[Pokémon] My Cousin and Chaos

[EmeraldSky]

AN: Fuschia and Bulldog appear courtesy of a friend of mine on Bulbagarden.

"My Cousin and Chaos"


Episode 1: Camp Back Yard


The morning sun streams inside a house in Pewter City, illuminating a boy with tan skin munching on cereal as he studies a game show host talking to a contestant on a TV screen. He's only been up for an hour, and the rerun of "Lucky Spin" is the only thing on worth watching.

"Morning, Forest..." a girl with similar features smiles as she enters the room with a bowl of cereal for herself.

"Morning, Terra..." Forest returns his sisters greeting before noticing a pink humanoid creature studying the screen intently. "And good morning to you too, Happini."

Terra motions for Happini to come closer. "It's okay--you can watch "Lucky Spin" with us."

"Just you, me, Terra, and the TV..." Forest agrees before nudging Terra. "Ain't summertime great?"

"Happini pi?" Happini asks as the host talks to the second contestant.

"Well, the host's talking to the three people playing right now, but in order to play, the contestants are shown a puzzle, and they spin a big wheel to see how much every guess of a letter is worth." Forest explains.

"To win the round, you have to solve the puzzle." Terra adds. "If you solve the most puzzles, you win the game and try for a bigger prize." Happini's eyes turn to stars as the first contestant spins the wheel to get the game underway.

"It's a phrase, four words." Forest tells Terra as a quick shot of the puzzle board is seen.

"We know the third word is a 'the' or an 'and'..." Terra notes.

"Blank in the blank...." Forest muses as the third word is slowly revealed to be a 'the'

"Blank on the blank..." Terra makes her guess.

"Between in the blank..." Forest adds his prediction for the first word as the contestant reveals three E's.

"That doesn't make sense." Terra notes before guessing again as two I's are found. "Blanking in the blank..."

"Pini pi?" Happini is confused.

"We like trying to figure out the puzzles before the contestants do." Forest explains before making another guess. "Fleeing in the blank..."

"You can tell the little words like 'the' 'and', 'in' or 'on' pretty easily..." Terra tells Happini. "It's the big words that are harder to figure out."

"Sleeping in the blank..." Forest guesses as the second contestant reveals an S.

"Sleeping in the dark..." Terra adds her prediction for the fourth word.

"Sleeping in the something..." Forest grumbles, annoyed that there have been no letters found in the puzzle's fourth word yet.

"Sleeping in the b-" Terra guesses--the fourth word has now been shown to start with a B.

"Sleeping in the buff!" an older male voice calls, getting the children's attention.

Terra whirls around to see an older boy with similar features to her brother standing in the doorway as the puzzle board confirms his guess. "How'd you know the answer, Brock?"

"Easy..." Brock replies as he enters the room and takes Happini in his arms before settling in an easy chair. "Heard you two speculating, and all that was left to be revealed was a U....I have something to tell you guys, but it can wait for the commercials."

"Ooh..." Terra smiles as the prize for the next round, a diamond and sapphire ring, is announced.

"Pini..." Happini agrees.

Brock chuckles as Happini's enamored look. "I don't think that's a boy's ring, Happini."

"Ha..." Happini sighs, her dreams of Brock wearing the beautiful ring dashed. She snaps to attention as the puzzle for the next round appears.

"Same name, three words and an ampersand." Terra reports as the ampersand is revealed.

"So we already know one of the words is an 'and'...which leaves us with 'blank and blank blank'" Brock reminds his siblings as the second round gets underway.

For a while, no one has a clue what the puzzle is, but once the first contestant reveals some I's, Terra takes a guess. "Light and blank blank...

"Light and something bulb..." Brock muses a possible answer as a few B's appear.

"Light and tulip bulb!" Forest guesses seconds before the contestant. He smiles as the puzzle board confirms his guess.

Brock reaches for the TV remote and mutes the soap commercial onscreen. "Now then...your cousin Fuschia is coming for a week..."

"Is she bringing her Growlithe?" Forest asks, excited.

"Yes, she's bringing her Growlithe..." Brock replies. "Which means that I'd like you two to help me clean out the guest room for her as soon as 'Lucky Spin' is over."

"Will do!" Forest smiles as he goes to return his dishes to the kitchen.

"Bulldog's liked you for some reason.." Terra laughs at the enamored look on her brother's face.

"Can we go to Magipark while she's here?" Forest asks as he returns.

"Come to think of it, I don't think she's been to Magipark before..." Brock replies.

"Fuschia's coming?" a second boy asks as he peeks in the room. "When?"

"She'll be arriving later today, Bobby." Brock replies.

"Can we have a campout in the yard?" Bobby asks. "She loved that last year!"

"I don't see why not..." Brock replies.

"Show's back!" Terra interjects, prompting Brock to unmute the TV.

Later...

The doorbell rings, snapping Brock from a book. "Coming..." he calls as he opens the door, revealing a girl about his age with similar features to him, except with some slight rainbow highlights in her hair. The Growlithe next to her eagerly bounds in the house.

"Hi, Bulldog!" Forest eagerly pets the tiger-like puppy Pokemon.

"Why didn't you tell me we had company coming?" a black haired boy complains as he tidies up the toppled chairs Bulldog left behind.

"You didn't tell Ash I was coming?" the girl asks as she shepherds the Growlithe back to her.

"I did, Fuschia, multiple times...." Brock replies.

"Sounds like Ash to me..." Fuschia giggles.

Bobby, meanwhile, steps outside with a large tent. "I'm setting up our campsite!"

"May I put my replica Pokemon League flag up on the pole by our campsite?" Forest asks Brock.

"Sure." Brock replies. Ash gets a devious smile and tiptoes up to the room Forest and Bobby share.

"Ash? What are you doing in here?" a black haired girl asks as she peeks in the room, where Ash is busy looking through Bobby's bookshelf.

"Looking for one of the boys' scouting books, Dawn...." Ash explains. "You know I told you Mom made me take trumpet lessons in hopes I could join the school band in the fall?"

"Yeah, why?" Dawn asks.

"Since we're going to be camping, it makes sense I be the bugler, right?" Ash continues before finding a particular book titled "The Essential Scouting Guide". "Thing is, I only know Taps and Reville, so I'm gonna learn what the rest of the common calls are." With that, he thumbs through the book. "Safety rules, skit ideas, badges, knot tying, survival tips, more badges, fire building....ah-ha! Bugle calls..."

That evening...

"Okay, tents are set up, fire pit's ready, the flagpole's ready..." Brock surveys the "campsite". "We're set!"

"Goodness, you went all out..." Flint is impressed.

"I even got us a bugler..." Brock continues as Ash joins him on the porch with his instrument.

Flint smiles. "Parents made you take lessons?"

"Pretty much--all I did was tell Mom I wanted to join the band in the fall, but since the Pokeflute section was filled, they needed a few trumpets, and I was signed up for trumpet lessons." Ash explains. "So far it's not too bad--learned Reville and Taps from the get go."

"Did you try and wake your mom up with Reville?" Lola asks as she brings Flint some burger patties and hot dogs.

"Yes--was told they appriciated the thought, but not to do it at 6 in the morning." Ash blushes at the memory of his attempt to give his parents a wakeup call.

"That same tune is how I wake the kids on school days..." With that, Brock belts out to the tune of Reveille It's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up in the morning! It's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up, right now! Flint, Lola, and Fuschia laugh, but Brock continues "If they don't budge after I sing the part everybody knows, I add the other part... He then sings the other half of the song. Cause if you don't, we'll be late, and I don't think that's real great, cause if I find out you're late, well, Arceus could help you there. Lola leads the applause as Brock concludes. "If I REALLY want to wake them up, I'll find a skillet and bang on it whilst singing."

"What's mess call?" Lola asks Ash.

