A Tale of Cinnorare Island
By Mewtwo

Fic Notes:
Who gives a care about the "Pikapi" stuff? It's all translated in this fic.

I'm Mewtwo, as you saw above. I have been watching Ash and his friends and recorded all this for you to read. You can email me at kats71497@aol.com!! Prologue
Ash, Misty and Brock were in Fuschia City. "Brock," Ash complained, "I don't wanna stay here. I need to get another badge or get some more Pokémon!"

Misty giggled. "But knowing you, Ash, it wouldn't matter. You couldn't catch one if you tried."

"I can too!" Ash snapped.

"Stop fighting," Brock sighed. "How about I take you to Paradise?"

"Sure!" Ash and Misty both agreed. Misty took a secret and quick glance at Ash to see how he was reacting.

Brock led them to a forest just outside of Fuschia City. Ash cried out in excitement as he looked at the place. Greenery, a beautiful waterfall and gentle river, and beauty met Ash's eyes even more as he spotted a Pokémon. He went with Pikachu. Brock and Misty laughed.

BOOOM!

"That can't be a good sign," Misty stammered, looking up at the gray sky.

"Nope," Brock said. Raindrops started falling. "Ash, I think you should come back! It's raining!" he cried.

"What's wrong with a little rain?" Ash asked. "This is Poké-Paradise! So many Pokémon! You gonna let a little rain stop ya?"

* * *

Bad move by Ash on my part. For this "little rainstorm" turned into the hurricane that left them stranded.

Water beat down like bullets, spraying from the waterfall. "What did you say about 'Paradise'?!" Ash shouted above his breath, just as the water poured down his throat. The hurricane rushed down on them, and before Ash knew what had happened, he was out.

"Ash!" Brock called. He swam in the flooded environment, towards Ash, who had stopped breathing after inhaling floods of water.

Misty also in his arms, Brock was all that could save them now. But even he had a limit to what he could handle. Finally, through the hard winds of the hurricane, just after grabbing Ash by the shirt, with a limp Pikachu clinging to his foot, the strong gusts blew the foursome away, to an unknown island.

Chapter 1:
Cinnorare

Ash Ketchum opened his eyes. His head stung, beating on him with pain. He lifted up his head to find one of the reasons why. Underneath him, he had been using a rock as a pillow, to an unwelcome settlement. The gale's wind had set him down hard upon it-a large bump showed where-and he did not appreciate his invitation. Standing up, he decided to search for his friends. "Brock? Misty? Pikachu?" he called. Looking behind him at a little moan, he saw his Pokémon, nearly facedown in the beach's clear waters. He quickly pulled Pikachu out of the water. "Oh, Pikachu! Are you OK?" he cried, a tear forming in his eye.

"Ash!" Pikachu said in relief. "I'm sure glad to see you!"

"What happened, anyway?" Ash asked Pikachu. "All I remember is getting thrown into that flooded place and getting stung like bees by the water."

"That was one bad hurricane," Pikachu said. "You see, a hurricane blew onto Fuschia, where we were in a forest by. The natural waterfall was turned into a destructive wave when it came by-the winds were so strong we were blown into it-and soon you were all knocked out. Brock saved you, and then the winds blew us to this dumb place."

"We gotta find Brock!" Ash said, and heard a voice. He turned around, to see the Pokémon breeder's voice yelling to him from at least 300 feet from Ash.

"Ash!" he was yelling. "Ash!"

"Brock!" Ash waved. "Where's Misty?"

"Somewhere," Brock said. "But I think I see her another 100 feet from here."

Sure enough, 100 feet from the duo's location lay Misty, still unconscious. "Brock, what's wrong with her?"

"Just unconscious, like you were." He lifted her head from the rock she had hit it on. "Gosh this is a rocky beach. Thank goodness you're all right."

Misty opened her eyes, and leaped with joy when she saw the two before her. She hugged them in a bear hug, at least a bear hug that her 12-year-old arms could hold.

"I'm so glad you guys found me! I was so scared." Misty took her grasp from both of them and directed it to Ash.

"Yeah, we're glad you're OK," Ash said, somewhat gasping from Misty's tight grip.

"Well, let's find out where we are," Brock suggested.

Just then, Ash caught a glimpse of something moving in the bushes. "What was that?"

"I think it was a Pokémon," Brock said, "but you shouldn't go for it."

"Why?" Ash asked.

"Because it may be much more powerful than you," Brock replied. "You know nothing about this land."

"Ash," Misty said, "where's your hat?"

Ash felt his head, and aside from all the sand and water in his hair, he felt nothing. "Where's my hat?!" he cried, running and searching all over the beach.

"I don't think you'll find it, Ash," Brock said. "That was one heck of a storm. It could be miles from here, ripped off your head."

"But that took me a million forms to get!" he said in dismay. "I need to find it!"

"Ash, I think I found it!" Pikachu shouted from a distance. He jumped into the clear blue water and swam towards a small dot in the sea.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted to the small Pokémon fighting the easy waves. He wasn't having much trouble, and grabbed the object and swam back, this time bodysurfing on the tiny waves.

"You found it!" Ash cried happily as Pikachu leaped into his arms with his hat. "Thank you Pikachu!"

"No problem, Ash!" Pikachu replied. He smiled with a delightful, "Pika!"

"Hey Ash, it's getting dark," Misty noticed, pointing at the sky as the sun set on the horizon of the water. "We should find shelter."

