Orange islands 2

When Ash, Misty and Tracey left Mikan Gym, they went toward the port, so they can catch the ferry toward the next island, but then something came to Ash's mind.

"Come out, Lapras," Ash suddenly said!

Lapras came out of her Poke ball and cried happily, while Ash rubbed her head.

"How are you feeling Lapras," Ash asked? "I'm feeling OK Ash," Lapras responded, but only Ash understood her!

"That's great," Ash said! "Do you want to do some swimming from Island to Island, while carrying the three of us on your back," asked Ash.

"I would love that," Lapras replied happily. "It is much better then inside of Poke ball."

"Ok then, let's go," Ash said, and climbed on Lapras's back, with Misty and Tracey behind him!

"Hey Ash, why do you want to travel like this instead of with ferry like until now?" Asked Misty after she climbed on Lapras's back, and Lapras started swimming.

"I thought it would be a good exercise for Lapras to swim a little from one island to another, and we don't have to waste money when it's not needed," Ash said.

"OK," said Misty and then relaxed on Lapras's back, and waited to get to another island.

Few hours after leaving Mikan Island, Ash, Misty and Tracey are still traveling toward the next island on Lapras's back.

That's when they saw something floating in the sea, not far from them.

"Lapras, could you get that for me," asked Ash and pointed to what appeared to be a bottle.

Lapras took the bottle in her mouth and handed it to Ash, who saw that there was some letter inside.

"Who would have sent a letter in the bottle," wondered Misty?

"I don't know," said Tracey! "Let see."

Ash opened the bottle and puled the letter out and unrolled it.

"The letter is written by some girl, Marissa. She is from Sunburst Island and is looking for someone who knows something about Crystal Onix," said Ash after he read the letter!

"Crystal Onix. I have never heard of it," said Misty.

"I think I have heard something about it," commented Tracey, while thinking about what he knows. "There is some legend about an Onix that's made entirely out of crystal and not rock like normal Onix."

"Wow, an Onix made out of crystal," said Misty in ave "I would love to see it!"

"Do you know something, Ash," asked Tracey? Ash has told him that he is an Aura guardian, so maybe he knows something.

Ash looked at Misty and Tracey and said. "I do."

"You do. How? What do you know," asked Misty?

"My dad told me," replied Ash, and then he told Lapras to go to the island that they can see in the horizon, before he explained.

"Few years ago, dad told me some of his stories from when he was traveling. He mentioned that he saw an Onix made out of crystal, living in the cave on an Island in the Orange Archipelago," explained Ash!

"So you think this is the Island," stated Tracey!

"Well, he didn't exactly tell me which Island it is, just that it is in the cave somewhere outside of the small town that was on the Island," said Ash!

"I guess we can go and see if we can find it, and maybe help this girl," said Misty. She was quite excited about seeing this Onix.

"We will reach the island in a little while, then we can look for Marissa," said Ash!

Once the three came on the Sunburst Island, Ash thanked Lapras for the ride and returned her to the Poke ball, to get some well-deserved rest. Then, the group went to the town to search for Marissa and see, why she is so interested in Crystal Onix.

After a while they came in front of a shop, where they saw a girl, no older than 8 years of age, having an argument with an older looking guy.

"Your brother should just give up and find something else to do! He is not good at making glass figures and he should just give up," yelled the man! "He is ruining my business because his store is right next to mine!"

"You are wrong, my brother is good he just doesn't have an inspiration," the girl yelled back!

The guy snorted and turned around to walk away, but before he did he said. "Well if he doesn't have an inspiration he should not be doing this job in the first place, because his lack of inspiration is ruining the glass business on the entire island."

Once the guy left, Ash, Misty and Tracey came in front of the girl.

"Excuse me, but what was that," asked Misty, after she kneeled in front of the girl?

The girl looked at Misty and then at Ash and Tracey and asked them who they are.

"Oh, I'm sorry for not introducing ourselves," said Misty. "My name is Misty, and these are Ash and Tracey, we came here looking for a girl called, Marissa. You wouldn't happen to now her now would you?

"I'm Marissa," the girl said timidly, because she didn't know these people and they are looking for her for some reason! "Why are you looking for me?"

