Extreme Pokemon Race

The gang was on their way to Mahogany Town, the location of Ash's seventh gym badge. Right now they had just arrived in Eggseter Town. It was a beautiful town surrounded by mountains, valleys and hills. Just as the gang was about to head over to the town, they had an unexpected surprise. They saw Gary Oak riding a skateboard, which was being pulled by Arcanine, around the green hills.

"Hey Gary!" Ash called out.

Gary noticed the gang and greeted them.

"It's been a while since we last saw each other." Gary said.

"So Gary, what's with the skateboarding?" Ash asked.

"Well Ash, Arcanine and I are going to enter the Extreme Pokemon Race." Gary answered.

"What's that?" Ash asked.

Gary didn't answer; instead he and Arcanine took off. The gang also noticed that other trainers were skateboarding with their Pokemon.

"I guess they are all practicing for this extreme Pokemon race." Brock said.

The gang had a meal in a restaurant in Eggseter Town. But Ash kept thinking about the extreme Pokemon race.

"I think I want to enter this race." He admitted to the others. "But I don't know a thing about this extreme Pokemon race."

"Perhaps I can help." A voice said.

The voice belonged to an elderly man, who was sitting near the gang in the restaurant.

"I participated in the extreme Pokemon race a few times over the years." The man said. "So I will gladly help you practice for the race."

"Really?" Ash asked. "Thank you sir."

The man introduced himself as Mr. Shelby and the gang introduced themselves as well.

Mr. Shelby gave the gang a ride on his Tauros and cart.

"So Mr. Shelby, what is the extreme Pokemon race about?" Ash asked.

"Well Ash, the extreme Pokemon race is a sport that has been a tradition here in Eggseter Town for a long time." Mr. Shelby said. "You see a long time ago, before cars, trains, buses and bikes were invented, people used Pokemon to travel from the countryside to town, especially when there was an emergency. And even though there are now cars and all of that around, the people still love to ride with Pokemon, so we came up with the sport for them to enjoy."

Just then Tomo noticed a house with some people holding Pokemon eggs.

"Is that a Pokemon daycare center?" He asked.

"It is Tomo." Mr. Shelby answered. "There are lots of Pokemon daycare centers around here. In fact my wife and I run one too."

"Wow, could we visit it please?" Tomo asked.

"Yeah, can we?" Misty questioned. "It's been a while since we last visited a daycare center and we love looking at Pokemon eggs."

"Certainly." Mr. Shelby said. "I will gladly take you there."

Mr. Shelby brought the gang to his Pokemon daycare center and introduced his wife to the gang.

"It's so nice to have company here." Mrs. Shelby said.

Mrs. Shelby was taking care of a Pokemon egg. Apparently there were lots of Pokemon eggs in Mr. and Mrs. Shelby's daycare center and some baby Pokemon were walking around. The gang could not take their eyes off the Pokemon eggs and baby Pokemon.

While Misty, Tomo and Brock were helping Mrs. Shelby care for the Pokemon, Mr. Shelby helped Ash practice for the extreme Pokemon race. Mr. Shelby lent Ash his old kit for the sport; a skateboard and some equipment that trainers held onto while the Pokemon pulls the skateboard. Apparently Ash was good with skateboarding; he had done a lot of skateboarding and mountain boarding lots of times when he was younger. Ash had decided to use Bayleef as she was the right size for this and she was strong and fast. Gary noticed that Ash was practicing for the extreme Pokemon race.

"I warn you Ash." Gary said. "I won't be going easy on you in the race."

"Neither will I Gary." Ash replied.

Thanks to Mr. Shelby, Ash and Bayleef got the hang of the extreme Pokemon sport and they were ready for the race tomorrow.

The next day it was time for the extreme Pokemon race. Those who were not competing in the race were seating in seats and there was a camera and screen for the audience to see what was happening in the race. Tomo, Misty and Brock were in the seats. Ash and Gary, with Arcanine and Bayleef, were at the starting line with all the other participants and Pokemon. The rules were the participants had to race all the way to Mr. and Mrs. Shelby's daycare center, pick up a dummy egg and race back to the starting line which will become the finish line, holding the dummy egg. The winner would receive a gold trophy with a Poke Ball on top and the winning Pokemon would receive a medal.

"I'll see you at the finish line Ash." Gary said.

"It will be me at the finish line first Gary." Ash replied.

Soon the race had started. The competitors passed through the starting point and came to the mountain section of the course. Ash and Gary were in the lead and neither one of them was giving up. Arcanine and Bayleef were running as fast as they could to stay in the lead. After running through the mountain section, they ran through the valley until they finally reached the Shelby's daycare center. Mr. and Mrs. Shelby were happy to see Ash and Gary.

"You two are doing well for your first time competing in the extreme Pokemon race." Mr. Shelby said, giving Ash and Gary their dummy eggs.

Ash and Gary were about to leave when suddenly Arcanine started to bark loudly.

"What's wrong Arcanine?" Gary asked.

Arcanine was staring at the daycare center.

"Arcanine senses intruders in there." Ash said.

Ash was right; two men came out of the daycare center, carrying real Pokemon eggs in a basket.

"Hey put those eggs back!" Mr. Shelby shouted. "They are not yours!"

"On the contrary old man." One of the men said. "They are ours now."

"Yeah and they will become great Pokemon for our team." The other man said.

The men were just about to get away with the eggs, but Ash told Bayleef to use Vine Whip and grab the eggs.

"You aren't taking these eggs anywhere." Ash said.

Gary had Arcanine burn the crooks to a crisp with Flamethrower. The two men ran away in fear. Mr. and Mrs. Shelby thanked Ash and Gary for saving the eggs and then the two continued the race.

Everyone in the audience had seen what had happened on the screen and they were relieved that everything was okay now.

"Thank goodness Ash and Gary were there." Misty said.

"Yeah, otherwise those two men would have gotten away with the Pokemon eggs." Brock added.

Right now the competitors were racing through the mountain section again. Ash was having trouble with trying to pass Gary because the road on the mountain section was a bit narrow. But then Ash had an idea; there was a slope near where they were now and it turned to the road of the race. There was no rule saying the competitors couldn't take another route during the race, so Ash had Bayleef jump the slope to catch up to Gary. The audience went wild over Ash's stunt.

"All right big brother!" Tomo cheered.

Gary was impressed too.

"Hey Gary, last one to the finish line is a rotten egg." Ash said.

"You're on Ash." Gary said.

Ash and Gary were near the finish line and Arcanine and Bayleef were running as fast as they could to get to the finish line first.

"Go Arcanine!" Gary said.

"Go Bayleef!" Ash said.

It was close, but Bayleef got over the finish line first by a nose. Ash and Bayleef were both surprised and happy that they won the race. Gary congratulated Ash for the win. So Ash and Bayleef got the golden trophy and medal, and everyone clapped and cheered for them.

With the race now over, Gary got ready to leave.

"I'll see you at the Johto League Ash." Gary said.

"I will be there Gary." Ash said back.

Then Gary left. The gang was just about to get ready and leave too, but Mr. and Mrs. Shelby stopped them.

"Before you go Ash, my wife and I would like to present you with this gift." Mr. Shelby said.

Mrs. Shelby was holding an incubator with a Pokemon egg in it.

"This is to say thank you for rescuing our eggs." She said.

"Wow, thank you." Ash said, before accepting the gift.

He was happy to have received a Pokemon egg. The gang said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Shelby and left Eggseter Town.