"All I see is that dangerous-looking cave over there," Ash remarked, pointing to a small, dark cave with a narrow opening.

"I don't want to go in there," Misty told him. "It looks scary."

"Misty, to you, anything's scary," Ash laughed.

"Hey!" Misty yelled.

He ran into the cave with Brock, with Misty chasing him, not realizing he had slipped into the cave. Suddenly, about after 5 minutes, she realized that they were walking in this cave, and water dripped down onto her head.

"Ash, where are we?" she asked timidly.

"We're in that cave you were so freaked out about. But I'm scared too."

Brock pulled Misty next to them, and she reached for Ash's hand. He took hers. "This place is pretty creepy," he whispered.

By the time they had walked for 45 minutes, they were all dead tired and aching from the pain of everything that had gone on since they woke up.

"I don't think I can walk anymore," Misty puffed, exhausted.

"We have to, we don't know what lives in here," Ash responded.

"But I can't move," Misty answered.

Brock lifted her up. "We'll take you a bit longer, but then you have to walk on your own."

"I can't see a thing," Ash said. "Next thing I know I'll be falling unconscious again from hitting the walls."

"Send your Charmand-oh wait, you only have Charizard. Well, I guess I'll have to send out Zubat. He can use his ultrasonic waves to tell us where we are going," Brock assured them. Throwing his Poké Ball, Zubat flew out.

"Zubat, use your ultrasonic waves to find out how close we are to a wall," Brock ordered.

In 6 seconds, Zubat replied, "Turn left now. You're 3 feet from the wall."

"Well, I was almost right," Ash retorted.

The trio, Pikachu and Zubat walked for the next half an hour. Then, exhausted, all 5 collapsed onto the ground and fell asleep.

When they woke up, they saw Jessie and James and Meowth of Team Rocket! It was still dark; they had slept for only a suspenseful 15 minutes. All of them had been having nightmares about this place, all so bad they could no longer sleep. "Hey! What are you guys doing here?"

"What are you?" Jessie asked.

"We just got washed here in the hurricane."

"So did we, but on the opposite side of the cave."

"So you guys walked all the way here?" Ash asked. "And found us sleeping? So that must mean you know where the exit is."

"Nothing over there," James said.

"Nothing over here," Misty answered. "There must be some other exit with something else on it."

"Either that or this place is just ridiculous!" Jessie concluded. "Either way we gotta get outta here!"

When she said that, they heard the deep breathing of an unknown Pokémon.

"Brock, do you think that's the Pokémon I wanted before?" Ash said, filled with uncertainty.

"I dunno," Brock replied, "but it sounds mad."

"Everybody run for your life!" Ash shouted, and everyone began to run. Deeper and deeper into the cave, until they crashed into a wall and fell unconscious, but this time, none were sure if they would come back alive. . .

Chapter 2
Lost in the Dark

Ash opened his eyes. He was more achy and full of pain than ever, and he was unsure where he was. He had forgotten competely of the night, but looked at his friends lying on the ground. He suddenly remembered. "Oh, thank goodness we're all OK," he mumbled.

"Ash," Pikachu cried. "Ash, where are you!"

"Pikachu!" Ash said.

Pikachu bounded over to Ash and gripped him. "Ash, I got carried away by that creature! But I escaped! I'm so scared!"

Ash could barely see. "It must be light out," he said. "I can see now. But barely."

"I wonder where we are?" Zubat chimed in, apparently never actually unconscious.

"I don't know, but I don't like it," Ash replied. "It seems everywhere we go, something bad happens." With that, Misty pushed herself up.

"Misty!" Ash cried happily. He hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, noticing she was alive and he was too.

"Is everyone OK?" Misty asked Ash after they parted.

"I dunno. We're the only ones awake now." Ash looked around at his friends strewn around. "They look pretty beaten up, just like us."

"Yeah, that makes me feel a little better," Pikachu said. "I'm not alone. It's us!"

Zubat nodded.

Soon, a light filled the place. "Who are you?" a voice asked.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, saying nothing, really.

"Hey, Shelly, come over here," the voice said. In the light, Pikachu, Zubat, Ash and Misty could see a Charmeleon, Wartortle, Raichu, Mew, and Vaporeon. The Raichu was in the front, with all the others lagging behind. The light was coming from Charmeleon's tail. The Wartortle stepped forward to the Raichu.

"What is it, Reno?" she said.

"Look what we've got here," the Raichu replied.

"What the . . .?" Wartortle said, staring blankly at the party of humans and Pokémon in the cave.

"Who are you?" Ash asked.

"I'm Reno," Raichu answered, "and this is Shelly." The Wartortle bowed. "Charcoal, Mew, and Rainer are behind us."

"We're the Tidal Pokémon," Charcoal, the Charmeleon, said from behind Reno and Shelly. "We search these caves for adventure, and I guess we found some."

"Yeah," Shelly remarked. "Take a look at you! You need help, I can tell."

At that moment, the rest of the gang started to wake up. "Who are you?" Brock asked through weary eyes as he saw the 5 Pokémon.