"Ah, so you are Marissa," said Misty, and then took the bottle they found from Ash. "We found this while traveling across the sea. Are you the one who sent this?

Once Marissa saw the bottle and letter she sent on the sea, in Misty's hand, her face lit up like a Christmas tree, and said. "You found my letter. You must tell me if you know were Crystal Onix is!"

When Marissa asked for them to tell her about Crystal Onix, Ash came in front of her and asked. "Why are you so interested in Crystal Onix?"

Marissa looked at him and said. "Come to my house and I'll show you!"

Once they all entered the house, they saw that the front of the house is a shop, while in the back is a work place where they saw a guy making some stuff from glass with the help of his Charmeleon.

"Hey, big brother," said Marissa as she run toward him! "I want you to meet some people that I just met."

The guy looked at her and then at Ash, Misty and Tracey and said. "Marissa, I told you not to hang around with people you don't know!"

"But big brother, they know something about Crystal Onix," said Marissa, and that made her brother narrow his eyes while looking at them!

"Who are you three, and what exactly do you know about Crystal Onix," he asked?

Ash walked forward and introduced himself. "My name is Ash, and these are my friends, Misty and Tracey. And before I tell you about Crystal Onix, will you tell me why you are so interested in it?"

Marissa's brother looked at Ash for a few moments, and then he sighed before he explained. "My name is Mateo, it nice to meet you. I inherited this shop from my grandfather after he died. He was the best glass sculpturer around, but I'm not like him, I just can't make sculptures like his were."

"They look fine to me," said Misty, as she looked at all kind of different Pokémon sculptures made out of glass!

"They are worthless," yelled Mateo and smashed one of the statues! "The ones my grandpa made were much better, you would think they were practically alive if you look at them. Compared to that, mine are lifeless!"

"I see," muttered Misty.

"What does this have to do with Crystal Onix," asked Ash?

"When my grandpa was young, like me now, he had a problem with inspiration like I have. But that all changed when he saw Crystal Onix. He described it as something magnificent, and just seeing him was enough to inspire him for the rest of his life. That's why I want to find Crystal Onix. I want to see if I can get inspiration from it like my grandpa did," Mateo explained!

After Mateo finished explaining, Ash decided to help him, so he asked. "How many caves there are on this island?"

Ash's question surprised Marissa and Mateo, but Mateo responded. "There are few of them. But why are you asking?"

Ash then explained him what his father told him, and once he finished Mateo and Marissa were ready to jump out of their skin because of how excited they were. This is the chance they have waited for a long time to come and will not miss it.

"Ok, then how do we find the cave then," asked Mateo? "Are we going to search them all, or do you have some other way?"

Ash thought for a second, and then it came to him.

"Hey Tracey, you have Marill, right," asked Ash?

"Yes, I do," replied Tracey confused by Ash question!

"Marill has big ears and very good hearing, it might be able to help us find Crystal Onix," Ash explained!

"Ok," said Tracey, and called out his Marill!

"Ok Marill, I want you to listen to this and then try to find something that sounds the same," said Ash, while holding his Pokedex, and then he played the sound, which sounded just like Onix's!

Marill listened for a minute, while twitching her ears a little, and then with a small cry she walked in front of them all, while the group walked behind Marill.

About fifteen minutes later, the group came on the shore, from where they could see another Island in the distance.

"So, it must be there," commented Marissa, and the others agreed!

"How do we get there, though," asked Mateo?

As he said that, the water in front of the group started to part, and revealed a land-bridge that goes all the way to the other Island.

"I guess the path to Island is revealed only in a law tide," commented Tracey!

"Let's go," said Ash, and then all of them walked across the land-bridge until they came on the Island and then they entered the cave, in which they saw a lake in the middle of it.

"Hey Marill, where is Onix," asked Tracey, and then Marill jumped in the lake? Nothing happened for a few seconds, until Marill jumped out of the lake, and right after her a normal sized Onix, but made out of Crystal, came out of the water and roared at the group.

"Wow, it's real," exclaimed Misty and Marissa in ave, while Tracey and Mateo were also surprised, though not as much as Misty and Marissa. Ash was just looking at it normally. He has seen a lot of stuff in his short life, so he is not that surprised.

"I need to capture it," said Mateo after he back to reality and took out his Poke ball, but then suddenly, Ash stopped his hand from throwing his Poke ball!

