CHAPTER 3

Sunlight was streaming through the window as Ash strolled over to Misty's bunk.

"Come on, Misty, wake up!" he called.

Misty opened her eyes very slowly. Despite the night's rest, she was still extremely tired, and her head and limbs felt very heavy. "Ash?" she mumbled groggily. "Why are you up so early?"

"It's not early," the boy replied. "It's almost ten o'clock. Tracey and I have already had breakfast, and we've been waiting for you to wake up for the last half hour. When did you go to bed, anyway? I must have been asleep before you came in. Come on, if you don't get up now, we'll miss the festival entirely!"

"Okay," Misty acknowledged, sleepily. With enormous effort, the girl dragged herself out of bed. She felt dizzy and slightly nauseous from exhaustion. She couldn't believe how fatigued she was. Ash left her alone so she could get dressed.

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them were on their way to the beach boardwalk, where most of the festival activities were to take place. Ash and Pikachu led the way, grinning enthusiastically in anticipation of the day's events. Behind them was Tracey, who walked behind somberly. He was still depressed about Cympelton's comments from the night before. Finally, Misty brought up the rear, carrying Togepi and dragging her feet in exhaustion.

With the festival officially underway, the boardwalk was now packed with people. The booths that were empty the day before were now all manned, and they offered all sorts of water Pokémon accessories, toys, and paraphernalia. Other booths sold food, and still others featured games with prizes.

The sunshine, fresh air, and excitement of the festival finally managed to improve Misty's alertness and Tracey's mood. Grinning, the three of them strolled up to one of the game booths. It was one of those games in which the object was to shoot water into a plastic clown mouth to make the balloon on its head explode.

"Hey," declared Misty, as she scanned the booth counter. "There aren't any water pistols here."

"Of course not," replied the smiling man in the booth. "This is the water Pokémon festival. You have to use your own water-type Pokémon. Do you all have one?"

"You bet," replied Tracey. He pulled out a pokéball. "Go, Marill!" he called. The aquatic mouse materialized on the booth counter. "Marill!" it sang.

Ash pulled out his own ball. "I choose you, Squirtle!" The tiny turtle appeared in a flash of light. Pikachu climbed up onto the counter himself so that he could watch.

Misty brought out her pokéball containing Poliwag, but Psyduck chose that moment to pop out of its ball and sat vacantly in front of the girl. "Psy?" it quacked in confusion.

Ash was busy gauging the distance to the clown head and didn't realize that Misty had not released the Pokémon she had intended. "Okay," he said. "Everybody ready, get set..."

"Wait!" shouted Misty, "I'm not ready!" She fumbled with her pokéballs in an attempt to recall Psyduck while simultaneously releasing Poliwag.

But Ash was not paying attention. "GO!" he shouted, and Squirtle and Marill began shooting water into their respective clown mouths. By the time Misty had got Poliwag all ready, the boys' two balloons were already two-thirds full, and she only managed to get about half of her balloon filled before Ash's balloon exploded, Tracey's balloon bursting an instant afterwards. The two boys boisterously congratulated each other, completely failing to notice Misty fuming next to them.

"I said, I WASN'T READY!" Misty growled irritably.

"Huh?" Ash said, apparently hearing Misty for the first time. "Oh, sorry, Misty. We'll wait for you next time." With that, Ash, Tracey, and Pikachu went on to the next booth.

Misty trudged behind the others sullenly. It's not as if she expected them to pay attention to her every minute, she thought to herself. But it seemed as if Ash and Tracey were so focused on other things that they sometimes forgot that she was even there. And this time they had just been rude. She didn't know why she was so angry about it all of the sudden. Maybe it was just because she was so tired. She felt better after getting a big pink cotton candy for herself, and the three of them proceeded to wander through the other booths on the boardwalk.

*

It was early evening by the time the trio left the festival grounds and wandered back to the Pokémon Center. Misty's exhaustion had really caught up to her by this time, and she dragged her feet grumpily while clutching Togepi, her eyes half closed. Tracey had returned to a serious mood, but he now had an appearance more of determination than depression. The day's festivities had given him a chance to clear his mind, so he could think clearly about his dream to be a Pokémon watcher and what he was going to do next with his life.

It was very nice of Ash, and Misty, and Nurse Joy to have encouraged and supported him so much in this dream of his to be a Pokémon watcher. At least it was well intentioned. But it was clear to him that Cympelton knew what he was talking about, and there was no way that he was going to make it in the Pokémon watching business. The Magikarp incident showed it. He simply didn't have what it took. And the sooner he realized that, the better off he would be.

