Big Lake

The gang was on their way to Lavender Town for the next Pokemon contest. Ash couldn't wait to get to Lavender Town; going there meant he could see his old friend Ken again. Right now they had come to a big lake.

"Wow what a lake." Tomo said. "I bet a lot of water type Pokemon are living here."

"There are." Ash commented. "I saw this lake on the computer some time ago and it says we are allowed to fish here. Oh but there are people that look after this lake, so we'll have to let them know that we are here and ask them if it's all right."

"I see a cabin there." Brock said, pointing to a wooden cabin. "So the people who look after the lake must be there."

The gang went up to the cabin and knocked on the door. An old woman and a young woman opened the door and greeted the gang. The young woman's name was Tiffany and the old woman was Tiffany's grandmother Galea. Ash asked Tiffany and Galea if they could fish in the lake.

"Of course." Tiffany said. "Trainers are always welcome to fish here and they are also welcome to train their Pokemon. Just don't cause any damage or go crazy capturing the wild Pokemon. We had some troublesome trainers here before and they really upset the Pokemon around here."

"Don't you worry." Brock reassured them. "We've trained around lakes before and we have always been careful."

Tiffany and Galea were happy to hear that.

"Maybe one of you trainers will be lucky enough to catch the Masquerain." Galea said.

Galea explained that a wild Masquerain lived around the lake and she said that this Masquerain was something special.

"It knows the moves Hydro Pump, Psybeam and Signal Beam."

"Whoa Hydro Pump and Psybeam must be egg moves because they can't normally learn those moves." Max said.

Ash thought this Masquerain would make an excellent addition to his team.

"Many trainers have tried to capture it." Tiffant said. "But that Masquerain defeats their Pokemon no matter what type they use. Capturing it won't be easy."

"Well you kids enjoy yourselves." Galea said. "And tell us if you need anything."

And so the gang settled down by the lake.

"This is a good chance to train my new Metapod and help it evolve into Butterfree." May said.

Her Caterpie evolved into Metapod just after May won the Silver Town contest.

"Hey Ash, can I borrow your Blastoise? I want it to help train Squirtle."

"Of course." Ash said.

He had Blastoise with him and gave Blastoise's Poke Ball to May. Tomo decided to train his Pidgey and his new Natu; he hadn't started training Natu yet. Brock and Max decided to check out the lake for water type Pokemon together and Ash decided to look for the Masquerain and catch it.

"Are you sure about that Ash?" Brock asked. "Tiffany said it may be impossible to catch."

"Yep, that Masquerain will be perfect for my team." Ash said. "And I have the right Poke Ball for the job."

He took out a bluish-green and black Poke Ball from his pocket.

"Hey that's a Net Ball." Max said. "That's used to capture water and bug type Pokemon. Where did you get that Ash?"

"I got it before Tomo, Brock and I left Hoenn." Ash said. "And since Masquerain is a bug/flying type I will use this on it."

He decided to head off on his own, leaving the others to find the Masquerain.

With Brock and Max watching the lake and May's Eevee egg and Ash going off on find Masquerain May and Tomo got ready to train. Tomo went to some trees and called out his Natu and Pidgey. Even though Natu was a baby, she already knew some good moves. She knew Peck, Leer, Night Shade, Teleport and the egg moves Drill Peck and Quick Attack.

"Okay Natu, you and Pidgey are going to train together today." Tomo said. "Pidgey, I need you to help Natu with Quick Attack and teach her Steel Wing and Air Cutter."

Pidgey had learned Steel Wing and Air Cutter from Ash's Corviknight, and now Pidgey will be the teacher for Natu. Natu couldn't fly well because her wings were too small, but she could still learn Air Cutter and Steel Wing.

May was by some trees too and she called out her Metapod.

"Okay Metapod, let's help you evolve into Butterfree." She said. "And once you are a Butterfree you can enter the Pokemon contests with me."

Metapod wanted to evolve into Butterfree and be in Pokemon contests and wanted to train right away.

"We'll train with Squirtle; he'll be perfect for this." May said.

So she released her Squirtle and they got ready to train Metapod.

Meanwhile...

Ash began searching for Masquerain.

"This is taking too long. Time for me to use my aura." He closed his eyes and thought in his mind that he wanted to find a Masquerain. Then the aura energy appeared in Ash's eyes again and showed him the surroundings of the lake. Then at last he saw the shape of a Masquerain between some trees.

