The Road to our Destiny

Chapter 29

By the time Ash, Pikachu, Serena, Brock, Timothy, Electchu, and Coovers finish riding through Cycling Road and return their rented bikes to the bike store on the other side, it started to get dark, so they decide to camp in the woods for the night. The next day, they go back to traveling until they make their way to Fuchsia City. The five trainers and Pikachu and Electchu head to the city's Pokemon Center, and Ash, Serena, and Brock order a room while Timothy and Ash have Nurse Joy check their Pokemon.

"So how far is the Battle Pike from here?" Timothy asks.

"Not far. It's about an hour's walk from the city," Coovers says. "We could rent a room here for after your battle there."

"Nah, I would like to get a head start going to the next place after I defeat this Lucy," Timothy says. "After all, there's only two more Frontier Brains to challenge after this, so no sense in wasting any time."

"Two Frontier Brains?" Ash asks, overhearing the two men as he waits for Nurse Joy to come back with his Pokemon. "Don't you mean three?"

"Yeah, after Lucy, you should have Spencer, Anabel, and then Brandon left," Brock says.

Timothy realizes what he said out loud and chuckles nervously. In his mind, he only counted the two Frontier Brains that come before Brandon since he is the target for Coovers' mission.

"Uh, yes, I meant two Brains left to challenge left after Lucy before facing Brandon," he lies. "Sorry for the confusion there, Ash."

"Oh, no problem," Ash says with a toothy grin before he and Brock go back to waiting.

Timothy quietly sighs in relief before Coovers leans into his ear.

"Nice job, almost blowing our cover, you nincompoop," he mutters.

"I hardly call sounding like I was off by one Frontier Brain by accident, almost blowing our cover," Timothy whispers back. "Besides, we're not going to come across any Team Rocket members here in a Pokemon Center."

"Don't be too sure, Timothy," Coovers whispers seriously. "Remember, we don't know how many people Giovanni has under his command from here to Kanto."

Timothy frowns and nods, seeing his friend's point. Meanwhile, Serena comes back inside the Pokemon Center with a cheerful smile on her face.

"Hey, Serena. Did you sign up for the Pokemon contest?" Brock asks.

"Sure did," Serena says proudly. "I'm all set to participate the day after tomorrow. And I bumped into someone along the way."

Ash, Brock, Timothy, and Coovers look at her curiously until a familiar face enters the building with a smirk.

"Hello, everyone," Scott greets.

Ash, Brock, and Coovers smile and simultaneously say, "Hey, Scott."

"I was wondering when we were going to bump into you," Timothy says with a smirk.

"I'm sure you were," Scott says. "As a matter of fact, I was waiting to meet you here. I must have missed you because I didn't know you were in the city until I bumped into Serena."

"Yeah, Scott was just walking down the street when I was heading back from registration," Serena explains.

"Well, how about that," Ash says.

"So, you were waiting to escort us to the Battle Pike?" Coovers asks.

"Yes, I was," Scott answers before turning to Ash and his friends. "Would you like to join us? I know Lucy would love to see you guys again."