He decided that he would still accompany Ash and Misty through the Orange League competition. He had been with Ash for too long now not to see the boy through the final match on Pummelo. After that, he would part company with them. It would be too embarrassing for him to follow them all the way back to Pallet Town and meet Professor Oak now. He didn't think he could actually face the great academician anymore knowing that he had intended once to ask the man for an assistant's job. Maybe he would go back to Tangelo Island, he thought. He could probably find some kind of job there and settle down for a while.

Tracey nodded to himself. He felt a little better having a plan of action. He had only one more task, and that was the job of disposing of his drawings. His portfolio was pretty heavy, and he didn't want to have to lug it all the way back to Tangelo when he wouldn't be needing it anymore. Of course, Ash and Misty would try to stop him or to recover his drawings if they knew what he intended. He would have to wait for an opportunity where no one was watching so he could have a chance to do it alone, in private. Satisfied with his plan, he looked up and discovered that they were already almost back to the Pokémon Center.

Nurse Joy went up to them the moment they set foot in the center. "Ash, Misty, Tracey, I'm glad you came back," she told them. "I got a call from Officer Jenny. She wants you to go visit her at the police station as soon as you can."

Ash blinked in surprise. "Why? Are we in some kind of trouble?"

"Oh no, it didn't seem to be anything like that," the nurse responded. "I think she wants to tell you something."

Misty was ready to pass out from fatigue. Her eyes were red, her head hurt, and she was more than a little queasy. She mumbled, "If it's not something we all have to be there for, I think I'll just stay here and go to bed. I'm really not feeling very well."

Ash was brimming with curiosity about what Officer Jenny might have to say, and so he quickly replied, "Okay, Misty, why don't you get some rest. Coming, Tracey?"

Tracey hesitated, and then acquiesced. Disposing of his drawings could wait until later.

Pikachu climbed up on Ash's shoulder, and along with Tracey they went out towards the police station in the light of the setting sun.

*

Misty was completely worn out, and, after tucking Togepi carefully in bed, she collapsed on the mattress next to her egg Pokémon without even changing her clothes.

She slept, but despite her exhaustion it was not restful sleep. She tossed and turned restlessly in bed, and she was plagued by a strange dream. It was the second night in a row that she had had this dream.

In her dream, she was swimming in a large, clear pool. The water was cool and refreshing, and she found herself donned in her favorite red swimsuit. Having been born and raised near water all her life, she found this to be the most natural environment in the world, and she felt perfectly at home.

She stroked lazily on her back, enjoying the cool liquid sensation without a care in the world.

Until she touched something fuzzy with her right hand.

She gave an involuntary shudder, not just from the surprise of touching something, but also from what she touched. Whatever it was, it felt fuzzy, but it wasn't warm and soft like an Eevee or a baby Pidgey. It was cold and slimy and with rough, fine little hairs. Clenching her teeth in dread, she turned her head slowly, very slowly to the right to see what it was.

It was a large Caterpie.

Misty let out a horrified, blood-curdling scream. She hated bug-type Pokémon. The redhead kicked violently at the water with both legs in an attempt to get away from the disgusting creature.

Her screams and commotion, however, only served to attract the Caterpie's attention. It turned its head towards her, and promptly shot out a stream of sticky, gooey liquid that stuck to Misty's bare leg. The goo quickly solidified in the cool water and became a thick, strong silk line connecting the Caterpie to the girl.

Misty tugged at the heavy silk cable to remove it from her leg, but it was attached tightly. She began to panic as she realized that the Caterpie was starting to pull itself along the spun cord in her direction.

Misty pulled at the sticky rope with all her might. It started to pull away from her skin just a little, but wouldn't quite come loose. With another person to help, she could probably get it off. She looked around desperately for someone who could help her.

She noticed Ash, standing by the side of the pool. His back was turned, and Pikachu was next to him. "Ash! Ash! Help me!" she cried.

Ash didn't seem to hear her at first, but she kept calling his name until she got his attention. He turned around angrily and rebuked her, saying, "Misty, don't bother me now! I have to go and win another gym badge. Come on, Pikachu!" Huffily, he ran off with Pikachu in tow.