"This!" With that, Ash demonstrates the call, sending Bobby running for the grill.

"Oh no, the food's not even ready yet." Flint assures Bobby.

"What's the trumpet for?" a girl asks Brock.

Brock rounds up the other kids as Bobby explains "See, whenever Forest and me go to camp every summer, they use a bugle--which is kinda like a trumpet with the valves missing--to tell everyone what to do and when. But, since we didn't have an actual bugle, we're going to cheat a little by having Ash play the same calls on a trumpet."

"Oh..." the kids reply.

"So the trumpet's our clock?" a girl asks.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it." Brock replies. "You probably know Reveille from me singing it every morning, and Taps from TV, but here are some other calls we're going to use..." With that, Brock explains the mess call, the assembly call for meeting up, the fire call if there's any sort of an emergency (and that skinned knees and lost blankets do not count as emergencies), the call to quarters to signal lights out, to arms if they need to drive back an intruder with water guns, to the colors when a flag is raised, and retreat when it's taken down. Naturally, Ash demonstrates every call.

Dawn giggles as Ash watches Forest approach the pole with trumpet in hand. "He's going to be in for a surprise, since he missed the call demonstration..."

"He's a scout, so he knows them anyway." Ash assures Dawn as he fingers his instrument.

Forest carefully sets the flag on the pole, but nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears a trumpet playing a call he recognizes as "To the Colors" He sighs. "Brock, can you please turn the volume down on the...real...trumpet?" he asks as he slowly realizes that the call he heard was a live trumpet instead of a recording.

"Surprise." Ash smiles.

Bobby arrives with a music note button that has a few red, blue and yellow streamers dangling from it. "Here, wear this...this is what the person serving as bugler for the quarter wears in the troop Forest and I are in--that person gets to keep it when their commitment is up. I already served my commitment, so you can wear mine."

"Thanks?" Ash isn't sure what to make of the gift.

"There." Bobby pins the button to Ash's shirt. "Now you're our honorary camp bugler!"

"Play the League anthem, already, Mr. Bugler." Dawn whispers. Ash nods and begins the song as Forest carefully raises the flag. Happini cheers and Pikachu unleashes a few celebratory sparks at the song's conclusion.

Bulldog, meanwhile, bends down and lets Happini climb aboard his back. "Pini pi!" Happini commands, and Bulldog goes racing across the yard to the tune of the Zelda racing music.

"Now where's the Zelda music coming from?" Bobby wonders. We cut over to the porch and find Ash has swapped the trumpet for a harmonica, Dawn is playing a fiddle, and Brock is playing his guitar. The other kids find this hilarious as Happini screams "Piiii-ha!"

After a few more laps around the yard, Happini climbs off of Bulldog. "Pini." she smiles.

"So Happini likes playing 'Ponyta'" Dawn smiles as Bulldog jumps on Fuschia's lap.

Later...

The group is gathered in the main tent, finishing up hot dogs and hamburgers. Ash is outside, keeping watch in case he needs to sound the fire call. "You know, Brock...the kids say you can tell a good yarn or two..." Fuschia begins...

"Yeah! Tell us a scary story!" Forest begs.

Brock thinks for a moment, then begins. "Once a great plague swept across a far away land, infecting many people with a terrible disease. Many people died, but one village was completely wiped out, its people all succumbing to the plague." Bulldog whines sadly at this. "Now, some time after the plague had subsided, a merchant who didn't keep up with news that much arrived in the remains of that village, and didn't find a single living being there. He was about to leave when he found a house with its door ajar. Peeking inside, he saw what looked like a woman inside a bed cradling a baby. While the woman had died, her body was still warm. The baby was still very much alive, so the merchant took the child, a girl, and raised her as his own, naming her Lina, in memory of the jasmine that used to grow around that village."

"That's a cute name." Fuschia comments.

"Time passed, and Lina grew into a lovely young lady." Brock continues. "and she deeply loved the merchant, who she had come to call 'sofu', or 'grandfather'". One day, she came to her adopted grandfather and asked him..." He switches to a young female voice. "Sofu, why is it that everyone else I know has a mother and a father, yet I do not?"

He then switches to an older male voice. "Oh, but you did have a mother and father, my love!" As himself, he replies "her sofu replied, and recounted how he had found her at her dead mother's side in that ghost town many years before. Lina was so touched at what her sofu had done, she wept tears of both thankfulness and sadness--deep down she wished her parents lived once more."

"Aw..." Terra muses.

"Her sofu sensed his granddaughter's wish and told her..." Brock switches to his "older man" voice again. "I have heard that deep within Mt. Dinja to the west, there is a cave filled with wonderous treasures. One of these is a magical harp said to make the poor wealthy, and the dead live again, among other powers. It may all be a fairy tale, but if you can find this harp and play it, your parents just might be revived. Is this what you want, my beloved?"

"With your permission, sofu, I very much wish to see my parents alive again." he replies as Lina.

In his "older man" voice, Brock continues. "Then listen well, Lina...the way to Mt. Dinja is not easy. There are many Raikous, and Ursarings, and the cave itself is said to be guarded by the Sky Warrior, Shaymin. Do you feel you can outsmart even the Sky Warrior herself?" As himself, he continues. "Lina nodded, and the next morning, the two of them set out for the mountain. After bidding her sofu goodbye, Lina made her way up the mountain. She was about halfway up when she found the cave her sofu had told her about, and quietly made her way inside. Suddenly, some voices startled her, and so she darted behind some rocks to hide. It turned out that the voices were a few elemental spirits that had come out to play--an earth spirit, a wind spirit, and a water spirit. After the spirits had played for some time, the earth spirit took what looked like a normal black box..." Brock pauses to ease a similar looking box to him and undo its latches. "and from it took a lovely harp made of maple. Its strings were silk, and it was decorated with jewels and inlaywork of leaves and flowers." The children ooh and ah as Brock takes a similar looking harp from the box.

"Pretty!" Terra smiles.

"Forget Taps, I want to go to sleep to that!" Bobby agrees.

"Hey!" Ash snaps as he ducks inside the tent to snatch another hot dog.

"The earth spirit began to play a lovely melody, to which many more elemental spirits came and danced." With that, Brock proceeds to play "The Beautifly" on the beautiful instrument. Dawn motions for the kids to hold their applause as Brock continues. "They danced so hard and so long, they all collapsed into a heap and dozed off. Lina took that opportunity to tiptoe inside, carefully take the harp, and return to her hiding place...."

Meanwhile, in the brush...

"Oh look, a backyard campsite!" a cat creature smiles as he climbs through the brush.

"How cute..." a long maroon haired girl snickers.

The girl's partner, a lavender haired boy, gets stars in his eyes when he sees Bulldog romp out of the tent. "Oh! Whoever's hosting the campout has a Growlithe too! Just like Growly! And while I'm at it, I'll get Pikachu too!" With that, he climbs from the brush and approaches Bulldog. Bulldog, however, sees the familiar R on James' shirt and growls a warning, snapping Ash to attention.

"What is it, Bulldog?" Ash reaches for a flashlight and flicks it on, revealing who the intruders on the campsite are. "Team Rocket!" He scrambles for his trumpet and plays the fire call, snapping Brock from his story.

The girl hears the call and groans. "I didn't know there was a bugler on guard here..."

"Couldja please make him stop? Da trumpet's gettin' on my noives!" Meowth complains over the call.

Brock is first to arrive at the scene. "Kindly explain what you three are doing here..." he begins. Bulldog snarls and Pikachu charges a warning spark.

"Uh--we were just--passing through?" James stammers as Bulldog snaps at him. Pikachu motions for everyone else to return to the tent, then unleashes a giant Thunderbolt, sending Team Rocket flying.

