"Not that you would know, with your lazy attitude."  Gary smirked.  "For your information, I am training.  I've already had five battles in the past week.  But since my journey brought me to within a days' distance from Pallet town, I decided to drop in to get some one-on-one training with a pokémon expert."

            "Who, me?  Aww, shucks Gary, you're making me blush."  Ash grinned.

            "My grandfather, you idiot!  For that matter, what are you doing here?  Besides slacking off."

            "None of your business," Ash said haughtily.

            "He's doing the same thing as you are, visiting," Misty helpfully provided.  "But you're right, he's been pretty lazy.  He hasn't done anything the last two days."  She received a dirty look from Ash for her efforts, and was more than happy to return it. 

            "I have too," he growled.

            "Let's see, you've eaten all day, slept, and buried yourself in pokémon comics and TV shows...oh, excuse me, I was wrong.  You've been a very busy boy," she said playfully.

            "They weren't comics!  It was all research!" Ash protested.

            "Sure it was."

            "It was!"

            "Was not."

            "Was too."

            "Was not!"

            "Was too!"

            "Was..."

            The three in the doorway shook their heads.  "They go in circles," Brock sighed, "just like our trips through the forest."

            Gary looked over at Brock in apparent confusion.  "Tell me again why you choose to travel with this?"  The three watched as the fight disintegrated into a raspberry war.

            Both the Professor and his grandson nodded in sympathy as Brock replied, rolling his eyes.  "Sometimes, I have forgotten."

***

            The fight ended when Brock declared that he knew how to break it up.

            "Lunch is ready!" he announced. 

            "Good, I'm hungry."  Ash immediately walked away from the fight and towards the kitchen.

            "You always are," Misty said, but she followed him.

            "You could have done that earlier," the Professor advised Brock.

            "Yeah, but it's more entertaining this way," Brock said, then assumed his role as undisputed master chef as he led the way to the kitchen. Spread out on the table was a smorgasbord of delectables that he had laid out before being forced to temporarily take a break and play referee.  The food was impressive, not for its gourmet difficulty—not that Brock wasn't capable of it—but for its sheer quantity.  The entire tabletop was covered with sandwich stuffs, vegetable dips, cheese wedges, and the like.  Everyone burst into impromptu clapping, minus Brock, who smiled and nodded his head, modestly accepting the praise.

            "I don't know why you stick with them, but I can see why they stick with you!" Gary said.

            "And what's that supposed to mean..." Ash began angrily.  Brock decided it might be a good idea to 'accidentally' interrupt him.

            "Well, lunch is served!"

            "Alright, let's dig in!" Ash exclaimed, only to get jerked back by the collar.  He turned to see Misty wagging her finger at him.

            "Aren't you missing something?"

            "Uh...hey, where's Pikachu?

            As if on cue, the electric pokémon wandered into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  In spite of having just woken from a nap, Pikachu was just like his trainer. He had a sixth sense of when food was being served and never failed to appear at the beginning of a meal.  He hopped happily onto Ash's shoulders and let out contented "pi" when Ash rubbed the base of his ears affectionately. 

            "Have a good nap?" Ash asked, patting his pokémon on the head.

            Togepi toddled in right after, and Misty picked up the baby pokémon and hugged it to herself.  It gave an excited "Toki!" then curled right up to go back to sleep again. 

            "Togepi will wake up when we eat," Misty said, smiling and rocking it gently. 

            "We should let the other pokémon eat now, too," Ash said.  He reached for his poké-belt.  "Alright everybody, come on ou—"

            "Ash!"  Brock and Misty reprimanded at once. 

            "Don't you have any sense?" Misty said.

            Brock was more direct with his objection.  "Don't you have Snorlax with you?  What do you think that's going to do to the Professor's house?"

            "Oops.  Sorry, Professor."  Ash was appropriately embarrassed.  Professor Oak just shook his head.

            "I have a suggestion," he said.  "Why don't you just take everything outside and have a picnic lunch?  The pokémon will have plenty of room on the reserve, and it's a beautiful day outside." 

            "Great idea!"  Misty said, then looked at the clock and furrowed her brow.  "Professor Oak, wasn't Tracey supposed to be back by now?"