"Why are you stopping me, Ash, I need to catch it!" Mateo yelled, a little angry at Ash for stopping him from catching Crystal Onix!

"This Onix is unique like no other. It's probably the only one like this in the whole world, and that makes him a world treasure, which puts it under the protection of Pokémon Rangers and Aura Guardians. It would be a crime to capture it. It is not something you or anyone else should capture, seeing it, should give you inspiration you were looking for," Ash explained his reasons for stopping him, and everyone had to agree that he is right, so with a heavy sigh, Mateo returned his Poke ball back, and smiled.

He then looked at Onix, who was looking back at him. Just then, Mateo sees duplicates of himself in Onix's glass facets.

"You are right, Ash, just seeing him gave me all inspiration I needed," Mateo said, and then Onix flipped around and went back underwater!

"Come on, let's go back," said Ash, and everyone went back to Mateo's shop!

Once they came back to the shop, Mateo made glass figure of Marill and gave it to Tracey. Everyone could see the difference between Marill's figure and the one that Mateo broke before. Marill actually looks like she is alive, and Misty, Tracey and Ash finally saw what Mateo meant when he said that figures can look like they have a soul.

After the three said their goodbyes to Mateo and Marissa, they went back to the shore, where Ash released Lapras from her Poke Ball and then they went to the next island.

After passing through several other islands, Ash and his friends are about to land on Naval Island, the location of Ash's second gym challenge.

"I wonder what your challenge on this island will be, Ash," Misty asked.

"I don't know, but judging by the way this Island looks, I'd say it will be something like climbing that mountain," said Ash.

"Well, we are about to get there, so we will see," said Tracey. About 5 minutes later, they landed on the Island, but all they saw was a small village without any people.

"Where is everyone," wondered Misty?

"I don't know," replied Ash. "And I don't see the gym anywhere."

"Hey look, there is someone coming here," suddenly said Tracey, and Ash and Misty turned around and saw a man approaching on a sailboat.

Once he landed on the shore, he came toward the group and said. "Hey guy, I'm assuming you are here for the gym challenge!"

"Yes, we are. I'm Misty, and these two are Ash and Tracey," responded Misty, before she asked. "But who are you?

"Oh, my name is Danny," replied Danny, and then he approached Misty and offered his hand while saying!

"You know little miss, I have seen a lot of beautiful things on this Island's but you are the most beautiful of them all!"

Misty was looking at him for a few seconds, with a blush on her face, before she took his hand for a handshake.

"Thank you for that," Misty said while smiling!

But then she looked at Ash and saw that he had his eyes narrowed at Danny and was releasing a little of his Aura.

"Calm down, Ash, I'm sure he didn't mean anything improper," Misty said to Ash, trying to calm him down so he wouldn't attack Danny!

Danny looked at Ash and realized what's going on, and then started laughing, which made everyone look at him. After he calmed down he said. "I guess you two are a boyfriend and girlfriend."

Misty blushed at that and looked away.

"But don't worry, I wasn't flirting with Misty. It's just that she reminds me of my little sister and I like to tease her like this," said Danny while laughing and rubbing the back of his head.

This made Ash stop looking at him like he's going to murder him, and stopped releasing his Aura.

"So, where is the gym," asked Ash?

"The gym is on top of the mountain," replied Danny. "Come on I'll take you there."

"So, Danny, do you leave here, or are you just working here," asked Tracey, while they were walking toward the bottom of the mountain?

"I both live and work here," replied Danny.

"And what exactly are you doing," asked Misty?

"Well, I..." Danny started to say, but Ash interrupted him!

"You are a gym leader here, aren't you," Ash asked?

Misty and Tracey looked at Danny surprised, and Danny just laughed and said. "You are right Ash, I am the gym leader on this Island. But how did you know?"

"I don't know… A hunch," said Ash while shrugging his shoulders, which made Danny laugh again.

"That's a good hunch you got there, Ash," said Danny.

After a few more minutes of walking, the group came in front of the large gate, which said 'Navel Gym'. Danny went ahead and opened the gate. Once he did, the group saw a cable car that goes to the top of the mountain. Ash then looked around and saw a sign.

