Episode 40:
Pikas at Sea

Sara was getting better at swimming every day. She beat Icy twice in a race earlier and was close to beating Neptune. Neptune won the first round and the two pokémon lined up at the end of the pool to start round two. Icy signaled to start and they jumped in. Neptune easily took the lead with Sara not too far behind. By halfway, Sara was beginning to catch up. Neptune gave it her last best effort and beat Sara again by only a fraction of a second.

“I think she’s got the hang of it,” the trainer said. Sara shook herself dry and went over to Icy. She was so worn out that she fell right into his arms. Neptune continued playing in the pool while Icy took Sara back to the room.

“Did you see me out there Icy?” she asked.

“Yeah. You were good. You almost beat Neptune!”

“Thanks. You were right. Swimming is fun!” With that, she fell asleep. Icy decided it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to catch a quick nap himself. He wanted to be ready for the journey to Cinnabar Island later that day.

After a few hours, Icy woke up to find ten Caterpie comfortably snuggled up to him. The rest of his pokémon and Sara were also asleep in various places in the room. Icy poked Verde and she woke the rest of the Caterpie. They wiggled off of Icy and woke the others.

“Listen up everyone, we’re leaving today for Cinnabar Island. It’s not too far from here. We should get there before nightfall.” His pokémon nodded in confirmation and Icy returned them to their pokéballs. He and Sara left the room and waved good-bye to the resort staff. Then, they walked down the road to the Seafoam Docks.

“Come out Cyber!” Cyber appeared and awaited Icy’s next command. “Cyber, run Jetboat program. Convert now!” After a few alterations, Cyber took on the form of a small jetboat. Icy motioned to Sara. “C’mon. Cyber will get us to Cinnabar in no time!” She jumped in and they departed from the Seafoam Islands.

They were making excellent time as Cyber raced over the water. Then, Icy saw something up ahead and told Cyber to stop. A water pokémon trainer was working with her Seadra. She quickly noticed the approaching Porygon Jetboat.

“Hello. Nice boat... Hello?” She looked around but couldn’t find anyone. “That’s odd. Porygons don’t just turn into boats and go for joyrides...” Icy came up top of Cyber and looked at the trainer. “Well hello there little Pikachu. What are you doing way out here?”

“I would ask you the same question, but you obviously are a water trainer. The name’s Icy.” She stared at him for a few seconds wondering if she was seeing things. “No dream. I am a psychic trainer. There was an accident that caused me to become a Pikachu.” Sara now came up to join Icy on deck.

“Who’s that?” she asked Icy.

“She’s a water pokémon trainer. Don’t worry, I don’t sense she has intentions to capture us.”

“Well, Icy, would you care for a quick battle. My Seadra could use some experience. What do you say?”

Icy agreed and expanded one of his pokéballs. “Ready to fight, come in sight! Icy calls, Buttercup!” Buttercup materialized in the air. The trainer’s Seadra looked at its opponent. “Buttercup, psybeam now!”

“Seadra, bubble attack now!” Buttercup fired her psybeam at Seadra. It cut through some of the bubbles but got deflected by others. Only a weak portion of the beam hit Seadra. Seadra prepared to make its move. “Seadra, knock that Butterfree out of the sky with your water gun!” Seadra fired rapidly at Buttercup but couldn’t keep up with her quick movements.

“Good work Buttercup. Try using your confusion attack.” Buttercup emitted a confusion wave and Seadra’s determined expression began to fade.

“Seadra, snap put of it! Water gun again!” Seadra fired again but this time its aim was way off.

“Finish it Buttercup. Psybeam now!” Buttercup glowed a bright blue then fired the beam straight at Seadra. The attack was enough to beat it and the trainer admitted defeat.

“Not bad. I guess my Seadra needs a little more training. Your Butterfree is very skilled with psychic attacks. You may even be able to beat Blain with it.”

“Thanks. Your Seadra wasn’t too bad itself. That bubble attack was a smart move. Well, we must be going now if we want to reach Cinnabar by night.”

“Farewell Icy and good luck!” She waved until Cyber was out of sight.

After a few more hours, the large volcano in the center of Cinnabar Island came into view. Cyber came into port and let Icy and Sara off. Icy returned Cyber to his pokéball and he and Sara walked to the local pokécenter. Nurse Joy happily allowed Icy and Sara to stay the night in the pokécenter. Icy dreamed of the battle he would have with Blaine the following morning.