It was a fine day above the sky of Ash and his comrades, Misty and Brock. As they were traveling through Johto back toward home, they looked for a place to stop and eat. Suddenly, Ash stopped and saw a friend of his, no other than Casey. She looked really discouraged, so Ash went to see what was wrong.
"Hey Casey, what's wrong?" Ash asked in curiosity.
Casey went straight to the point. "The Electabuzz team gained a losing streak of...!" She couldn't finish.
Ash responded, "Well, you really can't prevent that. Just keep cheering them on! Want to battle?"
"I guess," Casey said, "but I'm not sure that will cheer me up."
During the battle, Casey didn't seem as pumped as she usually is. She slipped when trying to send out her Meganium and the way she ordered moves was not very enthusiastic. Ash knew there was something on her mind that was more than the fail of the Electabuzz team, and whatever it is, it is making a dent in her battle performance. She lost the battle.
"I know something's on your mind, Casey. Tell me hat's going on." Ash was worried.
"Ash, lunch is ready!" Brock called from the picnic site.
"C'mon, Casey. Join us for lunch!" Ash encouragingly said. But Casey ran away without a word.
"Huh. She's really upset about something." Misty said. Togepi wiggled around, and Misty knew it was hungry. So she put Togepi next to it's bowl. "Here you go." Pikachu came and tried to feed Togepi.
Suddenly, Professor Elm came by in the middle of lunch.
"Hey, Ash! Brock! Misty!" Professor Elm called out. "Mind if I join you for lunch?"
"Not at all!" Brock called back. "There's enough for you, too!"
Professor Elm came over. As usual, he was in his lab clothes, but he seemed to be carrying a lot of envelopes and other goodies. They were all pink. A few resembled Nurse Joy's face while others represented... pink Pokemon?
He sat down, grabbed a bowl, and scooped a bowlful of Brock's stew. After thanking the gang for the wonderful lunch, he said, "I'm passing out invites to Nurse Joy's birthday party- oops, I mean a few Nurse Joy's birthday parties... Man, it gets very confusing."
"I know what you mean." Ash replied.
"Wow! Nurse Joy's Birthday!" Brock was only thinking which one he wanted.
"Here. 3 tickets as approval to enter the party. Also, if you're worried about distance there are teleportation stations at every Pokemon Center. I'd better be off now to deliver the rest of the invites!" And at that Professor Elm turned to run.
"Okay, Professor. We'll be there!" Ash said with a smile.
Once they packed up, they set off for the Pokemon Center in New Bark town, the closest one.
TO BE CONTINUED...