Flint runs outside as Team Rocket flies overhead with a *ping*. "Is everything okay? I heard the bugle's fire call and came to see if you needed any help."

"Yeah, we took care of it, Dad." Brock explains. "Just Team Rocket trying to take Pikachu again."

Happini tugs on Brock's shirt sleeve. "Pini? Ha pi Pi pini hapi?"

"Well, in the military, they use a certain kind of trumpet called a bugle to tell the soldiers what to do--since the human voice would be hard to hear over weapons and planes. Some scout troops--Forest's and Bobby's troop included--do the same thing to tell the scouts what to do." Brock explains. "You know some bugle calls already from TV--'Reveille' means 'it's time to get up'--ever notice my sung wake up call to the kids on school days is the same tune?"

"Banging on skillet optional." Flint adds. Happini smiles once she makes the connection.

"Likewise, 'Taps' either means someone has died or in this case, time to go to sleep." Brock explains. "You'll get to hear what that sounds like on the real thing when we go to sleep here in a few hours."

"Pini pini Pi pini hapi pi?" Happini asks.

"The one I just used is the fire call." Ash explains. "That one means there's danger in the camp of some kind, like intruders, or, well, a fire."

"You can see what they look like as music notes and what they mean in my scouting book later." Forest assures Happini as he runs to lower the flag for the night, complete with Ash playing the retreat call.

"That one means it's time for the flag to go to sleep." Brock whispers to Happini as Forest returns inside the house to put his flag away.

"What time should I play Reveille in the morning?" Ash asks.

"I'll ask the kids..." Brock peeks inside the tent, where the kids and Fuschia are huddled, congratulating Bulldog. "What time would you guys like to get up in the morning?"

"Eight o'clock's fine..." Terra replies.

"Yeah, that way the bugler can sleep in too." Bobby agrees with a wink, making Ash blush.

"So Reveille at 8 AM..." Ash notes.

"Could you tell us a new story since Team Rocket ruined the scary one?" a girl asks.

"Here's some water guns in case Team Rocket comes back." a boy volunteers as he distributes water guns of various shapes and sizes to the kids, Fuschia, and Brock. Lola is nearby, filling up a small pool to reload should the water guns need to be used.

"Remember, I'll play "To Arms" if we need to use the water guns, okay?" Ash assures the kids. "Likewise, if you need me to play the fire call or "To Arms" for any reason, let me know by flashing SOS on a flashlight."

"Got it!" the kids chorus.

"If we need the fire call, I'll wiggle a hand in front of the light like flames, and if we need "To Arms", I'll make a gun shadow with my hand." Bobby assures Ash. "That way you'll know which one to sound."

"Before I tell you guys a new story, how about we sing some songs first?" Brock smiles as he retrieves his guitar and tunes up. Once everyone is ready, he asks "What should we sing first?"

"Let's do 'Walk Right In' first!" Fuschia suggests. Brock nods and begins an introduction before Fuschia leads the singing. Walk right in, sit right down, daddy let your mind roll on...

Country roads, take me home, to the place, I belong.... Ash leads the next song.

Work all night till the morning come! Dawn sings as everyone else echoes Daylight come and me wan go home...

"And now for a number that everyone knows..." Brock smiles as he plays an expectant chord. He then begins singing as he plays In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine, lived a miner, forty-niner, and his daughter Clementine...

Oh my darlin', oh my darlin', oh my darlin Clementine, you are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine... everyone joins in.

Some songs later, Fuschia suggests "For our last song, I'm letting you guys pick it before Brock gives you another story."

There is some whispers as the kids debate songs before Forest announces "We want to do 'Yellow Submarine'--for Fuschia!"

"Okay then..." With that, Brock begins In the town where I was born, lived a man who sailed to sea....

When the song finally ends, Fuschia hugs Brock as he sets his guitar aside. "How'd you know I liked the Beatles?"

"I just knew." Brock replies before addressing the kids. "Okay...we'll try another story..." The kids go to fill their water guns before Ash calls them back with the call to quarters.

Once everyone is back in the tent, Brock adresses the children. "You know...Ash is not the only one that can play the whistle..."

"Really?" Terra gasps as Brock retrieves a drawstring bag from a pocket, from which he takes a silver whistle with a black mouthpiece.

"Yeah...this one's mine." Brock replies. "I'm gonna try to use it for a little color in this next tale, but I apologize in advance for any mistakes." Nervous giggles waft through the tent as Brock begins. "This is called 'Ronen's Flute'...in a land far away, the various peoples were divided up into tribes based on the elements. Two of these tribes had a large lake that separated them--the wind tribe was to the east, and the earth tribe to the west. The chief of the earth tribe had a daughter that was very beautiful--we'll call her Yume. Yume was so beautiful and her heart was so pure, every man in every tribe desired to have her for his wife." Ash adds an enamored whistle for effect, making the kids laugh. "The chief of the wind tribe was a man named Ronen--and he too had heard of Yume and her beauty. While his siblings all talked of how they would win Yume's hand, Ronen would wait until nightfall, travel out to a hill that overlooked the lake and the earth tribe's land, take a small flute made out of a reed, and play many songs of love--one of which sounded something like this..." With that, Brock begins his rendition of the air "The Moon on the Lake", wavery notes and all.

"Not bad..." Ash comments as the kids applaud.

"Yume had heard stories about the wind tribe too, especially about Ronen and his skill on the flute." Brock continues. "Many nights, she would sit in the moonlight and listen to the many songs of love drifting across the water, wondering if that was really Ronen playing them. Some months went by, and it came time for the spring festival. The wind tribe crossed the lake to visit the earth tribe, and it was there that Ronen and Yume saw each other for the first time. Ronen was amazed that Yume was just as beautiful as the stories had said, and Yume was just as impressed at how handsome Ronen was. They spent many hours talking and enjoying the festivities, but the time of parting came all too soon. Ronen said to Yume..." He switches to a voice that sounds like a lower pitched version of Ash. "Now that I have seen you, I cannot wait until we meet again..."

He then switches to a female voice that sounds like an older version of Terra. "I will come to you, Ronen...but how will I know you are waiting for me?"

As Ronen, Brock replies "You have heard the flute carrying the message of my love to your land, and now it will carry the message that I am waiting. When you hear the flute across the lake at moonrise, that is how you'll know I am waiting...."

"...and so, Ronen and Yume were married, and every night, Ronen played his flute for Yume and his children as a sign of his love for them...the end." Brock concludes as he pockets his whistle.

"Aw..." Forest is touched by the happy ending.

"Not bad for someone who's only been playing for three months." Dawn smiles.

"Ash, if you would, please..." Brock interjects as he gets comfortable in his sleeping bag. Ash nods, returns outside to his waiting trumpet, and once he sees Brock's lamp go out, begins the familiar mournful notes of Taps.

Bobby brushes away a tear as he hears Taps outside. "No matter how many times I hear that, it gets to me..." he whispers to Forest as he drifts to sleep.

Meanwhile...

"Here we are, dis is da campsite." Meowth whispers as he leads Jessie and James into a bush by the house. "We're here to get da Growlithe out of da way so it can't wake up da bugler twerp and spoil anudder chance to get Pikachu."

"Please don't let me hear a bugle again--I had to put up with that enough at summer camp every year..." Jessie groans as she looks at Ash standing guard outside the tent, with Bulldog at his side.

"You had a bugler at your summer camps too?" James gasps as he follows Jessie and Meowth into the yard. "My grandfather taught me a song about things a soldier wished he could do to a bugler so he could sleep in..." He is about to say more when he steps on a twig, making it snap and waking Bulldog up. He barks a warning as Team Rocket approaches.