"All challengers must climb on top of the mountain without the help of their Pokémon or they risk disqualification," Ash read out loud.

"I guess this is the challenge in this gym," Ash more stated then asked, but Danny confirmed.

"A part of the challenge, you will have to climb on top to see the rest," said Danny with a smile.

"Misty and Tracey, you two can take the cable car and go on top, while Ash and I will climb the mountain," Danny said, and then Misty and Tracey whished Ash good luck and then entered the cable car that went on top of the mountain.

"Are you ready, Ash," asked Danny as he and Ash stood at the bottom of the mountain?

"I'm ready," said Ash, and then the two of them started climbing.

While Ash and Danny were climbing the mountain, Misty and Tracey already got on top and saw that it's freezing there. "God damn, it's cold," said Misty while shaking!

"There is a small house over there, let's go and warm up," said Tracey and the two went inside to wait for Ash and Danny.

It took Ash and Danny about an hour and a half to climb the mountain, and when they got there they saw Misty and Tracey wrapped in a blankets.

"Congratulations, Ash. I got to say I'm surprised by how easily you climbed the mountain," said Danny.

"I already climbed several mountains during my training, so this wasn't anything I didn't do before," replied Ash.

"Ok, now that you have passed the challenge it's time for the real test to begin," said Danny, and Misty asked.

"Wasn't this the test?"

"No, climbing the mountain was just to see if Ash is worthy taking the real challenge," said Danny. "This way I can see if challenger is a wimp, or is he/she worthy."

"I see," said Misty.

"So, what is the real challenge," asked Ash?

"The match has three rounds, and the first to get two wins, is the winner," explained Danny, and Ash just nodded in understanding.

"Ok then, let's begin," said Ash.

Five minutes later Ash and Danny were standing in front of two hot water geysers.

"The first challenge is to see who can freeze the geyser first," said Danny, and then he called out his Nidoqueen.

"Ok, come out, Lapras," Ash called his new Pokémon! "Are you ready for this, Lapras?" Lapras nodded.

"Ok, we start on three," said Danny and started counting. "One... Two... Three," as he said three, both Nidoqueen and Lapras fired an Ice Beam and started to freeze geysers!

At first the two Pokémon were tied, but as they were nearing the middle of the geyser Lapras started to tire and Nidoqueen gained slight advantage.

"Come on Lapras, I know you can do it," Ash cheered, and Lapras added more power in her Ice Beam!

Few seconds later both geysers were completely frozen, but Lapras was able to win by less than a split second.

"Well done, Lapras, that was great," said Ash while patting Lapras, who was very tired, but also happy with her win. She smiled at Ash, who then returned her in her Poke ball.

"Take a good rest, Lapras," said Ash to Lapras who was now inside Poke ball.

"Well, it looks like you win the first round Ash, congratulation," said Danny and Ash just nodded.

"Now, for the next round you have to pick three of your Pokémon and carve this ice into a sled," explained Danny. "The first one to do it, is the winner."

"OK," said Ash and pulled three Poke balls. "I chose, Ponyta, Tyrunt and Wartortle!

The three Pokémon came out of their Poke ball's and stood ready for the challenge.

"I chose, Machoke, Scyther, and Nidoqueen," said Danny and released his three Pokémon who were just as ready as Ash's Pokémon!

"Three...Two...One...GO," said Danny and all Pokémon started carving ice into a sled.

Danny's Pokémon were using brute force to make progress, and were doing Ok. Ash's Pokémon on the other hand were doing it a little differently. Since they are not as strong as Danny's Pokémon, at least physically, they used Ponyta's flames to melt the ice a little and then carve one part, and then they moved to the other part.

In less than five minutes Ash's team was able to carve perfect sled and puled another win over Danny and his team, who was close to finish.

"All right, Ash, way to go," cheered Misty, after she saw Ash's Pokémon finish making sled and wining the match!

"Yes, Ash, that was a great plan to use fire type to melt the ice a little, and have other two Pokémon shape it the way you want. All that is left is to give you this Sea Ruby Badge, that proves that you have won the challenge, here on Naval Island, and congratulate you," said Danny and handed Ash a Sea Ruby Badge!

"Thanks' Danny, this was interesting challenge," said Ash, as he took the badge!

"So, were are we going next," asked Tracey?