"Pleased to meet you," Reno replied. "I'm Reno. I'm mostly Raichu, but I'm a special kind with both ice and electric power." He stuck his paw out. He looked like Raichu, only his fur was blue. His tail was longer than a normal Raichu, and his voice was a bit different, as though adapted to imitating other Pokémon. "Actually," he replied, "we have different kinds of Pokémon here, so I'm a Tidal Raichu." Ash, Brock and Misty shook Reno's paw. "And these are my Tidal Pokémon friends, Charcoal," Charmeleon raised his arm. He was a purplish red Charmeleon, with blue flame, "Rainer," Vaporeon waved. He was exactly the same, except for his tail a bit longer and the end a bit thinner, "Mew," Mew waved. He was no different, "and Shelly." The Wartortle jumped and smiled. She looked nearly the same, except for her blue eyes and feet. Her feet had different claws on them.

Jessie, James, and Meowth had caught the introduction, and everybody shook paws. Then they said, "We'll get you out of here and to a place to stay."

The humans and Pokémon obeyed, and followed Charmeleon's light. Reno was leading the way. Finally, they reached an exit after another 4 hours of walking.

"Hey Mew," Reno called, "where's the Pokémon Center again?"

"It's on Cinnorare," Mew called back. "This is Cinnotare."

"I am so dumb," Reno retorted, hitting himself on the forehead.

The other Pokémon laughed. "What?" Reno asked.

"Nothing."

Reno shook his head in frustration. "I'll never learn them," he sighed. "Well, I guess we're gonna have to cross the sea. Everybody, get a flying or water Pokémon to cross the sea. Mew, you can use your psychic power to float two or three people across . . . heck, you could probably use them to float us all across, but we wanna have some fun, now don't we?"

"Mew mew, I think so," Mew agreed.

"I'm gonna go with you, Rainer," Reno called. "Hey, Ash, who do you want to resort to?"

"Squirtle!" he called, throwing his Poké Ball. "Jump into the water, and I'll ride you when they say so, to where they say!"

"OK, that works," Reno said sarcastically. "Now we'll tell you where we're going, eh?"

"Yeah," Ash replied. "Where's this 'Cinnorare Island?'"

"If you ride west of here . . ." Reno started, then pointed one of his little Raichu fingers out towards one end of the sea, ". . . you'll find it."

"OK," he said abruptly, and leaped into the water on Squirtle. He traveled in the direction. Behind him, each trainer either went with Mew, one of the Tidal Pokémon, or their own water Pokémon. Misty took Staryu, and Brock Starmie. Jessie and James had to retire, as well as Charcoal, to Mew. Meowth rode Rainer as well, and Zubat flew past them.

Rainer got ahead of Squirtle easily and led the way, until they found the beach of Cinnorare Island 5 minutes later.

"Everybody get ready," Reno shouted as loud as he could, "and slow down your Pokémon so you don't crash."

Soon, everybody had gotten onto the soft, white sand. Ash was exhausted now from the day's activities. They had been walking for 10 hours, including the time before their dash and wall encounter. It was about 1 P.M., but nearly everybody was exhausted.

"Hmm..." Reno said, turning around to see the trainers sitting on the beach and panting. "What are we gonna do?"

Ash was sitting by the water, at least 10 feet away. He stared over at the clear water and glistening light of Charcoal's tail reflecting in the water. The sun's yellow rays beat on the water. "Beautiful," he mumbled.

Reno's little eyes focused on the only trainer actually looking at something relaxing. But they were turned when he saw the movement of another, who moved next to him. He smiled.

How cute, he thought. But suddenly, he saw something traveling in the sea, and his happy expression quickly turned solemn, as he suddenly remarked, "We gotta go . . . now."

The Pokémon obeyed and all got the humans to move.

Ash yawned. "Why so quickly?" he muttered.

"I personally don't want to wake up tomorrow morning, travel here and find your dead body," Reno replied.

"Is it him again?" Shelly asked unenthusiasticly. Reno nodded, then put his head in his paw.

"Why does he have to bug us so much?" Rainer moaned.

"I don't know, but I certainly remember last time." Reno started to run, and shouted, "Run!"

Everybody started running, and Mew hung behind. "Mew Mew, it's him again!"

"Who's 'he?'" Ash asked as he ran, trying to catch his breath.

"It's Azon," Reno muttered, and groaned. "I still remember what he did the first time when we didn't expect him."

"What'd he do?" Ash puffed.

"Let's just say everybody fears coming with us because of him," Reno retorted, and that was the last heard from him.

Chapter 3
Love and a Place to Stay

Upon their arrival to the Pokémon Center, they dove into it. Next door to it was the nurse's house, but this nurse was not Nurse Joy. The nurse was a friend of the Pokémon's, and let their friends stay every time. Her name was Andrea.

"Well, hello Reno!" she said as Reno slammed the door of the center when everybody had been piled in. "What's up? . . . oh, it's him again, now isn't it?" Reno nodded, and she shook her head in dismay. "Why does he keep chasing you?"

"Get back at me for something," Reno suggested, "but I don't know what."

"Tidal Pokémon can sometimes suck," Charcoal muttered, "but not us."

"Anyone but us!" Rainer groaned.

"We're cool!" Mew said, giggling.

For the next half an hour, Andrea showed everyone around. Then she prepared milk shakes for them after taking them in her house to stay.

Finally, everybody was so tired by 3 that everybody had just settled down randomly on the couch. Somehow they managed to fit everyone on the two couches. Brock's snoring finally got to everyone so they threw him in the guest room, but he didn't mind very much for, as no one else wished to move, being the only one with a bed.

At about 12 Ash woke up. He yawned, and looked around. "Is it just me," he mumbled, "or am I the last one up?"