Forest hears Bulldog barking and grabs a flashlight. "Wait, guys...I'm going to signal what call we need Ash to play..." He peeks out of the tent as Jessie struggles with Bullldog and makes a figure of a gun with his hand in the light. "Get the water guns ready, guys, and don't fire until we hear Ash." The kids, Fuschia, and Brock nod as they gather their water guns and water balloons.

"Get away! Shoo!" James pleads as he tries to guide Bulldog to a cage.

Ash wakes up and sees Forest's signal. So they need "To Arms"...I'll give Team Rocket a nice surprise... he sneakily smiles before taking his trumpet and playing "To Arms".

Jessie gasps when she hears the call. "Oh no..."

"To arms, Boulder Brigade! Attack!" Brock calls as he takes the first shot, pelting James with a water balloon in the chest.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" the kids yell as they ambush Team Rocket, buying Bulldog time to run back in the tent.

"Dey didn't say we were going to be caught in a water fight!" Meowth screams as he scrambles to avoid the streams of water and water balloons.

"Who said we were defenseless?" Jessie sneers as she reveals her own water gun and sprays Fuschia. She counters with a water balloon and dashes back to the tent.

After the water fight rages on for about thirty minutes, Team Rocket retreats to the bush, thoroughly soaked. The kids cheer and exchange high fives over their victory.

"Well done, Boulder Brigade." Brock smiles as the group returns to the tent. "Our camp is safe again."

"And Bulldog and Pikachu are too." Fuschia agrees.

"No Rocket ever passes the Boulder Brigade!" Forest cries, making the kids cheer again.

Back in the brush, Meowth shakes himself dry and asks James "So, how did dat song about a soldier wantin' to do nasty tings to da bugler go?"

James grabs a pitch pipe and blows into it, but when he tries to sing the note back to show he's in tune, he coughs up some water, then tries again, blowing an A note. Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning... oh how I wish I could stay in bed!

We see a scene of Chibi James in a soldier's uniform in a barracks as he sings the next line And the hardest blow of all is to hear the bugle call... Chibi Ash, as the bugler, peeks in a window and plays part of Reville as Chibi James sings along with the trumpet 'It's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up in the morning' Chibi James then angrily eyes Chibi Ash. Somehow I'm gonna get rid of the bugler... he sings as he tries to strangle Chibi Ash. Somehow I wish I could find him dead! Chibi James deviously draws a finger across the neck of a picture of Chibi Ash. I'll amputate his reveille... Chibi James snatches the trumpet from Chibi Ash. and stomp upon it heavily, and spend the rest of my life in bed! Chibi James proceeds to jump on the trumpet untill it is thoroughly battered, then returns to his bed and plops in it.

Back in the present, Jessie and Meowth applaud. "Is dere more?"

"Second verse, mostly the same as the first." James smiles and clears his throat.

In the Chibis' world, Chibi James sings again. Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning! Oh how I wish I could stay in bed! he complains as he climbs out of bed and paces the floor. And the hardest blow of all is to hear the bugle call... We zoom over to where Chibi Ash is as Chibi James pops in the background and sings along with his performance of Reveille again. 'It's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up in the morning' We return to Chibi James in his quarters playing darts. Somehow I'm gonna get rid of the bugler... he sings as he gives Chibi Ash, who is peeking in the window, the evil eye. Somehow I wish I could find him dead! he sings as he throws a dart, where it lands on a picture of Chibi Ash as the bullseye. I'll sneak into his room some night... We see Chibi James doing this. and fill his horn with dynamite... We see Chibi James snicker as he does this. When Chibi Ash tries to play the trumpet the next morning, we see an explosion rock the base, leaving Chibi Ash and the trumpet charred. and spend the rest of my life in bed! Chibi James sings as he turns his light out and goes back to sleep.

A real trumpet playing Reveille snaps James back to the present. "What? Morning already?"

"If you spent all night plotting to get rid of the bugler, why didn't you do anything?" Jessie snaps over the call.

It's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up in da morning, it's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up right now! Meowth sings along, clearly mocking James as they retreat from the bush.

Back in the tent, everyone yawns and wakes up as they hear Reveille outside. "Eight AM, just like I asked." Brock smiles.

"Backyard campouts sure are fun..." Fuschia agrees.

A girl brings a coin to Ash. "This is to thank you for using the trumpet as a clock."

"Anytime! I'll be happy to serve as bugler again the next time we do this." Ash replies as he watches the group break camp.

"Especially if there's a water fight at midnight!" Bobby agrees, making everyone else laugh.

 

[EmeraldSky]

Episode 2: Bathtime, Break Time


"Okay..." Brock addresses the kids as they return inside the house after cleaning up the yard and putting the camping gear away. "I want you guys to do your chores while I give Happini a bath, okay?"

"Okay!" With that, the children scatter through the house.

Brock, meanwhile, takes Happini into the bathroom and sets her by the sink as he fills a small tub with warm water. "There we go..." he smiles as he sets Happini in the water and gives her a few sponges, a rubber Psyduck, and various other bath toys.

"Aw, giving Happini a bath?" Fuschia smiles as Brock lathers up a rag with soap.

"Yeah--she ought to feel better after being outside all day yesterday." Brock replies before singing to Happini. I married my wife in the month of June, risselty rosselty, now, now, now; carried her off in a silver spoon, risselty-rosselty, hey bom-bosselty, nickety, knackety, rustical quality, willaby-wallaby now, now, now! Happini laughs at the stream of nonsense words as Brock gently scrubs her.

"Needs some harmony, and you could probably play that on guitar..." Fuschia notes.

"Come to think of it, I don't think the kids know it either..." Brock notes as he rinses Happini off, singing all the while. Oh, I wish I were a bar of soap, bar of soap, I wish I were a bar of soap, for I'd slippy and I'd slidey over everybody's hidey, if I were a bar of soap. Happini laughs and splashes a little in approval.

"So she likes it when you sing to her at bathtime..." Fuschia notes.

Brock rolls up a sleeve and grabs one of the hand sponges that is shaped like a Skitty. See the little kitten, playin' with the knittin'; look at her chase the ball about... He makes the Skitty sponge "pounce" on one of the rubber balls floating in the water. pulling all the stitches out, and there go my mittens! Happini laughs again as Brock removes the sponge and sets it aside before taking Happini from the water. "All done!" he coos as Fuschia wraps her in a towel.

"Don't you feel clean now?" Fuschia smiles. Happini nods as Brock empties the tub and puts away the bath toys.

"My room's clean!" Forest reports.

"I'm done dusting!" Terra adds.

Brock sets Happini in a playpen in the living room. "We'll sing with the guitar here in a minute, okay?" Happini nods and starts working on a puzzle.

"What was that risselty rosselty knickety knackety song about?" Ash asks as Brock looks over Forest and Bobby's room.

"One of Happini's favorite bathtime songs." Brock replies. "I've been meaning to learn it on guitar and teach it to the kids."

"Well?" Bobby asks.

"It passes inspection." Brock replies. Forest and Bobby high five each other and ease a box of Legos from under the bed. Brock leaves the two of them to build spaceships and returns to Happini, who is admiring her completed puzzle. "Okay, now we'll sing some more." Happini cheers as Brock takes her in his arms and carries her to his room, where she climbs onto a beanbag chair overlooking the window and facing a larger chair in front of a music stand.

"With only two chords, 'Risselty Rosselty' should be easy..." Fuschia notes as Brock settles in the chair, organizes some sheet music, takes the same acoustic guitar he played the day before, and begins tuning up.

"It would also sound better in drop D." Brock agrees as he tunes the low E string down a step. Once in the new tuning, he experiments with a few ways to finger a G chord all the while musing the lyrics to "Risselty Rosselty".

After a few minutes, Brock sighs in frustration--learning "Risselty Rosselty" is going slower than he thought. He re-tunes the guitar back into standard tuning, then goes to work on a fingerpicking exercise.