            "He usually runs about a little late getting back from his errands," the Professor said.  "Which is not because he isn't conscientious...he just has a tendency to get distracted on his way back.  You wouldn't believe some of the sketches he's shown me from his trips..." he mused.  The kids exchanged a look, not able to figure out if the Professor was talking to them or himself.  "Anyway, I'll just send him out when he gets back," he finished.

            "We'll save some lunch for him," Misty said, and punched Ash lightly on the shoulder.  "Assuming Snorlax here doesn't eat everything before he gets back."

            "I'll keep Snorlax in his poké-ball," Ash protested.

            "I was talking about you."

            "I don't eat that much!  Besides, I'm a growing boy!"

            "Emphasize the 'boy,' part," Misty snickered.  "You're still a baby."

            "I am not!"  Ash said hotly.

            "I'm taller than you."

            "So?  You're older than me!"

            "All the more reason for you to listen to me!"

            "Shut up!"

            "You shut up!"

            "You!"

            "You!"

            Gary stared at them with a slightly puzzled expression on his face.  Brock just ignored them and started packing the picnic basket.  "Want to give me a hand here?" he asked Gary, who willingly obliged.

            "Don't they ever get tired of that?"

            "Do Snorlax get tired of sleeping?  Do Jigglypuffs get tired of singing?" Brock asked rhetorically. 

            "But not five minutes ago..."  Gary trailed off.

            "Has it been that long?  Wow, they've set a record," Brock said mildly.  "Come on, help me finish packing the baskets.  They'll stop when we go outside or they won't get any food."

            "You drive a hard bargain," Gary said.  "I'm impressed."

            "Survival of the fittest, man, survival of the fittest."

***

            Luckily, both tempers and hungers were appeased when they went outside.  Ash and Misty appeared to call a temporary truce and Gary, wary of Brock's retribution, decided to at least act cordial to Ash lest he be denied any food.  They walked towards the north end of the reserve, where there was a stream that the water pokémon liked to play in.  Misty was anxious to see an aberrant Tentacruel the Professor told her about that, instead of hanging around deeper waters like most of its kind, preferred to play Peek-a-Boo with the other pokémon among the shallower end. 

            The Professor had given his approval of their destination with one caution.  "Stay away from the Houndour pen at the Northwest corner of the property," he said firmly. 

            "Yes sir," three of the kids agreed.

            "You have a houndour?"  Ash said excitedly, only to be smacked by Misty.  "Ow!  I mean, of course, Professor."  

            "I mean it, Ash, " the Professor said, his face holding an uncharacteristically stern expression.  "This houndour is extremely wild.  Park officials in the Cobalt forest—the one above the Indigo Plateau—caught it and brought it to me in hopes that I could channel its aggression.  It had been wounding pokémon up in the mountains, and they were afraid that sooner or later it would attack a trainer.  But it hasn't been responding well to my trainings.  I'd just as soon you stay as far away from it as possible."

            "I promise, Professor," Ash said. 

            "And we all know how good Ash's word is," Misty mumbled, soft enough that only Ash could hear it.  He narrowed his eyes at her.

            "Which means?" he asked back, once again keep his volume low so that the others couldn't tell they were having a conversation .

            "B—i—k—e."  She mouthed the letters.

            "I keep my word!  I'll pay you back...eventually."  He flushed, and Misty started giggling.  The others looked at them curiously and Ash quickly tried to distract them before they asked for an explanation.   "So, are we going or not?"

            "And where should I tell Tracey you went?" Professor Oak asked.

            "The flower beds," Gary said.  "After all, we need to make sure Snorlax is released in an area that it's okay to devastate."

            "DON'T TOUCH MY FLOWERS!" the Professor yelled.

            Everyone hastily agreed to make a trek to the stream instead.

            They reached the stream, the blanket was unfurled, the food was unpacked, and then there was only one problem left.  Seating arrangements.  Anywhere he put Ash, Brock realized, he was going to be catty corner to one of his antagonists. 

            Of course, preventing a fight, no matter where Ash sat, would take a miracle...

            "Hey guys!"

            Aha!  Another referee!   Brock thought.  Now that was a miracle in itself.