Andrea had apparently spent time in bed so she could stay up with her guests. Everybody was doing something.

"Yeah," Misty replied. "You're the last one up."

"Shoot." He pushed himself up on the couch and looked at the TV. "Can you change the channel?"

"Ssshhh!" nearly everyone hissed.

"Geez," Ash muttered, jumping off of the couch. "I won't ask." He went to find Pikachu.

"Hey Ash," Pikachu called. "Come here." He brought him upstairs into one of the many guest rooms. "I wanna ask you something. Would it be lame, do you think, if we played a good game of Truth, Dare, Double Dare, Promise to Repeat?"

"Um . . ." Ash thought for a moment, "I don't know. Why?"

"I had an idea to play, but if you didn't want to, then . . ."

"Well, it wouldn't be that bad . . ." Ash stood up. "Let's rejoin 'em and drop the bomb."

After going back down the stairs, Ash asked, "Does anybody want to play Truth, Dare, double dare, promise to repeat?"

They all looked at each other, switched off the TV, and said, "OK, whatever, there's nothing better to do."

"Who starts?" Jessie asked.

"Hey, wait!" Ash said. "If you don't want to do the dare or don't want to tell the truth, there is a consequence, in other words something else you have to do. There can be up to 2 extra dares. All consequences are dares, and they can get worse the original dare or question, or saying, and you have to do the last one they offer you, you can't take the original unless the person telling you to says you can. Got it?"

Everybody nodded uneasily. "I guess so," Brock said.

"I'll start," Andrea said, and thought for a moment, and chose Brock. After she humiliated him with a kiss on the cheek to Shelly, he picked Reno, who became thoroughly embarrassed by revealing an embarrasing secret to a truthful question. After half an hour, somebody chose Brock, who decided then to choose Misty.

"Dare," Misty said unthinkingly.

"Hmm . . ." Brock said. He gave up thinking after a bit, knowing everything else had already been picked, except for one he hadn't thought of.

Andrea poked him and whispered something into his ear. His face lit up and he whispered it to Jessie, who told James. James told Meowth, and then Brock said, "OK, Misty . . ."

Misty nodded. "Uh huh . . ." She folded her arms on her chest. "Tell me."

"Are you sure? I can do something worse."

"Just tell me the stinkin' dare."

"OK, Misty . . . I dare you to kiss Ash," Brock said. Ash's eyes got big, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Misty's eyes turned fiery. "No way!"

"OK, then I dare you to kiss him on the lips for 10 seconds," Brock laughed.

"Forget it!"

"OK, your last chance, for 25 seconds, on the lips." Brock smiled smugly, and Andrea held in her laughter, or at least she tried to.

Misty walked to Ash, who was still lying on the ground in embarrassment. She pointed to him and retorted, "I hate him! You know I only stay with him for my bike!"

"Misty, your bike is nothing," Brock said thoughtfully. "You know that you're just embarassed to kiss him because inside you really like him. I know that feeling. It's hard to admit when you like someone."

Ash, who had recovered from his 'faint,' now muttered, "But what makes you think I would let her kiss me . . ."

Brock looked Ash straight in the eye. "Ash, I know you too. I bet you also hide feelings for her, even though you don't want to admit it, just like her. This is kind of your dare as well as hers, get my drift? Why would you go so far out of your way to save her earlier, when we were on the beach? You were frantic. You know you like her, just like she likes you."

Andrea winked. "And you two look really cute together, also!" she said, giggling.

Brock high-fived with her.

Everybody, even the Pokémon, were cheering, "Kiss her Ash!" and "Kiss him Misty!"

Finally, Misty stared straight into Ash's eyes. He closed his eyes, and frowned. Misty stepped forward, until they were touching. She kissed him for the next 5 seconds before the crowd suddenly snapped out of daze and realized they were more than just kissing. Ash seemed like he really enjoyed her dare. In fact, Reno noticed first that Ash had put his arms around her, and she did the same. Brock counted to 25, but "accidentally" counted 3 numbers twice, so 3 seconds were added to the total. Finally, after 28 seconds, the two pulled away from each other. Ash wiped his lips and pretended to be disgusted, but Brock could see contentment in his eyes. Andrea looked at Misty, who just stared at Ash.

Both of them were blushing and looking away from each other in total embarassment.

"Misty, your turn," Brock reminded her.

Misty was still in a daze, with a blank stare. Then she shook her head and said, "Andrea. . ." and collapsed.

"Double Dare," Andrea said, looking at Misty who had broken into a strange smile.

"She's out," Ash observed. Misty still had that weird smile on her face.

"Why don't you give me a dare?" Andrea asked.

"OK, why don't you kiss Brock?"

Brock blushed. He had noticed Andrea was quite pretty, with golden brown hair and sea blue eyes.

Andrea frowned. "Um. . ." she started, and kissed Brock on the cheek.

He did the same as Misty.

"Reaction of love," Reno spoke up. "Misty really likes Ash. Brock liked you, so he did the same thing Misty did without thinking. So that equals that Misty likes you, Ash! Good luck, man!"

"Hey, I don't like her!" Ash lied.

Finally, after another hour, everybody was dead tired, entertained, and humiliated. They all went to bed. Misty and Ash, side by side in sleeping bags Andrea had provided, had fallen asleep, or Misty just pretended to.

She began to sing to herself a song, and somewhat to Ash:

"Out here in the quiet of the night,
beneath the stars, and moon . . .
We both know we've got somethin' on our minds,
we won't admit,
but it's true . . .