Happini listens for a little while, but the sound of rustling paper and a Pokeflute playing scales in the room across the hall gets her attention. When she looks inside, she smiles at Ash practicing a tune that vaguely sounds like a jig.

"Pipi..." Pikachu motions for Happini to join him on the bed. Happini smiles, and carefully climbs onto the bed.

"How goes the Pokeflute practice?" Fuschia asks as Ash pauses his song to make a note in the music.

"If there's one thing learning trumpet has helped, it's my breath control." Ash replies. "Before, I could barely play those long legato runs on page 49 without having to sneak a breath. Since I started playing trumpet six months ago, I can play those easily in one breath."

"Pini..." Happini is impressed, alerting Ash that he has an audience.

"Oh, hi!" Ash smiles at Happini and Pikachu. "Came to listen to me practice?".

The rumble of thunder outside makes Happini start to cry. Brock arrives not long after and returns Happini to her room, where he tucks her in for a nap.

"Brock? Will you play with us?" Terra asks as another girl pushes the chest of dressup costumes into their room.

"Sure!" Brock replies. "Just keep it down--Happini's sleeping." Terra nods and watches as Brock steps into the closet with some items from the chest to change into his costume.

"Wonder what character Brock's going to make this time?" the other girl wonders.

"I hope it's his detective character Dylan Burris--codename Falco Dolan." Terra replies. "That one's one of my favorites."

Brock slips a small radio out from the closet and presses PLAY as he emerges clad in an old fawn colored raincoat, brown slacks, black shoes, white gloves, and a brown fedora, making a soft jazz interlude drift into the air. "The name's Dylan Burris--I work in a field where you're constantly being watched, answers are always sought, and things are not always as they seem. When I'm on the job, bad guys tremble at the sound of Codename: Falco Dolan." A brass hit punctuates Brock's introduction.

"No matter how many times you do that, it's exciting!" Terra smiles as she applauds.

"I haven't played Falco in a while, so I'd thought I'd try and stump you with a case." Brock replies. "Or, if you want to dress up as your receptionist character, we can challenge the others..."

"It's okay...just try us two." Terra replies

"Okay..." and Brock slips back in character as Falco as he cues another interlude. "So I was out by the tracks by Celadon one day, and saw that a guy had been thrown from a train. A witness claimed that he had failed to hang on while the train was moving and had paid the ultimate price. I looked into the sunset and found a suitcase filled with the guy's belongings about 50 yards away from the body, so I knew that this was not an accident. How did I know? That's for you two to discover." He lets that hang as Terra and her sister go to work.

"Okay...we know Falco left the body and squinted into the sun to find the suitcase..." the younger girl muses...

"But what does that have to do with the suitcase being farther away than the body?" Terra asks. The girl discuss possible answers for a moment before the younger girl addresses Brock. "We don't know...how did a suitcase solve the mystery, Falco?"

"I'll tell you, sweetheart...the suitcase had obviously left the train after its owner--since the train was going west and I saw the suitcase 50 yards west of the body, I concluded the suitcase left after its owner had been pushed out." Brock explains over another hit. "Case closed!" Terra applauds, impressed that her big brother has stumped her yet again.

"Time to change characters!" Brock smiles as he returns to the closet again.

"What's going on in here?" Fuschia asks as she peeks in the room.

"Brock's playing dressup with us." Terra explains. A cry from across the hall gets her attention, so Terra knocks on the closet door. "You still changing in there?"

"Yeah, why?" Brock asks as he emerges from the closet in his normal clothes, just in time to hear the cry. "Ooh, Happini's awake--and she's likely hungry."

"You're right...it's getting close to lunchtime." Fuschia agrees before disappearing down the hall.

"Hi, sweetheart..." Brock smiles, quieting Happini's cries. "Hungry?" Happini nods. With that, Brock carries Happini down the hall and into the kitchen, where Lola is busy cooking hot dogs. "Need a hand?" he asks.

"You could make your famous homemade ice pops for dessert..." Lola suggests as she warms some baked beans in the microwave.

"Will do!" With that, Brock retrieves some ice trays and various flavors of Berry juice.

"Pini?" Happini asks, curious as to why Brock is putting Berry juice instead of water in the ice trays.

"You know that when water is in very cold places for a while, it turns into ice?" Brock explains. Happini nods. "If you do the same thing with Berry juice..." He pauses to set one ice tray in the freezer before retrieving a juice filled tray he prepared earlier. "it turns into something like a Popsicle." He sticks a Popsicle stick into one finished ice pop. "Want a bite?"

Happini hesitantly nibbles on the icy treat for a moment, but smiles as soon as she tastes Leppa Berries. "Pi ni!"

"Lunch is ready!" Lola calls as she sets the finished plates at each child's place.

Happini watches Fuschia feed Bulldog for a moment before noticing what she thinks is a Riolu doll in a rainbow colored mage's outfit by the pantry. "Pi ni?" she asks.

"You may think that's just any old Riolu doll..." Brock replies as he picks up the doll. "But you have seen him on TV before..."

"Pini?" Happini racks her mind as to which TV show the Riolu is from, but can't place the character anywhere. "Pi pini?"

"If I put my hand inside him..." Brock explains as he puts his hand in a hidden hole under the doll's tail, then mimics a slightly Irish sounding male voice. "Hello, out there, my fellow adventurers! I am Kiwa, and I specialize in the magic of color!" Happini laughs when she finally recognizes the character--the Kiwa segments about colors are one of her favorite parts of "Sesamon Street".

"That was pretty good, Brock!" Forest replies. "If you were just a little higher pitched, you'd nail Kiwa perfectly!"

"Well, in my defense, I haven't done his voice in a while." Brock confesses. Happini is still laughing, amazed that her favorite doll is also a puppet.

"Why don't we make puppet dolls like that after lunch?" a girl suggests.

"That's right...remember that puppeteering class we took one summer?" Fuschia smiles. "You looked like a natural with that Geodude puppet!"

"Yeah..." Brock smiles as he sets the Kiwa doll aside. "While Kiwa is professionally made, puppet dolls are not that hard to make, and some homemade ones are just as well made as Kiwa is."

"Pini!" Happini runs to the Kiwa doll and hugs it as Brock gets up to retrieve the ice pops from the freezer.

<i>Later...</i>

"You may not know this, but a long time ago, Fuschia and I once took a class to learn how to make puppets and perform them." Brock tells the kids as he puts the finishing touches on an Entei doll puppet. "These puppets were not the typical hand puppets or paper bag puppets or sock puppets you guys play with every day...they were like something you'd see on 'Sesamon Street.'"

"Cool!" a boy comments.

"One part of the class involved making puppets that could also function as a doll, like Happini's Kiwa doll." Fuschia continues as she looks over the Rattata doll puppet she made.

"Ash, would you mind narrating 'The Entei and the Rattata' for us?" Brock asks as Dawn decorates the coffee table to look like a stage.

"Sure!" Ash replies as he takes the book of stories Brock is offering him and thumbs to the story in question.

"To give you an idea of just how realistic these doll puppets are, Fuschia and I are going to show you a few of the sketches we learned during that class--Ash is going to narrate for this first one." The children set down the puppets they are making as Brock and Fuschia retreat behind the table.

Dawn waits as Ash reads from the book "A long time ago, in a land far away, a great Entei ruled over a large jungle. One day, as the Entei slept, a curious Rattata saw the sleeping Entei and decided to run up and down his back..." He lets that hang as Dawn opens the makeshift theater's curtain, revealing the Entei puppet doll in a sleeping position. While the kids don't see Brock's hand inside the puppet doll, they laugh as Brock makes a few groggy sighs as the "Entei" finds a suitable position to sleep.

