The Bucket List

#21-See Psyduck Swim

Ash shook his head, watching the water pokémon struggle to stay afloat. When he had made it his mission to teach Psyduck how to swim, he never imagined it would be this difficult. He'd already been at this for hours, but Psyduck had made little progress. Even in the shallowest end of the pool, Psyduck flailed his arms around in a panic, convinced that he was drowning. At one point, Ash thought he needed to jump in the pool. From the bleachers, Brock watched with interest, occasionally shouting words of encouragement. To Ash, it felt more like mocking.

Why don't you come down here and actually help me?

The sound of footsteps echoing through the gym pulled the boy's attention away from the disaster that was Ash's latest attempt to teach Psyduck a growlithe paddle.

"Layla?" The sight of her standing there left him speechless. Hadn't she been on her way home?

Layla smiled back. "Surprise!" Pulling himself out of the pool, Ash rushed over and wrapped her into a tight hug. Recoiling, Layla pushed him away. "Ash! You're all wet! Look at my clothes."

Sure enough, Layla's blue t-shirt was now darker in certain spots.

"Heh." The sheepish grin and his trademark smile were not enough to wipe the look of annoyance off her face. "Sorry, Layla...I was just so happy to see you."

"I know. Me too."

"Hey, Layla!" Brock called from the bleachers. "Good to see you."

Out of all his friends, Brock had been the first to meet Layla when she and Ash started dating.

"You too, Brock!"

"So, what are you doing here?" Ash asked

"When we talked on the phone, it just sounded like you needed someone."

Despite her previous reaction, Ash leaned forward, pulling her into a hug. Layla groaned but didn't pull back this time. When Ash finally let go, she stepped back to survey her surroundings. Layla had never been to the Cerulean City Gym, so her eyes immediately went to the Olympic-sized pool. That's when she noticed Psyduck floating in his inner tube.

"What are you up to?"

Ash sighed. "I'm trying to teach Psyduck how to swim," he explained. "But it's, uh, not going as I hoped. It's so much harder than I thought."

Layla tilted her head as she observed a Horsea pushing Psyduck's inner tube. "But he's a water pokémon, right? Shouldn't he already know how to swim?"

"He's...special." How else did he describe the pokémon? An arguably powerful pokémon, he couldn't use his psychic powers unless he had a mind-numbing headache, and he couldn't swim.

Layla shook her head. "Why are you even attempting this then?"

"For Misty."

"Oh."

"Well, she doesn't actually know," he confessed. "It was something on her bucket list, so I thought I could help her." Ash glanced back at Psyduck. "I'm starting to think I should have picked something else."

"Do you want any help?"

Ash beamed back, an easy answer. "Sure!"

For the remainder of the afternoon, Ash and Layla worked together to try and teach Psyduck how to swim. After changing into her swimsuit, Layla had taken over helping Psyduck in the water while Ash demonstrated different swimming strokes from the edge of the pool. Shortly before the sun began to set, Brock left to start cooking dinner for their friends who would be arriving soon. With everyone in town to visit Misty, Daisy had turned the gym into a hotel and designated Brock the chef.