"The next gym is on Trovita Island, so I guess you can visit some of the Island in between here and there," said Danny, and the group thanked him and then they all went into the cable car and down the mountain.

After they came on the beach, Ash, Misty and Tracey said goodbye to Danny and left with Lapras.

After Ash got his second badge in the Orange Island League on Navel Island, he, Misty and Tracey left the Island while riding on Lapras and continued their journey toward the next Gym.

Few days after leaving Navel Island, the group finds themselves on one of the Islands that, according to map, is one of the seven Islands called Seven Grapefruit Islands.

"Wow, look at all this Grapefruit's," said Misty in ave. "I wonder if we can take some, or do they belong to someone, and we have to ask."

"I don't know, I guess we can look around first and see," said Ash.

"Ok, then let's go," said Misty.

As they were walking around the Island, the three came in front of a green haired girl.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here," asked the girl?

"I'm Ash, and these are my friends Misty and Tracey. We just came here and were looking for someone to see if this Grapefruit's belong to someone or not. We would like to try some," explained Ash.

"Oh, well my name is Ruby, and I'm one off the people who work on this Islands and spend a lot of time tending to the Grapefruits, so I guess you can say they do belong to someone, and I'm happy you didn't just decide to take some and came to look for someone to ask," the girl, now named Ruby, explained about Grapefruits with the smile on the end.

"It would be strange if all these Grapefruit's don't already belong to someone, so I'm not surprised," said Tracey with Misty and Ash nodding.

"Yea, they belong to someone, but it seems that there are people who don't understand that and are coming here to steal," said Ruby with anger in her voice!

"What do you mean," asked Ash? "Who is coming to steal the Grapefruits?"

"Recently we had a problem with thieves making off with the grapefruits, and I just can't seem to catch them, they always run away," explained Ruby!

"I see," sad Ash! "Well I guess we can help you capture these thieves, but do you know when will they come again," asked Ash?

"I don't know," Ruby sighed. "It can be today, tonight or in a few days, but they will come, I'm sure of it."

"OK, then we will stay a few days and help," said Ash, and Misty and Tracey agreed. Ruby thanked them and then all four of them started walking toward the small house that was on the Island.

They stayed there for the night since it was already late, but all of them kept guard in case some thieves show up.

That night nothing happened, so in the morning, Ash, Misty and Tracey went on the beach, to catch some sun and take a break from traveling. They all released their Pokémon and let them have some fun.

Few hours later, when it has already passed midday, Ruby came on the beach running and said that someone is stealing Grapefruits.

"Let's go and see who it is," said Ash, and then he returned all of his Pokémon in the Poke balls and along with misty, Tracey and Ruby went to catch those thieves.

When they got to where they heard that the thieves are, everyone saw a Snorlax, eating all of the Grapefruits from the trees along with the small branches.

"Oh no, it's Snorlax," screamed Ruby!

"How did this Snorlax come here," asked Tracey? "He couldn't have been swimming here, could he?"

"I don't know, but we better stop him before he eats more of Grapefruit's," said Ash, and took out one of his Poke balls!

"Larvesta, come out," said Ash, and his Larvesta came out and stood behind Snorlax, who didn't really pay her any attention, which made Larvesta a little angry!

"Larvesta, Flamethrower," said Ash!

Larvesta shot a very powerful Flamethrower at Snorlax, which hit him strait on and caused him to catch fire as well as burned down the tree with Grapefruit's.

"Be careful, Ash, we don't want you to burn down all Grapefruit, we want to save it," said Misty while smirking at Ash.

"Take it down a little bit, Larvesta," said Ash.

When the fire cleared, it showed Snorlax standing there, burned a little, but not much. "This is one tough Snorlax, but we are tougher," said Ash! "Use Flame Wheel!"

Larvesta surrounded herself in flame and then flew at Snorlax while spinning, and surrounded in flames.

Snorlax opened his mouth and shot a Hyper Beam.

Larvesta and Hyper Beam collided and started pushing at one another for a few seconds, before Larvesta broke through Hyper Beam and collided with Snorlax, which sent Snorlax fly back and got burned.

"Ok Larvesta, finish him off with another Flamethrower," said Ash!

Larvesta shot another Flamethrower at Snorlax, who was on the ground and caused an explosion.