Fuschia makes the Rattata puppet doll enter and start "running" down the Entei's back. "Look at me! Look at me! I'm running down an Entei's back! Wheeee!" she chirps in a high pitched female voice, to the children's laughter.

"This woke the Entei, who pounced on the Rattata." Ash reads as Brock manipulates the Entei doll's paw to catch the Rattata puppet's tail.

"Excuse me?" Brock demands in a deeper version of himself.

"Uh oh! This doesn't look good..." Fuschia gasps. She makes the Rattata puppet slowly turn its head, freezing in feigned fear at the Entei puppet. "EEEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!!" The children laugh at this.

"The Entei was about to eat the Rattata..." Ash reads, prompting Brock to make the Entei appear to be about to swallow the Rattata. "when the Rattata pleaded..."

"Please, O King of the Jungle, if you let me go, I will not forget!" Fuschia begins, making the Rattata doll "bow" before the Entei. "Who knows? I may even help you in return for your kindness!"

"The Entei was pleased at the thought of something as small as a Rattata helping him." Ash reads.

"Hm..." Brock adds for effect as he makes the Entei doll "think" for a moment.

"and so he decided to let the Rattata live." Ash reads. The Entei doll "hugs" the Rattata doll.

"I will grant your request and let you go--I doubt you would've been much of a meal anyway." Brock interjects as the Entei.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Fuschia chirps, and the two puppets go their seperate ways offstage.

Ash finds his place in the book and reads. "A month or so later, the Entei was strolling through the jungle and ended up getting caught in a trap some trainers had left..." He watches as Dawn reopens the curtain, where a few threads are off by stage left to serve as the trap.

<i>In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the Entei sleeps tonight...</i> Brock sings in character as the Entei as he makes the puppet "walk" across the stage before one of its paws is caught in the thread. "AUGH!!!" He makes the Entei puppet "struggle" in the thread until it is thoroughly tangled, but still loose enough for someone to undo it.

"The Rattata heard the Entei's struggle, and ran to see what the commotion was." Ash reads as the Rattata puppet skimpers in from stage right.

"I was going to come ask you to play, Your Highness, but it looks like you are in a bind." Fuschia replies as the Rattata, making the kids laugh.

"Of course I am in a bind!" Brock snaps as the Entei. "Perhaps you could set me free?"

Fuschia makes the Rattata puppet untie the thread as Ash reads "So the Rattata went to work, chewing on each of the ropes until the Entei was freed."

The Entei and Rattata puppet hug again as Ash concludes "Moral of the story? Good things sometimes come in small packages!" The children applaud as Brock and Fuschia emerge from behind the puppet theater with their puppet dolls and take a bow.

"That was wonderful!" Lola comments.

"Not bad--the puppets looked nicer than usual." Flint agrees--he's usually used to seeing sock or paper bag puppets from the kids.

"Do some more!" a boy begs.

"Okay--I'll give Dawn and Ash a chance to make a puppet doll too." Brock assures the kids.

Happini just hugs her Kiwa doll. Thanks, Kiwa--you just saved this rainy day from being boring!

 

[EmeraldSky]

Episode 3: The Three Puppeteers


Ash looks around at the various puppet parts scattered around the table and begins assembling a Squirtle doll. He sews together its body, its arms, and its legs, but an idea crosses his mind as he attaches its shell and its face. He grabs a piece of plastic tubing that looks like brass and fashions it into a whistle, which he attaches to his Squirtle's hand. After slipping his hand inside his creation, he figures out that he can make his Squirtle "play" the whistle and put it away. "Hey, look!" he calls.

"What?" Dawn looks up from making a puppet representation of herself and smiles. "That's clever..."

"I'm not telling you how I did it until after this guy makes his proper debut!" Ash cautions, then adds in a vaguely Spanish sounding voice "Si--I no perform, you no learn my secret!"

Brock laughs at the voice Ash has chosen to use while performing his Squirtle. "I know just the tale for your creation's debut--appropriately enough, it's called "The Dancing Squirtle".

"I've named him Rio--and I know how I can get the sound of a whistle while performing him!" Ash confidently declares.

"How?" Brock asks as he begins assembling what looks like a Mexican male human doll.

"Ah-ha-ha, that is part of mi secreto!" Ash replies as Rio. Happini and Pikachu giggle at Ash's new puppet.

"Interesting character you've made..." Flint smiles as he walks by the room.

"I still need to rehearse with him before I perform him for real." Ash assures Flint before finding the copy of "The Dancing Squirtle" with Brock's notes on it and reading it over.

Later...

"All ready back there?" Terra asks as she preps the puppet stage.

"Ready!" Ash replies. Dawn and Brock nod in agreement.

"Okay..." Terra steps out to address Lola, Flint, and the other kids. "And now, we present the dress rehearsal of 'The Dancing Squirtle'!" Everyone applauds as Terra opens the puppet theater's curtains.

Ash makes Rio appear from stage left. La-la-la, it is so wonderful, such a wonderful day... The sun is shining," Terra turns on a flashlight over the puppet stage. "the birds are singing..." Terra blows into a bird shaped whistle. "and I have my little whistle to play a happy tune." With that, he makes Rio "play" his whistle while playing his own whistle with the other hand. "Ha ha! That sound makes me so happy, it makes me want to dance!" He makes Rio "dance" around the stage singing Pokemon no mahou, happy coming, hey! again and again, unaware that Brock's puppet, a miniature representation of his Paradaisu persona without the sombrero, is sneaking up behind him.

"Aha! A Squirtle...and one just large enough to make a good soup for me and mi familia..." Brock interjects in an accented version of himself. With that, he makes his puppet "catch" Rio.

"ACK!!!" Ash gasps as he makes Rio "struggle".

"I've got you now!" Brock intones as his character. "I will take you to mi casa and make Squirtle soup for dinner tomorrow night." The audience gasps, fearful over Rio's fate.

"Please let me go, señor!" Ash pleads as Rio. "I'm no ordinary tortuguita...how many Squirtles do you know that dance and play the whistle? Besides, I taste muy terrible!!" The kids laugh at this.

"What do I care for a dancing Squirtle?" Brock's character retorts. "The only things Squirtles are good for are pets and soup! I'll put la tortuguita in a wooden cage to take home." The light goes down, buying Terra time to add a house set to the existing jungle set, a tiny wooden basket on top of Rio, and a candy holder shaped like a cauldron for the cooking pot nearby the house set.

When the light comes up again, Brock's character appears first. "Sonrisa! Come out here, por favor."

"Coming, papi... Dawn calls from offstage in a breathier version of herself before making her puppet appear. "What is it?"

"Look, Sonrisa, I have caught us a fine Squirtle--he has enough meat on him to last a week!" Brock notes, making his puppet "gesture" to the "trapped" Rio.

"Ay, papi! I love your Squirtle soup! When will you make it?" Dawn begs as Sonrisa.

"It is too late to begin tonight, but after I finish the day's work in the fields tomorrow, I will let the Squirtle simmer." Brock's character replies. "Be careful, Sonrisa--this Squirtle's quite the chatterbox. Don't let him talk you into opening the cage."

"No te preoccupes, papi... I will take good care of the Squirtle." Dawn assures Brock as Sonrisa.

"The next day..." Terra interjects.

"Ay, when will papi return?" Dawn sighs, making Sonrisa "pace" the stage. "We will make a grand fuego, boil some aqua and roast the Squirtle for una sopa delicisiosa! Ash single handedly makes Rio "play" a few bars of a reel, getting Dawn's attention. Que es eso? she asks as Sonrisa. Ash repeats the same phrase, making the Sonrisa puppet feign surprise that the Rio puppet is the one "playing" the music. "Oh, it's coming from the cage...is that you, Squirtle?" Dawn asks as Sonrisa.

"Ya, it's me, the happiest Squirtle you'll ever see." Ash replies, his Rio voice muffled to make it sound like Rio is inside something.

