@Charles Legend @Mia Blaze
Episode 73c: Trouble's Brewing (part 3)
"Sakura?" Misty asked as she nudged open the door to Sakura's room, where Sakura and Satomi were finishing their dinner. "Are you receiving guests now?"
"Oh! Misty, what a surprise!" Sakura smiled. "Of course I would be willing to talk to you for a little while--from one girl to another.
"Brock told me what happened at the tea ceremony earlier today, and I wonder...do any of your sisters get along with you?" Misty asked. "I ask this because I know all too well what it is like to be spurned and picked on by older siblings."
"Well, Yuki, Ayame, and Rei are the ones that usually stick up for me..." Sakura replied. "Kuni tries to keep Sayo and Miki under control, and Naoko is neutral towards it all. But seeing the eight of us onstage, you would never know we even fight at all."
"Back home in Cerulean City, I have three elder sisters of my own." Misty explained, showing Sakura a picture of her, Lilly, Violet, and Daisy on the beach. "For a long time, they were more concerned about synchronized swimming, water ballets, and other spectacles than giving out badges; and I got a lot of teasing from them for wanting to be the Gym Leader. The last straw came when they decided to become idols, and pressured me to join the unit. I just said thanks but no thanks--dancing around in a frilly costume and singing cutesy lyrics wasn't my thing. For all I know, they still have the green costume they saved for me in a closet somewhere, waiting for when I finally come around. But as far as I'm concerned, Waves will always be a trio."
"Interesting..." Sakura smiled as Misty pulled up a video of her sisters' latest single. "What are their songs like?"
"Here's their latest hit...'I Want'." Misty began as she watched the video load. "This is just a clip, so you won't hear the whole song."
With that, she pressed PLAY, allowing Sakura to see the image of Lilly, in a sparkling blue costume, Violet, in a sparkling purple costume, and Daisy, in a sparkling gold costume, sing La la la la....
La la la la la la la la la!
Okay, okay, let's take it lightly! Lilly sang.
Okay okay, prepare my heart and soul... Volet sang.
Okay, okay, I have gotta be strong! Daisy sang.
All three sisters then sang Okay okay, ready to go!
Hey, I want, I want, I want, I want
Just to hear your loving voice!
Yes, I want, I want, I want, I want
Just to hear you once again!
And surely, surely, surely, surely
More than any other boy
I really, really, really, really
Think that I'm the one for you!
Sakura stiffled a giggle at the dancing girls on Misty's PokeNav. "No wonder you didn't want to join the unit..."
"Even when we all took music lessons as kids, I wanted nothing to do with classical opuses--I wanted to play the traditional dances of Kanto on my violin, not all those sonatas and partitas." Misty went on. "Then I ran into Ash--and not only did I gain a jamming partner, but a heroic trainer I am proud to call my friend."
"Yes--he seems to be highly skilled on a number of flutes." Sakura smiled.
"Then we met Brock--who is a master guitar player, singer, and storyteller, and who I consider to be another of my closest friends, even if he does try and sing to any pretty face he can find." Misty continued. "We've been across a region and a half together, and seen a lot of amazing things. We'd be here all night if I could tell you about them all."
"I'm sure you all have some amazing stories to tell." Sakura replied. "Would you mind if I joined your party?"
"Really?" Misty gasped as the boys and Tintri arrived in the room.
Sakura nodded. "I have long wished to see the world alongside Satomi, and a journey is often better with friends. Who knows, if we come across ancient writings, I may be able to help you read them."
"What do you think?" Misty asked the boys.
"Sure!" Ash smiled. "The more, the merrier."
"I have no problem with it if your sisters are okay with it." Brock replied. "Besides, I'd love to continue the vina lessons on the road, and I could teach you some of the songs and ballads I know."
"What fun!" Sakura smiled before giving Ash, Misty, and Brock a script. "Maybe Sayo would be convinced that I'd be safe with you if she saw you onstage with us. The play is not tomorrow, but the next day, so you three have a little time to rehearse and practice."