When fire and smoke cleared, Snorlax was shown lying on the ground, unconscious.

Ash took one of his empty Poke balls and threw it at Snorlax. Few moments later, Snorlax was caught.

"Great job Larvesta," said Ash after he approached Larvesta and patted her on the head!

Larvesta let Ash pat her, and then she started to glow and started getting bigger and changing shape.

Once the glow stopped it showed that Larvesta has evolved into Volcarona.

"Wow, Larvesta evolved," said Misty and approached to Volcarona and started to pat her just like Ash earlier!

"I'm happy for you, Volcarona," said Ash, while Tracey was taking sketches of a newly evolved Volcarona.

Ash took the Poke ball that had Snorlax in it and placed it with his other Poke Balls. Ruby thanked Ash for his help, and they all decided to stay at Ruby's shack for the night, and leave in the morning.

The next morning, Ash and the others said goodbye to Ruby, and then went toward the next Island.

"Here we are!" Said Tracey, after he, Ash and Misty landed on a new Island, after a few days of traveling and passing few small Islands in between Seven Grapefruit Islands and this new Island.

"You seem very excited about something, Tracey," commented Misty. "So, what is it?"

"You are right Misty, I'm excited because this Island is famous for housing plenty of Bug-type Pokémon, and I want to see as many as possible and observe them." Said Tracey and saw that Misty has stated to sweat a lot as soon as he said Bug-types!

"Are you OK, Misty," asked Tracey?

"I-I'm fi-fine," mumbled Misty, and Ash then smirked.

"You see Tracey, Misty here is afraid of Bug-Type Pokémon and she won't go anywhere near them," Ash said to Tracey, while smirking at Misty's red face. "Actually, my Butterfree's and Volcarona might be the only Bug-Type Pokémon she can tolerate."

"What, but why," asked Tracey? "Bug-types are not dangerous."

"Ah, just leave me alone! I'll just stay on the beach and wait for you two to return," said Misty and started walking back toward the beach, but Ash stopped her.

"Oh, come on Misty, you know I will protect you if something happens," Ash said right in Misty's ear after he approached her from behind and hugged her. He then kissed her on the back of her neck, and Misty practically melted but didn't say anything.

"So, are you coming or do I have to do something else to make you come," asked Ash directly in Misty's ear, which made her shudder and made her whole body go as red as strawberry.

Tracey was just standing in the back and watched what Ash did to Misty, while developing a small blush on his cheeks. "Ash really knows how to make Misty do what he wants," Tracey thought in his head!

"A-Ash p-please stop, we are in public," muttered Misty!

"We can always go somewhere and be alone," teased Ash, and Misty got a little trickle of blood flowing down her nose as she realized what Ash was insinuating!

"Ash, please," Misty whined!

"Ok, fine," said Ash and let go of Misty, who breathed a sigh of relief as she didn't know how long she could keep herself on her feet anymore!

"But you are coming with us, right," stated Ash!

"Yes, I'll come with you," said Misty, and then the two of them and Tracey went to look around!

As the three were walking around Murcott Island, they saw a lot of Bug-type Pokémon.

Tracey was basically all over the place looking at different Bug-types and sketching them. Ash was just walking along with him, while smirking at Misty who was walking with him and holding his arm as close to her while looking around, nervously.

After few hours of walking, the three came in front of a badly injured Scyther, who was barley standing on his legs.

"Oh no, that Scyther is badly hurt, I need to help him," said Tracey and took some potion from his backpack and went close to Scyther to heal him!

As soon as he approached to Scyther and tried to use potion, Scyther jumped backwards and stood prepared for battle, though everyone could tell he was barely holding up.

"I just want to help you Scyther, you don't have to worry," said Tracey.

"I don't need your help, so leave me alone," was what Scyther said, but only Ash understood him!

"You do need help, Scyther, as you can barely stand on your legs," said Ash, and got raised eyebrows from Scyther who wasn't expecting Ash to understand what he said.

"I said leave me alone, and don't come back," said Scyther and made Ash groan.

Ash then pulled out one of his Poke balls, which surprised Misty and Tracey as they didn't expect Ash to try and capture Scyther while being hurt this much, and then released his Pokémon.

"Come out, Magenta," said Ash, and his Pink Butterfree came out!