"You look at me, I look away. . ."
She looked at him for a minute, and turned.
"I wanna tell you what I'm feelin',
but I don't know how to start
I wanna tell you,
but now I'm afraid that you might break my heart. . .
Oh, why should anything so easy
ever be so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feelin',
and to say that . . ."

She paused, and then out loud, whispered to him, "I love you." Of course, he heard nothing. Unable to sleep, though exhausted, she turned to see Rainer sitting behind her.

"I heard that," Rainer said smugly.

"So what?!" Misty said with annoyance in her voice. "As long as you don't tell . . . well, I'm OK."

"OK, I promise," Rainer said, putting out his paw to shake. She shook.

With that, she felt better and fell asleep.

Chapter 4
Promise Me!

The next morning came slowly. Nobody woke up until at least 9, and last awakening was Reno. He yawned, lifting his head from the couch and jumped up, realizing everyone was already awake, but the 5 humans away from home were talking in more of a concerned manner. He noticed this, and bounded over to them.

"Hey, you look blue," Reno said, looking them up and down. "Why the long faces?"

"Well, maybe if you were lost from home with no clue where the heck you are, you might know why," Jessie muttered.

"I get your drift," Reno replied. "Now where are you from?"

"Well, we were by Fuschia City when this hurricane swept us away, and we washed up on this other island," Ash explained.

"Fuschia City? Dang, you guys are far from there. Dude, Pallet Town's the closest town on the mainland, and that's still over 70 miles from here. Gosh, how'd you manage to get that far?"

"Don't ask me," Ash answered. "I just blacked out after swallowing a truckload of water. Thank goodness Brock saved me."

"We were discussing how to get home," James brought in.

"Hmm . . ." Reno said thoughtfully. "I have an idea. But I'll tell you later, after I know some more info. Anyways, let me tell the other Pokémon."

Reno stalked off without another word, and left the others wondering.

Soon all was well again, as they cheered up and decided to eat something. Andrea had cooked pancakes for her guests, and soon everybody was ready to eat. They dug in, and started a table conversation.

"Well, what say we visit the tidal pools this morning?" Rainer asked the group.

"Nah," Reno said. "I think they've had enough sea."

"Okay then, how about we play some cards? A nice game of war?"

"Forget it. War sucks."

"Well, what do you want to do?" Rainer said, annoyed by Reno's stubborn attitude.

"Something," Reno replied. "And I know just what-Ehrgeiz, the game where we can beat the crap out of PlayStation characters!"

"Yeah!" everyone agreed.

After an hour of playing, Misty smirked, undefeated.

"How'd she win?" Ash asked Brock.

"Beats me," Brock answered.

Finally everybody was bored again.

"Now what do we do?"

The question rung in Reno's head over and over as he thought of something to do. "Look," he muttered, "just shut up so I can think, okay?"

Finally he came up with something. "You know how there are lots of wild Pokémon around, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"And some people here are trying to be Pokémon masters, right?"

Ash nodded eagerly.

"Well, I've got an idea then. Everybody look around for Pokémon and catch 'em all you want! Then, when you're done, you can come back here for lunch." Reno decided it would be a way to spend their time, so he could keep Charcoal here for an errand. But before they left, he shouted, "Wait!!" They all stopped. "Ash, let me have your Pokédex."

Ash handed him the Pokédex. "I'm giving you the specially changed forms of Tidal Pokémon," Reno informed him. He used his tail to zap open the back and update the chip of data inside. He gave it back to him. "There ya go. Now b'gone, y'all, and happy catchin'!" He motioned to Charcoal for him to stay.

"I need you," he whispered to Charcoal. "Follow them and let them catch any Pokémon they want, except for the Raichu. Those must stay here, for the Master."

"He doesn't care about any other species? Goodness, he's strict."

"I bet that's why he chases us every time."

"Yeah, all these trainers we take and we don't give a crap what Pokémon they catch. But last night I had a dream where he told me to keep them from the tidal Raichu."

"Well, I'll do whatever he says, as long as he won't eat the meat off my bones, or yours. OK, I'll get to work." Charcoal parted, and Reno's eyes suddenly glowed with a lighter blue as he fell down to the ground, to awaken later, when his master told him to . . .

While he was out, he had a dream. In his dream, he saw a person. He was strangely familiar, but he couldn't tell who he was. That person suddenly turned into the horrible being the Tidal Pokémon had to call master. His name was Azon.
When he awoke, everybody was back home, looking at him. He was all wet, apparently from sweating in fear.

"Hello," he mumbled. "And what is so interesting?"

"You're soaked," Rainer said. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Bad dream."

"Ooh, Reno still sweats from nightmares!" Shelly teased.

"Azon's been taunting me lately," Reno snapped. "I think you would do the same!"

Each Tidal Pokémon stiffened up.

"You're serious?" Rainer finally spoke up. "He gives you dreams?"

"Who can help it? He's mad because of the Tidal Raichu around here!" Reno sighed. "He wants to make sure each trainer doesn't catch a Tidal Raichu, as if those have anything to do with anything."

"I think it's because he doesn't want any more of you being trained, because of all the torture the poor trainers go through!" Charcoal joked.

"Don't make me hit you with my icy stare," Reno snapped back. "You remember last time that happened."

"Unfortunately I do." Charcoal shivered. "A little too well."

"Than shut up about my kind."