"'Crimson Parasol', huh..." Ash mused as he read through the script, complete with lines for him and places for a bansi to play marked in red.
Sakura smiled. "It's a Gekijou version of 'Little Red Riding Hood' I wrote for last year's Children's Festival, but I haven't gotten the chance to perform it."
"I would be honored to narrate and show off what little I know on the vina so far." Brock smiled.
"Playing a hero sounds fun!" Misty grinned, bemused in the fact she would be playing a britches role.
"Miki's a good teacher, and I have my reservations as to playing my new bansi this soon, but if you want me to try, I'll try." Ash replied.
"That's all I ask is that you try." Sakura assured Ash. "Let us get to bed--we have rehearsal tomorrow, and the the performance the next day."
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The Dance Theater rang with applause as Sayo arrived onstage. "Thank you, and on behalf of all of us at the Masamune Theater...welcome." she began. "If this is your first time visiting a Gekijou theater, allow me to explain some of the conventions and traditions you will see. Firstly, the narrator--who may or may not be named depending on the play--plays a kind of ancient harp called a vina, to add ambiance and character to the spoken words. There is also a chorus of musicians and speakers to assist the narrator, who may also interact with the action taking place. Props and sets are brought on and taken away in a moment's notice. If a Pokemon or spirit is needed in the storyline, they are usually portrayed by puppets--the larger ones operated by several puppeteers in plain view of the audience, and voiced by the narrator."
Excited murmurs go up at this. "Among all of that, we do have the familiar for you today." Sayo assures the audience. "You'll meet a familiar girl in red, but she's not the character you think you know..."
She concludes "So without any further ado...the Masamune Theater proudly presents 'Crimson Parasol'.
Applause filled the air as Sayo exited and the lights went down, leaving the theater in complete darkness. After a few seconds of silence, the notes of a vina playing the tune "The Scent of Flowers Everywhere" filled the air. The audience whispered who the performer could be for a moment, but the whispering quieted when the lights came up on Brock, now clad in a purple robe with white, gold, and green trim, playing his vina.
After playing the haunting melody through several times, he let the last note fade away before addressing the audience. "Good afternoon and well met, travelers...I am Kataribe-san, your storyteller for today. I travel from town to town playing my harp and singing..."
He proceeded to play a bouncy melody as he sang Come one, and come all--come and hear my tales!
The audience laughed as Brock danced around the stage for a moment. "Then the old and the young, the rich and the poor, they all come from their homes and the streets and join me in the town square, eager to hear what tales I have to tell." Brock continued in character. "Today I have a new twist on an old favorite to tell you--you yourselves learned this tale from a storyteller named Jacob Grimm, but where he learned it from, we may never know."
He smiles "You just can't keep a good story at home, can you?"
Affirmative murmurs wafted in his direction. "The tale concerns a girl in red, a fearsome Mightyena, and a woodcutter that saved the girl and her grandmother from a terrible fate--I speak, of course of 'Little Red Riding Hood'." Brock explains over a mostly improvised soft melody. "But when that same story came to this land, Little Red Riding Hood transformed into Crimson Parasol." He played a soft chord for effect.
"Now, with a little help from the Nijiiro Chorus..." Brock made a grand gesture to stage right as the lights came up on a crowd of about thirty people, not including Ash, Kuni, and Rei. While the other house musicians wore a plain colored robe and carried some form of a percussion instrument, Ash wore a red and gold robe, and the other Kimono Girls in the ensemble had on their robes. "...we will tell you this tale just as it was told many suns ago."
As if on cue, two stagehands in black arrived--one carrying a gold disc and the other a silver disc. The vina and Kuni, playing the three stringed fiddle-like tikin, started a soft melody as the stagehands spun the two disks in opposing directions as they exited. "Many many suns ago..." a male speaker began.
"On an island in a land far away..." a female speaker continued.