"Use Sleep Powder on that Scyther, Magenta," said Ash, and Magenta flew above Scyther who was in battle stance, and released some powder on him. Scyther was out like a light.

"Good job, Magenta," said Ash and patted Magenta, before he returned her to her Poke ball, and then walked over to Scyther and took him in his arms. He then started walking away.

"Why did you do that, Ash," asked Tracey? "And where are you taking Scyther?"

"I put him to sleep as it was the easiest way to take him to Pokémon Center without capturing him," Ash said to Tracey.

"But why didn't you try to capture him," asked Tracey, as they walked toward Pokémon Center?

"This Scyther is very old, and he doesn't look like he likes humans very much, which means he was either abandoned by his trainer, or he never had one which is more likely. Scyther this old that never had trainer probably wouldn't want one now," explained Ash, just as they walked inside Pokémon Center.

"Excuse me, Nurse Joy, but could you help this Scyther," asked Ash as he walked in front of Nurse Joy's reception desk?

"Of course, young man, but what happened to it," Nurse Joy asked, as she and her assistant Chancy pushed a stretcher for Ash to place Scyther on?

"We found him hurt while walking around, so Tracey tried to help, but since Scyther refused our help, I put him to sleep," explained Ash.

"That's good thing you did, young man, much better than trying to capture it," said Nurse Joy. "You should wait while I go with Chancy and heal Scyther.

"OK, Nurse Joy," said all three of them at the same time.

"I'll go out and train my Pokémon a little," said Ash. "Are you coming or are you going to stay here and wait for Scyther to be healed," he asked?

"I'll stay here and wait," said Tracey.

"I'll stay as well and rest a little," said Misty.

"Ok then, I'll be somewhere outside if you need me for something," said Ash, and walked out of the Pokémon Center.

Ash went outside, a little away from Pokémon Center and released all of the Pokémon he had with him. Butterfree, Magenta, Volcarona, Ponyta, Tyrunt, Amaura, Lapras and Wartortle came out and stood or floated in front of Ash.

"OK guys and girls, we are going to have a little spar for today, since I don't want you to get rusty inside of your balls," said Ash and his Pokémon nodded in agreement!

"Butterfree and Volcarona are one pair, Magenta and Ponyta are second pair, Tyrunt and Wartortle are third pair and Lapras vs. Amaura will be the final pair. The winners will battle in semifinal and then last match is final," explained Ash, and all his Pokémon nodded and stood in front of their opponents.

Half an hour later all battles are finished and Wartortle is the winner. He defeated Volcarona in the final match, and he celebrated while jumping around and with his sun glasses on his head.

"Ok, that's enough sparing for today, now I just want you to run or fly around a little to stretch yourselves and that will be it for today," said Ash and his Pokémon ran, or flew away to release some tension from battles.

Ash went back in Pokémon Center and waited with Misty and Tracey to hear about Scyther.

Few minutes later, Nurse Joy and Chancy came out of the operation room, with Scyther on the stretcher, now wide awake. Tracey run to see how Scyther is, while Ash and Misty walked after him.

"How is he, Nurse Joy," asked Tracey?

"It will be fine," replied Nurse Joy and Tracey released a relieved sigh. "It will just take some time for his self-esteem to be restored!

"Why, what happened?" Asked Tracey. Scyther lowered his head back on the stretcher and got an angry look on his face. Though, if one was to look closer, they would notice sadness in his eyes. "It can't be because Ash put him to sleep so he can carry him to here!"

"No, it's not because of that, it's because this Scyther lost his swarm leadership position from battling a younger Scyther that challenged him, so now he must live in exile," explained Nurse Joy.

"Oh, I see," said Tracey.

"Well, you can help him if you want," said Ash, and everyone looked at him confused.

"What I mean, is that if this Scyther challenges the younger Scyther to a battle again and wins, he will regain his leadership over a swarm," explained Ash. "And since you have taken a liking to him you can help him train and prepare for a rematch."

"That's actually a good idea," said Tracey, and then looked at Scyther who was looking back at him. "What do you say, Scyther, do you want me to help you train?"

Scyther kept quiet for a while, and then nodded his head, though, it seemed that he didn't particularly like his decision.