"OK." Charcoal moved away.

"Augh!" Rainer said. "Does anyone else feel something. . . strange?"

"I do," Mew mumbled, holding her head. "My head hurts."

"Mine, too," Reno remarked, pushing his head further into the couch pillow.

"Augh, it hurts," Charcoal muttered, with a grip to his head.

"I wonder if we're gonna make it . . ." Shelly gasped.

"Is it Azon?" Andrea asked them.

"I think so," Mew said, the only one strong enough to talk then.

Suddenly, the room went black. They could see in the air a figure much like a very large Charizard, only with blue flame and an icy-looking body. "You have done nothing to please me! For as long as you remain in my plan, you shall experience this . . . come and remain that the reign of the Tidal Pokémon does not end! And all of those who have tried so hard to escape their pain, they shall never lose me until they have done at least SOMETHING to help Azon the great!" With that he disappeared.

For the next 15 minutes, there was silence.

"THAT was disturbing," Rainer finally broke in.

"VERY," Shelly retorted.

"Very messed-up," Charcoal agreed.

"Disturbing," Reno recalled Rainer's comment.

"Very sleep-inducing," came Mew's soft tone, as she slept, hovering in the air.

"I wonder how she can say that," Meowth said. "That disturbed even me, Meowth!"

"Well, you know how it is, being the rarest Pokémon," Ash said.

"And you guys are just pawns for Azon?" Misty asked.

"Well, we never agreed to be, but ever since a traveler got washed up here last year, he's been inducing lots of pain to us, but all we can do is just try and avoid him. He chases us now. Wishes for us to do his plans, but since we never agreed to do anything, he just tries to make us his master. We call him master, even though he's not. Heh, just thinks he is," Reno explained.

"That must suck," Ash commented.

"Believe me, it does."

"I know how you feel. I mean, I have Misty around all the time," Ash began, but got a decking from Misty in return. "Owee. . ." he muttered, holding the bump on his head.

"Well, you guys should look at our map upstairs for the way back to where you're going," Reno suggested. "Then we can help you a bit more."

After a couple of hours it grew dark, but because of the late time they had stayed up the night before, everybody went straight to bed. But since it was early, they had gotten 9 hours of sleep by 4 in the morning. Misty, Ash, and Brock had gone downstairs to watch TV, but upon their way heard something that made them shiver.

"I can't do it!"

"But you have to!"

"But why?"

"Or else he'll attack us worse 'n last time!"

"Is that humanly possible?"

"I don't know, but that's what he said."

"If I do it, will we get out from his control?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now will you do it?"

"Yeah."

"Promise me!"

Chapter 5
Danger is in the Eye of the Beholder

As the sun rose over the sky, everybody was already at the TV watching Pokémon Battle 2000. The battlers were Venusaur vs. Raichu. Reno, of course, was spouting, "GO RAICHU," while Bulbasaur, who had been let out of his Poké Ball, was jumping ahead with a wild, "VENUSAUR!! VENUSAUR!!"

Finally, everybody was tired as ever as the Pokémon battle ended-with a sharp Razor Leaf and power-blowing Thunderbolt, the two Pokémon fainted at the same time.

"My Pokémon would've won any day," Reno muttered. "But Venusaur was at a higher level." It was true, Venusaur had been at level 70 and Raichu at lv. 67, but overall, Venusaur probably would've won if they were at the same level.

"Yeah, you're just jealous 'cuz Venusaur whupped you," Bulbasaur contradicted.

"No, he didn't, they fainted at the same time," Reno convinced him.

"Whatever," Bulbasaur said under his breath.

"Anyway," Reno announced, "what does everybody want to do?" Nobody but Shelly noticed him wink.

Charcoal jumped up. "I've got an idea!" he said. "How about we play another game?"

"What did you have in mind?" Reno asked.

"Monopoly."

"Nah." Everybody shook their heads.

"Okay then, how about something else, like . . ." Charcoal started, but stopped at a lack of games to play.

"Fun can be so hard to find sometimes," Ash sighed.

"I know," Misty agreed as she laid her head further in to the couch and propped her feet on the coffee table before them. She stuck her hand out, and Brock randomly selected one of the magazines sitting on the table and gave it to her. Within seconds, her eyes lit up, and no matter what Ash did, he could not pry her attention from the magazine, until Pikachu decided to give her a shock.

"Well, I guess fun wasn't so hard for her to find," Pikachu said.

"The only thing in my mind is what we played last night. But I know you're all bored of that and Ash and Misty wouldn't dare kiss each other again." Meowth sighed, putting his hands behind his head.

"What can we do?" Jessie finally said. "Aside from watching TV? This is getting horribly boring."

"We could go and try to catch Pokémon," Ash suggested. Reno pounded him with an Icy Stare, which, unfortunately, is a Tidal Raichu's attack. Ash froze, literally, and became all blue, and then the ice shattered.

"I was just suggesting," he weakly spouted.

"I don't want any more encounters with Azon," Reno apologized. "I've had enough of him."

"Who hasn't," Shelly mused. She rolled her eyes over to Mew, who had just cooed a soft word, which she couldn't quite make out. "What was that?" she asked her.

"It was a call for Azon," Mew whispered to her. "A fake call. Everybody, get ready for a full force attack to Azon, who should be coming any second! Humans, get your Pokémon ready!"

All the trainers threw their Poké Balls, and the room was filled with Pokémon.

