That day, Annie had unusually spent the whole evening on Mandarin Island South with Misty, Ash, Brock, and that old geezer, Tracey, watching Magikarp. Of course, they also enjoyed a fine meal of Magikarp, and even stayed up until midnight to watch the spectacular sight of the whole school evolving into Gyarados.
The next morning, everyone was satisfied, and naturally they went their separate ways to take care of their own business.
After saying goodbye to everyone, the Pokémon watcher Tracey boarded his submarine and quickly disappeared beneath the sea. Nobody knew what he was off to do this time. Misty, Ash, and Brock, meanwhile, went with Annie, and Mew carried them through the air from Mandarin Island South straight to Citrus Island in less than ten minutes.
After all, they were going to compete in the Orange League competition. That was the real reason they had spent so long hanging around the Orange Islands!
Otherwise, Ash would have taken that strange Poké Ball back to Professor Oak to study ages ago. Why else would he have stayed here for so long?
However...
When Annie, Misty, Brock, and Ash reached Citrus Island, found the registration office, and eagerly signed up for the Orange League Winner's Cup, they discovered that the rules were not quite what they had imagined.
They had thought the competition would work like this: all the challengers who passed the Orange League's four gyms of the Southern Cross and earned four badges would register, then battle their way through the tournament to the finals, where they would face a Gym Leader or the Head Trainer. The winner would then be crowned Champion.
But the actual process was different. Once challengers passed the four Southern Cross gyms and earned their four badges, they registered and were immediately scheduled