. Misty’d had it. When Ash had his back turned during one of the swings, she dove at him and smashed him into the ground with a tackle. That wasn’t very bright, either. Her own pack came around and hit her squarely in the head, knocking her out momentarily. Her jaw crashed into the back of Ash’s skull, leaving him moaning in pain. He was so distracted by the immense throbbing coming from his head that he couldn’t muster the strength to push Misty off of his back. They lay there for a few seconds, until a flash from a tree revived Misty. Wait a minute… a flash from a tree?

“Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, that’ll make the best shot! Wah ha ha ha ha!” A camera-holding boy stumbled out from behind the nearby tree, having trouble maintaining his balance with his uncontrollable laughter.

“TODD!!!”

“Hey guys, it’s nice to see you… too?” He opened his eyes to see two very angry figures streaking towards him. Before he could move, he was on his back, fighting for his life and his camera.

“Hey, what the hell are you doing? This camera’s really expensive! Cost me 300 bucks!”

Misty and Ash stopped trying to pry the camera out of his hands. “T-t-three hundred bucks? You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope! I want everything to be perfect for my safari shoot!”

Ash’s jaw dropped like a rock. “No way! You’re going to Africa too?”

“You bet! I’ve been saving money for it for years!” He looked up proudly. “Africa has some of the most amazing Pokémon in the world! And I’m going to photograph every last one of them!”

“New Pokémon… this sounds even better than I thought! Africa, here I come!”

“Attention. Attention. Final boarding call for the S. S. Azul ride to Nairobi, Kenya. All passengers please board immediately.”

“Aah! That’s us! We’d better run!”

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Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Replies are always welcomed! And unless another drastic event occurs, the updates should be much quicker for the rest of the fic, and I'll be sure to reply to any comments you post! Thanks for reading!