"Isn't this rather dangerous?" Misty questioned, looking around the room at the Pokémon all ready for attack.

"Dangerous?" Reno sarcastically laughed. "Danger, my friend, is in the eye of the beholder, until you see Azon."

Suddenly, the middle of the room emerged into a Pokémon, apparently Azon. "ATTACK!" Mew ordered. Azon, unexpecting this attack, could not teleport before he was pounded with Thunder, Ice, Fire, Water, Psychic power, Grass, physical, Flying, Rock, and Dragon power as all the trainer's Pokémon and the Tidal Pokémon attacked, full force to the horrifying creature in the middle.

Azon screamed out in pain, and then collapsed onto the ground.

"You were sayng, dangerous about Azon?" Misty said in a smug tone.

"Don't rub it in," Reno muttered.

Azon's eyes popped open. Mew shocked him with Psybeam, but Azon roared as he flapped his dragon-like wings and flew off of the ground. "You guys will never lose me!" he screamed, and as he turned around four times and disappeared, all could see the scar on his back.

"Now that was . . . um . . . well . . . uh . . . uncalled for," Mew said blankly.

"Totally," Pikachu agreed.

Reno stared with a lack of expression at the place where Azon had been lying on the ground. He said nothing.

"Is everything alright?" Andrea finally asked. "I know Azon just spooked you guys, but are you guys feeling okay?"

Reno, still focusing on nothing in particular except the floor where Azon had been, nodded, his eyes fixed on that one spot in the carpet.

Mew did a flip in the air, and Shelly said a cheery, "Yeah." Rainer and Charcoal did a fake battle to prove their fine condition.

"OK, I'm glad you're all feeling fine," Andrea assured.

After another half hour of doing nothing, (and Reno had not yet moved from staring at the ground) Reno finally spoke, still staring at the floor, "We gotta get outta here."

"Why?" Mew asked.

"I don't know," Reno said. "But I sense something. Something bad." He closed his eyes for the first time in 35 minutes, and concentrated for a few seconds. "Something like Azon will destroy this place if we don't get out soon."

"Are you sure?" Andrea asked. "Sure you're OK?"

"Yeah . . ." he mumbled. "But I sense something, dangerous."

Suddenly, a voice from out of nowhere spoke, "Danger is in the eye of the beholder, my friend Reno . . ." An evil laugh rang out through the house.

Reno looked solemnly at his friends in the room. "We've got to get out . . . soon."

He turned, and, looking back, beckoned for them to follow. He dashed out the door. All Pokémon and Trainers followed him, and he dove right into the water, and everyone but Charizard and Charcoal did the same. But Mew ferried them across the water in the air.

"This is pretty dangerous," Ash called out to Reno as he held his head above the water.

Reno treaded water as he turned around and shouted back, for the last words he said for a very long time, "Danger, my dear Ash, is in the eye . . ." His blue eyes had a glint in them, but as Ash looked into them, he could see fear. He continued, ". . . of the beholder."

Chapter 6
The Lead to Cinnotare

"Danger's gonna follow us," Pikachu cried after a long 8 minutes of swimming toward Cinnotare. "My fur is getting so wet I might just be pulled under for its weight."

"Even my psy powers are beginning to fail," Mew said over sobs. "I'm so scared. What are we gonna do?"

Misty, who had finally given up swimming, had grabbed onto Ash as he rode on Squirtle (who had no trouble swimming, ferrying his two passengers.) She had tears spilling out of her eyes, and Ash, who had been heavily denying it before, could not bear to see Misty like that, and had told Squirtle to go toward Cinnotare with the rest. Now holding her in his arms, the two remained in an embrace for a while.

Brock was swimming not far away from there, and had chuckled when he saw it. "Those two are meant for each other," he told himself, knowing that the facts each held in their hearts away from all others were really quite clear.

Nearly everyone was either scared to death and sobbing, scared half to death and out of fear swimming, or scared and riding Pokémon. Mew was floating above the water, easily, but could barely ferry the two Pokémon she bore across the water. Ash let go of Misty so he could call back Charizard, and Charcoal was much easier to carry. Mew, although still using her psychic power, was crying hard, scared as ever.

"Why does he have to torture us?" Reno sobbed, riding Rainer, who was also contributing water to the sea. "Why? What is it we hold? Us Pokémon, we hold nothing . . . nothing of worth, nothing we could ever do for Azon . . ." He quit talking to himself and cried.

Half an hour had passed, and by now even Ash and Misty had realized that Cinnotare Island was not where it had been.

"This can't be real. . ." Reno breathed, looking at the empy ocean where the large island had been. "It's not there."

Mew just stared and sighed. "What can we do? What will we do?" she asked, fear building in her.

"We can't give up," Ash suddenly spoke up. "That's what we can't do. And what will we do? We'll follow the lead to Cinnotare! We can't give up now! We just can't!"

"That was beautiful," Misty sighed, staring at him through tranced eyes. She hugged him tighter.

Another 10 minutes past. Andrea was next to speak. "This is getting dumb. Here we are, a roudy group scared out of our minds for a dumb creature we outnumber totally, tiring ourselves as he 'chases us.' We haven't seen him since Mew's fake call. What are we running from? Why?"

"He promised if we could get to Cinnotare and destroy the cave, he'd let us go . . ." Reno mumbled sadly. "That is one of the last places my kind live. . ." His sobs got greater as he moaned over what would soon be the loss of many Tidal Raichu.

