Mikan Island

After receiving Lapras and meeting a new travel companion in the form of Tracey, Ash and the gang were riding Lapras across the ocean to get to an island called Mikan Island so Ash could obtain his first gym badge. The gang thought that riding Lapras across the ocean was fun, cheaper and faster than a ferry.

"I find it funny that I'm starting to collect the Orange League badges." Ash said. "I mean not that long ago, I started collecting badges for the Indigo League."

His friends smiled at that comment.

"Say big brother." Tomo said. "What do the Orange Island badges look like?"

"I have no idea." Ash admitted. "But I've heard the gym challenges here will be different than the ones in Kanto."

Soon they approached Mikan Island. The group disembarked from Lapras and Ash returned him to his Poke Ball to rest.

The gang walked along a path that was lined with palm trees, which led to and from the beach. Suddenly Tomo saw a coconut on the ground by the side of the road.

"Hey, a coconut!" He yelled in surprise. He liked coconuts.

He was about to pick it up when Ash stopped him.

"Hold it." He instructed. "This is a trap."

Ash pointed to a string attached to the coconut.

He could hear someone standing behind a tree and noticed a bucket hanging above them before releasing Pikachu from his Poke Ball.

"Pikachu, can you climb that tree and move the bucket?" He asked.

"Now for our little trick." Ash smiled.

Tomo, Pikachu and Growlithe snickered.

"Let's eat this coconut Tomo." Tomo picked the coconut up and when he did that the string pulled the bucket, tipping the water all over the prankster.

A young boy screamed and leaped out from behind the trees.

"What happened?" He shrieked. "I'm sure I placed the bucket in the right place."

"You did." Ash chuckled. "I heard you standing behind the tree though and asked my Pikachu to move the bucket."

The boy was in shock.

"It serves you right for playing pranks like that." Misty said.

Suddenly another laugh was heard. It came from a young woman and the boy froze when he heard it.

"I like how you handled my little brother like that." The woman said. "Senta, how many times have I told you not to prank visitors? And you should be finishing your homework."

"Yes sis." Senta said, walking away.

"I'm so sorry about my little brother's behavior."

"Don't worry about it." Ash said. "Anyway, my name's Ash and I'm looking for Mikan Island's gym."

"Ah a challenger." The woman said. "I'm Cissy and I'm this island's gym leader."

Cissy led the gang to a building on top of a hill.

"Welcome to the Mikan Gym." She said.

The gym looked like a cross between a barn and a beach house. Inside the gym was a pool battlefield, like the one in the Cerulean Gym.

"I've heard that the gym challenges in the Orange Islands are different from every other gym, right?" Ash questioned.

"That is correct." Cissy said. "You see, what we like to do is give trainers and their Pokemon challenges to see how strong both Pokemon and trainers are. So the challenges are a sort of battle test."

"I get it." Ash replied.

Cissy led Ash to the water field.

"We both use only water type Pokemon in this gym." She explained. "And we have to face two challenges. The first is a water gun challenge."

At the side of the pool was a very long bench with a long line of cans. And Senta, who was also Cissy's assistant, had a machine ready with some plates.

"The Pokemon who hits the most cans and plates is the winner of this challenge." Cissy said.

Her Pokemon was a Seadra and Ash chose Wartortle. In the end it turned out to be a tie.

"Well Ash, you did very well there." Cissy said. "But this challenge isn't over yet."

Cissy led the gang back to the beach.

"Our second challenge is a surfing race." She said. "We each ride standing up on a water type Pokemon, surf up to the markers on top of the ocean and back again. The first one back to the beach again wins."

The markers on top of the ocean were two white flags. Cissy had Blastoise and Ash used Lapras. Ash found it a bit hard to stand up on Lapras; he had never surfed on Pokemon before. Senta sent the racers off. It was a close surfing race. Blastoise proved to be a bit faster than Lapras, but Ash came up with a idea. He had his Lapras use Ice Beam on the water. Even though the rules said no attacks could be used against other Pokemon, there was nothing against using attacks to help win the race. Thanks to an ice slide, Lapras slid all the way towards the finish line on the beach.

"Ash Ketchum wins." Senta said.

"Thanks." Ash petted his Lapras.

Cissy walked up to Ash after returning her Blastoise.

"Well that was a really great race." She said. "And using Lapras' Ice Beam like that was very clever. So as proof of your victory, I present you with the Coral-Eye Badge."

Ash took a look at the badge; it was pink in the shape of a clam shell with a small blue gemstone.

"It looks like a sea shell." He said.

"That's because we make our badges from shells here on the Orange Islands." Cissy explained.

"Thank you." Ash said.

With his first Orange League gym badge in hand, Ash and the gang said goodbye to Cissy and Senta before leaving Mikan Island on Lapras to head over to the next island.