The Caterpie was crawling closer and closer on the silk line. It was only three feet away now. Misty turned her head in another direction and saw Tracey, working diligently with a pencil and sketchpad. "Tracey!" she called out. "Please help get this String Shot off me!"

Tracey, however, was too occupied. "Just a sec, Misty," Tracey replied absent-mindedly without looking up, as he concentrated on his drawing. "I've got to get the shape of that Caterpie's eye pattern just right."

The worm was getting close to her leg now, just over a foot away. Just then she noticed Brock standing next to the pool. He was her last hope. "Brock! Please, please help me!" she pleaded.

But Brock wasn't even looking in her direction. He was too busy gawking at a passing Officer Jenny. "Hello, Officer," he said dreamily. "Would you go out with me tonight?" There was no way Misty could get his attention.

Misty wanted to scream, not just because of the approaching Caterpie, but also because all her closest friends, the people she thought of as her second family, they were all too busy to pay any attention to her whatsoever. They all had their own concerns, and they couldn't be bothered to attend to or even notice her anymore. Especially Ash, after all that they had been through together, through the entire Indigo League and the Orange Islands, how could he just ignore her so casually like this? Caught up in feelings of abandonment and loneliness, she began to cry. She sobbed her heart out, shedding large tears and wailing in a way that she would have thought was quite pathetic when awake.

Just then, she heard a raspy voice behind her. "I can help you," the voice said.

The redhead turned around and saw the talent agent from the other night, the one who had been talking to Cympelton in the convention hall. He was standing by the side of the pool, and held a large cylindrical cage, like a birdcage, that dangled from his hand. Inside the cage were a number of oddly shaped round objects.

Misty didn't know why the agent of all people would offer to help her, but she was too grateful to have caught anyone's attention to care. "Yes, yes, help me please," she begged.

"But you'll have to do something for me, first," the man said.

"Sure!" Misty promised, "I'll do anything!"

"Anything?" the man replied smugly. "In that case, I think we can work something out."

*

Ash, Tracey, and Pikachu walked down the quiet city streets towards the police station. It was dark by the time they reached their destination.

Officer Jenny met them once they entered. She had a police report in her hand -- something about a jewelry store theft, Ash thought he saw out of the corner of his eye. "You must be Ash and Tracey," she said. "My counterpart on Mandarin Island told me all about you."

"Yes, Officer," Ash replied. "Nurse Joy said you had something to tell us."

Jenny found chairs for the two boys, and then sat down herself before breaking the news. "I got word from Mandarin Island that Butch and Cassidy of Team Rocket have escaped!"

"They did?" Tracey asked, astonished.

"Yes," was the answer. "Apparently the police convoy that was transporting them to prison was attacked. A few police were injured, but thankfully no one was seriously hurt.

"In any case," Jenny continued, "since you were instrumental in their capture last time, we were debating the idea of getting you under police protection while we are tracking them down. We don't know if they have revenge as part of their plan."

Ash protested, "But that would mean we'd have to stay here! I have to go on to Pummelo to compete in the Orange League!"

Officer Jenny was about to debate the issue with Ash when the telephone on her desk rang. "Hold on a minute," she said gruffly, picking up the receiver. "Hello, Officer Jenny here. What!? Okay, I'll be right there." She hung up quickly, opened her desk drawer, and took out a pokéball.

"What's going on?" Tracey inquired.

"The convention hall is being attacked," Jenny replied as she ran out. "It looks like someone is trying to steal the Blastoise."

"Wait!" called Ash, as he and Pikachu ran after her. "We'll come along too!"

Jenny shook her head as she raced towards one of the police cars in an adjacent lot. "No, Ash, this is police business."

"But maybe we can help," Ash protested. He thought furiously for a moment. Then he reminded, "If you talked to the other Officer Jenny on Mandarin Island then you know how big a help we were to the police in the past."

Jenny admitted to herself that she could use the help of some good Pokémon trainers. She hesitated for an instant, and then nodded her head in agreement. "Get in," she said, while jumping into the driver's seat of the nearest car. "But don't put yourselves needlessly in any danger."

Ash, Pikachu, and Tracey dove in the back of the police car, which then roared out of the parking lot as if shot out by a cannon. It reminded Ash of his very first ride on a vehicle with an Officer Jenny, an eternity ago back in Viridian City. Gripping the front seat tightly, he wondered briefly if all the Officer Jennies were speed demons at heart. With siren blaring and tires squealing, the car raced down the dark road in the direction of the Satsuma Island Convention Hall.