While some troublesome little girl was once again stuffing herself with some delicious food somewhere, Ash and Misty—having barely passed the test and earned the Sakura Badge—hurriedly set off again before dusk, releasing Lapras to cross the sea toward their next destination.
They hadn't tried to look for Annie on Mandarin Island. For one thing, they weren't at all sure they could find the mysterious girl, who had become so hard to track down. For another, they didn't know whether Annie would come with them. And finally, the three of them were short on money. If they spent another day on Mandarin Island, lodging would be yet another considerable expense.
So when dawn broke the next morning and its first light fell on them, the three of them—after spending the whole night on Lapras's shell and enduring the sea breeze—looked rather worse for wear.
"Ugh..."
"Why am I so hungry? Haven't we arrived yet?"
"Me too!"
"My stomach's growling."
When daybreak came, Ash and Misty woke up and started rubbing their stomachs, groaning in unison.
If they'd been able to sleep in the comfortable bed of a nice inn, the two of them obviously wouldn't have felt so miserable and worn out. Unfortunately, last night they'd slept on Lapras's back, hugging the hard, hump-like bumps on its shell. With the waves and sea breeze on top of that, it was only natural that they felt sleepy, exhausted, and hungry.
"Chirp!"
"Pika-pika..."
Togepi, in Misty's arms, and Pikachu, meanwhile, were full of energy. They even chirped excitedly at the two exhausted travelers.
It was clear that the two Pokémon, who had spent the night curled up in their trainers' warm, comfortable arms, had been bothered by little besides hunger. The sea breeze and waves hadn't troubled them at all.
"Ahem..."
"Misty!"