"But how can you be so happy? Are you not aware you will soon be sopa?" Dawn asks as Sonrisa.

"Ya lo se, chica. I heard everything last night between you and your papi." Ash replies. "I am so happy because I have my little whistle--you heard me play, no?"

"I heard you, all right, and you sound bonita." Dawn replies.

"But that is nothing compared to my happy dance...shall I dance for you, <i>chica</i>?" Ash asks, making some of the kids laugh at the voice Ash is using for Rio.

"But if I open the cage, you'll try to escape, verdad?" Dawn protests.

Ash feigns some laughter. "Me, try to escape? You're funny sometimes, chica. Have you forgotten how slow we Squirtles are?"

"How will I know you won't trick me?" Dawn asks, with her Sonrisa voice having a note of skepticism in it.

"Oh, come on, I'm only a little Squirtle!" Ash protests as Rio. "How can I trick such a pretty and smart chica like you?"

"Well...I have never seen a Squirtle dance before..." Dawn muses as she makes the Sonrisa puppet approach the "cage" containing Rio.

"This is your chance, before I am doing the backstroke in the cooking pot!" Ash pleads.

"Okay..I will let you out of the cage for you to dance, but only for a little while." Dawn replies before the light goes down, allowing Terra to remove the basket enclosing the Rio puppet.

When the light comes back up again, Ash is making Rio furiously "dance" around the set, singing in a gibberish that sounds like a blend of Spanish and Japanese as the Sonrisa puppet sways along to the beat. While Ash's performance is enthusiastic at first, over time he slows Rio's movement down and mimics getting tired before he makes Rio collapse in a heap, to some laughter.

"Bravo, encore!" Dawn cheers, making the Sonrisa puppet "applaud"

"Ay, I am so tired....let me rest for a while, then I will dance some more." Ash wheezes as Rio.

"Okay, you can rest in your cage." Dawn is about to make the Sonrisa puppet pick up the Rio puppet when the Rio puppet waves the Sonrisa puppet away.

"Oh no, it is much too hot in there!" Ash interjects, making the Rio puppet wipe its brow to some laughter. "For me to get a lot of dancing strength, I rest in the shade."

"But how will I know you won't run away?" Dawn asks.

"Why would I? You make a fine audience." Ash notes. "I didn't run away before, did I?"

"Well, you did as you said and you didn't run away..." Dawn muses. "Okay...you can sleep in the shade, while I sleep in la casa. With that, the Sonrisa puppet exits. Once the Rio puppet is alone on the stage, Ash makes him look both ways before sneaking offstage, to some laughter.

"An hour or so later...." Terra interjects.

"Squirtle?" Dawn asks as she makes the Sonrisa puppet peek from the "house". "Where'd you go?" Dawn makes the Sonrisa puppet look around the stage. "Not in his cage, and not under the tree....papi will be so mad at me..." she sighs before perking the puppet up again. "But all is not lost, amigos!" she announces. "I will simply paint a rock to look like a Squirtle, and papi will never know the difference!" With that, she makes the Sonrisa puppet exit and return with a "rock", which she "drops" in the "pot".

"Sonrisa, I'm home!" Brock announces as his puppet returns. "I hope you are hungry!"

"Oh, yes!" Dawn replies. "I have already put la tortuguita in the pot for you."

"Very well, I will stir it around so it doesn't burn." With that, Brock makes his puppet "stir" the supposed broth until it notices the "rock". "Sonrisa...why is there a rock in the pot?" he asks as his character.

Dawn makes the Sonrisa puppet rear back. "Forgive me, papi...the Squirtle tricked me...I was more afraid you'd be mad about the rock."

"Although I am disappointed, mi hija, that was one tricky Squirtle." Brock assures Dawn as his character. "We can always make tacos instead!"

'Oh, that would be even better!" Dawn smiles, making the Sonrisa puppet and Brock's character "hug". before the lights go down and allowing Terra to remove the set pieces.

Once the light comes back up, Ash makes Rio enter again. Hola, todos... I know you're thinking that it wasn't nice of me to trick the lovely Sonrisa, but quite frankly, I didn't want to be Squirtle soup!" The audience laughs a little. "The moral of the story? Desprate times call for desprate measures! Until we meet again..." Ash makes Rio do a quick dance as he sings one last chorus of Pokemon no mahou, happy coming, hey! before Terra closes the curtains, making the audience applaud.

"Very nice!" Flint is impressed.

"A whistle playing puppet is very clever!" Fuschia agrees as Ash, Dawn, and Brock emerge from behind the puppet theater with their characters and take a bow.

"Now I'll show you how I made Rio play the whistle..." Ash explains to the audience. "I used one hand to operate the puppet..." he explains, making the Rio puppet appear to "play" its instrument. "and the other to play an actual whistle to get the sound." He repeats the same phrase he played before, to some awed applause.

"Maybe you ought to be a puppeteer on 'Sesamon Street' one day." Flint notes as everyone takes a bow again.

That night...

"Call home." Ash commands the video screen attachment connected to his Match Call. Fuschia, Brock, Dawn, Terra, and Forest watch as the screen flashes "Dialing..." for a moment.

"Delia's going to love this..." Dawn smiles as she toys with a Stantler puppet.

"Well, I want to show Mom the puppets we made today, and what better way to do this than another show?" Ash smiles. "Besides, we practiced this a lot..."

"And the puppet theater can safely accommodate five people, with Terra as the prop girl." Brock agrees, toying with his Entei puppet from before.

Finally, the screen blips to life with an image of a brown haired woman. "Hello, Ash...enjoying your three weeks' vacation in Pewter City so far?"

"Yeah--one of Brock's cousins is here this week..." Ash begins as Fuschia waves hello in the background. "We had a backyard campout yesterday, and I put my trumpet skills to good use as the unofficial camp bugler." Delia laughs at this. "Then today it rained all day, so after Brock found one of Happini's puppet dolls and performed with it, we decided to make puppets and play with them all day."

"Oh?" Delia is interested.

"These aren't cheapo puppets from socks or paper bags..." Ash continues, showing Delia his Squirtle puppet. "This was my first one...I named him Rio." He proceeds to perform Rio a little bit. Pokemon no mahou, happy coming, hey!

"How cute." Delia smiles. "He looks very realistic, too."

"It can even play whistle!" Brock adds.

"Yeah...I use one hand to operate Rio, and then play a whistle with the other hand, making it look like the puppet is the one playing." Ash explains. "Playing whistle one handed takes some practice, though." he cautions as he sets Rio aside and picks up a Pikachu puppet. "And this is the other puppet I made today--his name's Sorin. I still need to perform him, so I rounded up a few volunteers to help me put on a puppet adaptation of that one story about the sneaky Pikachu and the moss covered rock you always told me growing up."

"This should be fun..." Delia smiles.

"I'm going to put you on hold while we get a few things ready." Ash assures Delia before pressing the "HOLD" button on his Match Call, making the screen change to a "PLEASE STAND BY" card. Forest and Terra bring in the puppet stage, and Terra adds some set pieces to the stage as Ash and the others get into position behind the stage. Once settled with his Pikachu puppet, Ash remotely takes Delia off of hold with his Match Call.

"And now, we present the story 'The Moss Covered Rock'" Terra announces, opening the stage's curtains, revealing a jungle set with a cave on it. "Deep in the heart of the jungle lives a crafty Pikachu named Sorin. Now, most Pokemon go out and hunt food for themselves when they are hungry, but not Sorin! When he's hungry, he goes out and tricks the other Pokemon into giving him their food!" Delia laughs for a moment before Terra continues. "Now one day, Sorin woke up especially hungry..." She lets that hang as Ash makes Sorin emerge from the cave.