"There you are. You're flying in my direction." He said. "I'll hide behind a tree and wait for you to get closer."

So Ash hid behind a tree and waited for Masquerain. Soon it appeared and Ash stepped out from behind the tree.

"I'm going to capture you Masquerain." Ash said.

He released his Pupitar. Masquerain was 4x weak to Pupitar. Masquerain fired Bubble Beam at Pupitar.

"Dodge that and use Ancient Power Pupitar." Ash said.

Pupitar dodged Bubble Beam and fired pointed stones at Masquerain, but it dodged the attack.

"This might be hard because I know how fast Drew's Masquerain is." Ash said.

Meanwhile...

May was looking over how her Squirtle and Metapod were doing. So far she had them practice their attacks.

"Okay Squirtle let's have Ash's Blastoise show you some of it's attacks." May said.

Squirtle was delighted to hear that; he met Blastoise before and got along well with him. May released Blastoise from his Poke Ball and Blastoise and Squirtle were happy to see each other.

"Excuse me Blastoise." May said. "But can you show Squirtle some of your moves?"

Blastoise was more than happy to do that. He showed Squirtle the attacks Bite, Rapid Spin and Protect. Blastoise remembered what it was like being a Squirtle and knew it should stick with the smaller move rather then the full powered moves. May's Squirtle was nowhere near ready to learn very powerful attacks yet.

"Wow Blastoise your Bite, Rapid Spin and Protect were great." May said. "Hey Squirtle why don't you try and learn the moves while I deal with Metapod?"

Squirtle was more than happy to train with Blastoise.

*Elsewhere...*

Ash was having a hard time with Masquerain; being a speedy Pokemon it was difficult for Pupitar to hit it.

"Okay let's do it this way." Ash said. "Pupitar, Screech."

Ash covered his ears, while Pupitar used Screech. The Screech kept Masquerain from doing anything.

"Now's your chance Pupitar, Stone Edge." Pupitar fired sharp, pointed stones at Masquerain and the stones hit it.

Masquerain wasn't beaten yet and it fired Hydro Pump.

"Use Dig Pupitar." Ash said.

Pupitar tunneled underground and avoided Hydro Pump.

"Dark Pulse." Ash said.

Pupitar jumped out of the hole and fired a beam of black and purple rings of energy at Masquerain.

"Okay I think it's been weakened enough." Ash said.

He tossed the Net Ball at Masquerain and Masquerain was sucked inside it. Ash was worried when the Net Ball shook because he feared Masquerain wasn't weak enough yet. But the Net Ball dinged, which meant that his capture of Masquerain was successful.

"All right we did it!" Ash cheered.

Pupitar jumped up and down, cheering.

"Let's check out Masquerain." Ash said.

He looked it up on the Pokedex. His Masquerain was female and knew Bubble, Quick Attack, Sweet Scent, Bubble Beam, Mist, Ominous Wind, Gust, Aerial Ace, Stun Spore, Air Slash, Silver Wind, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Ice Beam and the egg moves Hydro Pump, Psybeam and Signal Beam.

"Wow I am so lucky to have a cool Pokemon like this." Ash said. "I wonder what Drew would think if he saw this?"

Pupitar figured that Drew would be speechless.

"Come on, let's go back to the others and let them know I've captured Masquerain."

Tomo was with Brock and Max along with Pidgey and Natu back in their Poke Balls. The training hadn't gone so well; Natu was still too young to perfect Quick Attack and learn Steel Wing and Air Cutter. Brock suggested that Tomo should wait until Natu grew a bit more and then try again. May had a surprise in store for the boys when she met up with them; her Metapod evolved into Butterfree. She also told them that Squirtle learned Bite, Rapid Spin and Protect thanks to Ash's Blastoise. Squirtle and Blastoise were back in their Poke Balls now.

"I wonder if Ash captured that Masquerain?" Max asked out loud.

Just then he arrived and told everyone else that he captured Masquerain.

"Wow, so that means we've had quite a day today." Brock said.

The gang exchanged their news with Tiffany and Galea. They also had tea with them. Tiffany and Galea were happy that Ash caught Masquerain. And Tiffany wished May luck with Butterfree. Today had been quite the day for the gang.