"There was a mountain capped with snow." a second male speaker explained.
"Below that mountain was a green valley." a second female speaker continued
"In that valley was a meadow of tall grass..." a third male speaker went on. Those chorus members with shakers shook them for effect, to some bemused giggles from the children in the audience.
"And on that meadow stood a cottage." a third female speaker continued as the two stage ninjas brought on a screen that depicted an Asian-esque house on a meadow.
"In that cottage, there lived a mother..." a fourth male speaker began.
Oka-san! Rei called.
As if on cue, Miki, now clad in a pale blue and green robe, slowly walked on stage in time to the vina, the woodblocks, and bells. When she got to the center of the stage, she bowed to the audience before walking towards stage right.
"And with the Oka-san," the first male speaker explained.
"There lived a young daughter." the first female speaker replied.
Sakura, now wearing a deep red tunic-like robe, black leggings, and black shoes, enters from the right, with the woodblocks and bells providing a playful beat for her steps. She bowed to Miki and the audience as they noticed the small red parasol she carried, then walked over by Miki's side as the vina and tikin joined back in again.
"This is Crimson Parasol." the first male speaker explained as a spotlight appeared on Sakura.
"She has a feather head." the first female speaker commented as Sakura feigned a giggle.
"She has a wandering eye." the second female speaker added as Sakura looked around the room in feigned awe.
"Listen well, Akane-san." Rei cautioned.
"Listen to your Oka-san." Ash agreed. At this, the vina and tikin abruptly stopped.
"Listen to me, Akane, my love." Miki began. "I would like you to visit your Oba-san that lives to the east." As Miki said her first lines, the stage ninjas brought on a small table, a tea set, and a small covered basket, then exited as quickly as they had come.
"Yes, Oka-san." Sakura replied.
"Bring her this basket filled with Berries and sweet cakes." Miki smiled, gesturing to the small basket on the table.
"How delicious--fresh Berries and sweet cake!" Sakura gasps, to some "aw"s from the crowd.
"Pay attention, Akane." Miki began as the vina played a drone. "Do not go through the southern jungle. It is dark, it is dangerous, and Raikous lurk in the shadows." A soft drum roll punctuated Miki's line.
"Yes Oka-san." Sakura replied.
"Then go, Akane, before it grows hot." Miki smiled. "Do not linger to pick the flowers..." Some bells jingled for effect. "Do not chase the Beautiflies...."
Ash interjected on his bansi with the notes that matched "Ai-yai-yai, I'm your little Beautifly!" for effect, to giggles from the audience. "...and do not sit and dream on the rocks in the fields." Some larger woodblocks tapped for effect. "Furthermore, take your crimson parasol--who knows whether it will be warm or it will rain?" The <i>vina</i>'s drone ended with a soft flourish.
"I understand, Oka-san." Sakura replied before taking the basket from the table and hugging Miki. Itekimasu!
With that, she walks off in time with the bells and woodblocks as Miki waves goodbye...
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Backstage, Misty--in a navy blue swordsman's robe--alternated between studying the script and listening to Brock's narration out on the stage. I'm thankful that's not me playing the tikin... she smiled as she watched Kuni frantically saw away at the majestic three stringed instrument in time to the chorus' pleas. Even though Kuni offered to gave me lessons, bowing it was just too hard! I'll stick with my fiddle, thank you!
The stage ninjas bringing on a tree with pink flowers snapped her to attention. Oh, this is the Beauitifly's scene! Ash did say he had a solo in this scene...
---------
Onstage, Sakura stopped at the pink flowered tree at as the frantic melody concluded. After a few tense seconds, Ayame, now wearing a green, blue, and silver dress-like costume, danced onstage to the accompaniment of bells and finger cymbals. "Oh! A flower...a beautiful dancing flower." Sakura smiled. "I will present this dancing flower to Oba-san as a gift."
She approached and tried to grab at Ayame several times, but then Ayame waved her away. "Halt! Don't touch!"