"Don't cry, Reno," Mew comforted, and began to sing a gentle lullaby. Reno stopped crying and hugged Mew. "I'll do something for you."

Reno looked at Mew with questioning eyes. She'll do something for me? What can she do for me? I'm just a Tidal Raichu, and she's a Mew . . . he thought.

"You wonder what I can do for you. . ." Mew said thoughtfully. ". . . I am a rare, ancient Pokémon, matching ancient legends and myths . . . and yet, I, such a delicate and easygoing creature. You doubt such power . . . but I do not even know what I can do. I'll do something for you. . . and you'll find pleasure in your gift. Why do you recieve my gift? For being my friend. For a man or creature, no matter who he or she is, is somebody as long as they have friends. And you, Reno, have been a very good friend." Mew hugged Reno again.

He closed his eyes, still with shining tears of his fear. Mew's words echoed in his mind. For a man or creature, no matter who he or she is, is somebody as long as they have friends.

He opened his eyes. "C'mon, everybody," he said, with a glint now not of the tears that had left his eyes, but a glint of determination, "let's find Cinnotare!"

Chapter 7
The Time Has Come

The gang began to swim again. Every human was now riding a water Pokémon, and Pokémon were being ferried by either Mew or another Pokémon, or just being the ferries themselves. Rainer, now carrying Reno, and Shelly, who carried Brock, swam side by side and talked happily and cheerfully for the first time that day.

Reno, still being determined and cheerful on the outside, was completely puzzled. What could that gift be?

"Wohow!" Ash cried excitedly as he surfed on Squirtle with Misty holding on his shoulder. "This is fun! Cinnotare Island, here we come!"

Misty beamed as she held on for the ride. "Oh, I hope this will never end!" she sang out, and squeezed her grip around Ash tighter.

"You two look like you really enjoy this!" Brock said as Shelly moved over next to Squirtle, as both of them tirelessly swam around the deep blue.

"Believe me, Brock, I've never felt better!" Ash shouted happily.

Misty leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, and he blushed, but nobody noticed, except for Brock, who just smiled.

"Where could Cinnotare be?" Reno asked. "But wherever it is," he added, smiling, "I hope it's far away!"

Ash had Misty let go of him and sit down while he surfed. "A song . . ." he said, smiling.

"A song?" Misty's eyes brightened. "Sing it!"

Ash began to sing the such the familiar song that we all know:

"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was.
To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause.
I will travel, 'cross the lands, searching far and wide,
Each Pokémon, to understand,
the power that's inside!

Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all,
It's you and me.
I know it's my destiny!
Pokémon,
Oh, your my best friend,
in a world we must defend!
Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all,
A heart so true,
Our courage to pull us through!
You teach me, and I'll teach you!
Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all!

Every challenge, along the way
With courage I will face.
I will battle, every day
To claim my rightful place.
Come with me, the time is right.
There's no better team.
Arm in arm, we'll win the fight;
it's always been our dream!

Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all,
It's you and me.
I know it's my destiny!
Pokémon, oh your my best friend,
In a world we must defend!"
Pikachu jumped away from Rainer onto Ash's shoulder. "You're my best friend!" he rejoiced, as Ash continued singing:

"Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all,
A heart so true.
Our courage to pull us through!
You teach me, and I'll teach you!
Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all,
gotta catch 'em all!

Gotta catch 'em all . . .

Pokémon!"

Everybody applauded, and then Reno shouted, "I see it!" Everybody quieted down, and Reno continued, "The time has come! I see Cinnotare Island! C'mon, everybody! It's time for us to go home!"

Chapter 8
Mew's Gift

It was a beautiful sight. The lush green mountain on Cinnotare, the tall green palms, the beautiful beach and seawater. It was away from home, and yet so home-away-from-home style. Best yet, the way to get away from Azon's uncontrollable power and horrible mind control.

As Reno stared at his birth place, he noticed something. All the Tidal Raichu were on the beach, playing games and swimming happily. The cave was gone.

"Mew, did you lead the Raichu out of the cave and destroy it?" Reno asked.

"Sort of. But it was in you. Your faith and determination, how you could never give up, all of our teamwork . . . that lead every Pokémon that dwelled in the cave to come out and live peacefully as the cave slowly disappeared . . . my gift to you was to let you know this would hapen in a way you could not figure this out, but to get this to happen for you." Mew had tears in her eyes of joy. "But the biggest gift of all is that Azon is gone, and we're all together, forever, and are friends till the end. And we no longer have to follow the lead of that horrible dragon!"

Everybody had begun to cry as they landed on the beach. Misty, Ash, and Brock felt right at home, but in Ash's heart, he wanted to return. But he did not know how. He felt so happy, and yet, a longing to see those he missed still remained deep inside.

Suddenly, Ash's eyes directed away from the beautiful and happy scene and to a young woman in front of him. Misty, who had finally learned that with her hair down she looked prettier, stood before him, beckoning. He followed her, and soon they had walked up the mountain trail to a place overlooking everything.

Ash put his arm around her, for now nobody watched. He felt terrific, not only for being able to admit that he liked Misty, but also because he learned the greatest lesson ever: friendship, love, and teamwork are more priceless than all the money in the world, and can beat even the hardest evil.

TO BE CONTINUED IN
The Tale of Cinnorare Island, part 2
Clip:

Reno's life was flashing before his eyes. "I promised I would get them home . . . but now I'm unsure if I'll even save myself . . ."