"Great, then we just have to wait for you to heal, and then we can start training," said Tracey with a smile on his face.

Ash, Misty and Tracey spent the rest of the day doing nothing, before they went to sleep, after dinner.

The next morning, Tracey got up first and went to Nurse Joy, to see if Scyther is recovered so they can start his training. When Nurse Joy said he is fully recovered, Tracey and Scyther went to start training.

Few hours later Misty and Ash got up and after they had some breakfast, they also went to train their Pokémon.

Ash and Misty spent next few days training their Pokémon on Murcott Island, while Tracey trained with Scyther for Scyther's rematch against younger Scyther that defeated him before.

After 5 days of training, Scyther thought it is enough and decided to go and challenge his opponent.

Ash, Misty and Tracey then followed Scyther inside of the forest to a place where a swarm of Scyther's lived. Once they got there, they saw a whole bunch of Scyther's resting by a pond.

The elder Scyther then went ahead and challenged younger Scythe to a rematch, while Ash and Misty stayed behind. Tracey was closer to Scyther as he acted as his support.

Young Scyther smirked at the elder and teased him how he found trainer in his old days. Elder Scyther narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't fall for an obvious attempt to make him angry and then use his mistakes to defeat him.

In the end young Scyther accepted a challenge and the two stood across each other and stared down at the other.

Few seconds later, both Scyther's flew at each other and started swinging their scythes at one another. They were practically mimicking one another.

Elder Scyther used Sword Dance, young Scyther uses Sword Dance. Young uses Double Team, elder uses Double Team.

But no matter what attack they use, young Scyther seems to have a slight advantage and that advantage comes from being younger, which is why, he has more stamina.

About five minutes later, elder Scyther started to slow down as he was getting tired. His training with Tracey helped him get stronger but he is still much older than the other Scyther and can't fight for long.

On the other side, young Scyther doesn't seem as tired as elder, but he has few more scratches then the elder Scyther.

"Come on, Scyther, don't give up now, just few more attacks and you will win," cheered Tracey!

Scyther then got up from his knees, and flew straight at younger Scyther with speed he didn't show until now.

Elder then started using a fury of attacks on young Scyther, switching between Sword Dance, Slash and Double Team.

Young Scyther tried to fight back and used every attack he knew, but he just couldn't keep up with a sudden increase in speed of the elder Scyther. After few more slashes, young one fell on the ground, defeated.

"All right!" Yelled Tracey and ran at Scyther to give him a hug, which Scyther returned.

He was happy that he had won a battle and regained his leadership over his swarm. But now that he is the leader again, he started thinking if that is what he really want's now. If he was asked few days ago, he would say that that is what he wants, but now after training with Tracy and spending so much time with him, he was having second thoughts.

"Congratulation's Scyther, that was a good battle," said Ash, as he and Misty joined him and Tracey.

"Thanks," said Scyther.

"Well, there you have your swarm back, Scyther. I hope you enjoy your role as their leader, again," said Tracey.

Scyther looked at Tracey while thinking what to do. He then looked at his swarm and the younger Scyther, who have originally defeated him, and after a few moments of thinking, he decided what to do. Scyther walked over to his swarm and told them something. What he said wasn't heard by Ash and the others, but by the surprised looks on the other Scyther's faces, it must be something important.

The swarm looked at one another for a few times, and then they looked at elder Scyther and nodded their heads, which is what he was waiting, because, as soon as they did that, he nodded back, said something and then turned around and flew back to Tracey, who was surprised.

"What's up Scyther," asked Tracey?

"I have decided to come with you on your journey, as I think that the swarm is in good hands with the young one, and I want to see some new things in my old days," said Scyther, and Ash translated what he said to Tracey, who was surprised, but also happy.

"Are you sure, Scyther," asked Tracey? "I don't know if we will ever come here again and you might never see your swarm again."

Scyther looked at his swarm for a few moments, before he turned back and looked at Tracey, before he said. "I'm sure!"

"Well, if you are sure, then welcome to the team," said Tracey with a smile on his face, before he pulled an empty Poke ball and touched Scyther with it, which caused him to be sucked inside.

Tracey, Ash and Misty then waived to the Scyther swarm and walked back to the Pokémon Center where they spent the night, before they went on to the next Island in the morning.