"Gah, I am so hungry..." Ash complains in a higher pitched version of himself. "There is nothing here to eat...." he moans as he makes Sorin trudge across the stage. "I know! I'll go on a walk and see if I find any food!" With that, he makes Sorin walks offstage as the light goes down, buying Terra time to put up a fake green opal that is standing in as the moss covered rock.

When the light comes up again, Ash muses as Sorin. "Funny, I haven't seen this path before..." He makes Sorin "walk" across the stage as he says this until he notes the "rock". "Hm, what a strange rock..." he muses as he approaches.

"Ka-pew!" Terra mimics an explosion, prompting Ash to make Sorin fall over backwards, to some laughter from Delia.

"Ow..." Ash moans as Sorin as he weakly makes Sorin get up. "Say...that was a magical rock! If anyone approaches it and says 'What a strange rock', it explodes! I ought to use this magic to get me some food!" With that, he makes, Sorin "run" offstage as the light goes down.

"Later, in Entei's lair..." Terra interjects as she removes the rock and rearranges the set to look like another part of the jungle, complete with some cloth yams and felt berries of all types.

Brock makes the Entei puppet enter from stage right. "Mm, just look at all of this..." he notes in a deeper version of himself. "I planted the seeds, watered the sprouts, kept the weeds pulled...and now it is yams and Berries for dinner tonight!" Just then, he makes the Entei puppet face the Sorin puppet as it enters from stage left. "Oh, hello, Sorin--see this grand harvest of mine?" He makes the Entei puppet "gesture" to the pile of "food".

"The Berries I've seen before, but I like your yams." Ash replies as Sorin before discretely whispering an aside in character. "soon to be MY yams!" Delia giggles at this as Ash makes Sorin address the Entei puppet. "Your Highness, I have found a great treasure off a hidden path...you won't believe what is there!"

"Oh?" Brock asks as the Entei.

"But since you are my friend, I will guide you to this treasure." Ash continues.

"What about these yams?" Brock asks.

"Oh, just leave them under that tree--I'm sure no one will find them there." Ash assures the Entei puppet as Sorin. When both puppets exit, the light goes down, and Terra puts the opal back on the stage.

"Here we are, your Highness!" Ash announces, making Sorin gesture to the "rock"

Brock makes the Entei puppet approach the "rock". "Hm...what a strange rock..."

"Ka-pew!" Terra mimics an explaosion again, prompting Brock to make the Entei fall. Terra then discretely moves some of the prop yams to Sorin's cave as Ash makes Sorin scamper offstage.

"Ow...I have a king sized headache..." Brock groans in character as he makes the Entei weakly get up, making Delia laugh. "Funny...where'd my yams get to?" he asks.

"Meanwhile..." Terra narrates as she rearranges the set again while the light is down. When it comes back up again, Sorin is the first puppet to appear.

"That was too easy..." Ash giggles as Sorin. "Now what could I have with the yams? I know! I'll ask Chimchar to see if she will share some of her Nanab Berries..." At this, Fuschia steadies a Chimchar puppet in one of the "trees" on the set. "Hello, Chimchar!" Ash calls as Sorin.

"Hello there, Sorin!" Fuschia replies in a higher pitched version of herself. "I'm sorry I haven't come by to visit in a while--me and the whole family have been busy gathering Nanab Berries--my little house is just bursting with them!"

"Oh, that will be perfect to go with the yams!" Ash comments as an aside. Delia laughs as Fuschia asks in character "So what have you been doing lately?"

"Well, I've been protecting a secret place..." Ash replies as Sorin.

Fuschia makes the Chimchar puppet **** its head. "Secret place? I haven't heard about any secret places..."

"Well, if you heard, it wouldn't be a secret any more, now would it?" Ash replies as Sorin. "If you like, I can show this secret place to you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone!"

"Promise!" Fuschia replies before making the Chimchar puppet "climb" down the tree and follow the Sorin puppet offstage. While the light is down, Terra rearrages the set and puts back the rock.

"Here it is!" Ash announces as Sorin. "My secret place!

Fuschia makes the Chimchar pupper scamper up to the "rock" "Hm, what a strange rock..."

"Ka-pew!" Terra mimics an explosion, prompting Fuschia to make the Chimchar puppet fall over.

"Now for those Nanab Berries!" Ash comments as Sorin as Terra discretely moves some of the Nanab Berries over to Sorin's cave.

"Ow...the world feels like it's spinning..." Fuschia groans in character as she weakly makes the Chimchar puppet get up. "Sorin?" she calls in character. 'Ah well, he likely went home...but where did my Nanab Berries go?"

The light goes down as Terra narrates. "Sorin continued to do this to many other Pokemon in the jungle--he would lead them to the moss covered rock, the unsuspecting Pokemon would comment on it being a strange rock, and while they were still recovering from the ensuing explosion, Sorin would take their food." She lets that hang as the Sorin puppet and a Donphan puppet controlled by Forest enter.

"Hm, what a strange rock..." Forest comments in a deeper version of himself.

"Ka-pew!" Terra mimics an explosion, prompting Forest to make the Donphan fall over backwards while Terra discretely moves more prop Berries to Sorin's cave. The three of them repeat this scene a second time, only this time Forest controls a Girafarig puppet. Once the light goes down again, Terra narrates. "But Stantler had been watching what Sorin was doing the whole time..."

Dawn makes the Stantler puppet peek onstage to comment in a lower pitched version of herself "It isn't nice to take another's food--I think it's time Sorin be taught his lesson!"

"And so, Stantler set out, and met Sorin somewhere in the jungle..." Terra narrates as the two puppets meet on stage.

"Stantler, why do you smile so?" Ash asks as Sorin.

"Oh, hello, Sorin..." Dawn replies as the Stantler. "I smile because I have many Berries--Rawst Berries, Belue Berries, Bluk Berries, Razz Berries, Cheri Berries--so many Berries, I don't know what to do with them!"

"I think I know what will happen to her Berries..." Ash comments as an aside before addressing the Stantler puppet again. "Since you are such a good friend, I want to show you something...come on!" Terra re-arranges the set while the light is down, before the light comes up on the clearing with the "rock". "Here we are!"

"What is it you want to show me, Sorin?" Dawn asks as the Stantler.

"This rock." Ash replies, making the Sorin puppet "gesture" to the "rock".

"And which rock is that?" Dawn asks, making the Stantler puppet look around. "There are hundreds of rocks out here."

"If you look at this rock and say 'Hm, what a strange rock...'" Ash starts.

"Ka-pew!" Terra mimics an explosion in the middle of Ash's line, prompting Ash to make the Sorin puppet fall over again.

"Well, well, looks like the trickster fell into his own trap!" Dawn comments as Ash makes the Sorin puppet struggle to get up. "Now I will go return the food Sorin stole." Terra discretely moves the prop food items offstage.

"Ow, do I have an epic headache..." Ash groans as Sorin. "But...where is all the food I took?" He makes the Sorin puppet look around for a moment. "Could it be...Stantler tricked me?" he wonders. "I don't want to be embarrassed by everyone laughing at me....but then again, I did the same to the other Pokemon in the jungle, and look where that got me! Now that it's happened to me, I know how they feel, and it doesn't feel very good! I won't trick them anymore! From now on, I will look for my own food like other Pokemon!"

With that, the light goes down, and Terra narrates the last part of the story. "From that day on, Sorin learned his lesson, and looked for his own food like all the other Pokemon in the jungle. Fortunately, Sorin's friends forgave him, and were proud to see he had changed his ways--and he never stole another Pokemon's food again...the end."

Delia and Mimey applaud. "That was wonderful!" Delia smiles as Ash and the others emerge with their characters and take a bow.

"Mime! Mime!" Mimey begs.

Ash just laughs. "Sorry, Mimey, your encore will have to wait."