Ash then started what sounded like an improvisation in B minor along with the percussion as Ayame continued dancing around Sakura, speaking all the while. "No thank you very much! I am no earthly bud! No blossom of the mud! I'm here, I'm there! I am queen of the air! Foolish child, use your eyes! For I am Nabi the Beautifly, princess of the summer skies!" The music ended there.
"A thousand pardons, sora-hime." Sakura replied with a little bow. "I was confused, for the shadows teased my eyes. Please excuse this unworthy Akane-chan!"
"Very well, but don't let it happen again." Ayame warned. "Now, I must be off, for I have an audience with the sakura.
With that, she danced off as Kuni's tikin joined Ash's bansi and the percussion. Some in the audience laughed when they recognized what the instruments were actually playing.
Oh....oh...oh... Rei sang along.
"Beautifly! Flutter by!" the chorus chanted over the music.
"Flash and flitter!"
"Skip and skitter!"
"Black and blue!"
"Colors in the sky!"
"Green, black, and blue, make the colors in the sky!" At this, the instruments and Rei stopped as Brock appeared in his spotlight, playing the chorus to "Beautifly" one last time on his vina.
"An encounter with a haughty Beautifly...do you think that stopped Akane-chan?" Brock asked the audience.
"No"s and murmurs wafted through the audience. "In fact, she went on, even further into the jungle..."
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Misty looked up and smiled at the majestic Raikou puppet she would "fight" at the pivotal moment of the play. He's beautiful! I can't wait to see Sakura's reaction to this big guy! she smiled as she watch Sakura interact with a Wartortle puppet, its performer concealed behind some faux rock.
As the Raikou's three performers arrived to prepare the huge puppet for its entrance, Misty flagged down the lead performer. "How is it that multiple people control the same puppet?"
"Simple--one person performs the back legs, one person performs the front legs, and I perform the head." the lead performer replied. "Performing the head's the hardest of the three roles--you have to work the head with precision to match the narrator's voice, so we create the illusion of a living being. Luckily, your friend is a great mimic and speaker, so I had no trouble syncing to his voice."
"Well, I'm gonna arrive like I'm really gonna fight, so give me a good struggle for my scene!" Misty vowed.
"We'll do our best." the lead performer replied as she disappeared inside the puppet's chest to reach the head.
Back onstage, the stage ninjas brought on a third tree with a yellow flower on it as the tikin began an uneasy drone with accents from the shakers. Listen, listen, what is that? Rei sang.
Ash joined in with a shuddering note. "Only a bird in the treetop high." a male speaker replied.
Hush! Hush! Who goes there? Rei sang again.
The woodblocks answered Rei's sung question with a playful rhythm. "Only a child on the jungle path." a female speaker replied.
Listen, listen, a sound in the bush. Rei sang again.
A foreboding drum roll punctuated the tikin and bansi's song, which was now growing more and more tense. Look! Look! A shadow falls!
Misty jumped as Ash blasted a high note that sounded amazingly like a female scream as a gong sounded and Brock mimicked a perfect Raikou's roar offstage as the magnificent Raikou puppet ran onstage, to "ooh"s and "ahh"s from the crowd.
"AUGH!!!" Sakura yelped. She took a few steps backwards before opting to hide behind the parasol) "Oh! You look like...you look like..."
"What do I look like, shoujo-chan?" Brock asked in a deeper version of himself from offstage. To the audience, it appeared the majestic puppet had asked the question.
"Well, you LOOK like a Raikou...you SOUND like a Raikou....but I don't think you ARE a Raikou." Sakura explained.
"What? I've never heard such a thing...how can I not be a Raikou?" Brock asked in character.
"Because I THINK you are a Raikou...today I have made two mistakes." Sakura went on. "First, I mistook a Beautifly for a flower. Then, I mistook a Wartortle for a stone. So if I think you are a Raikou, then you have to be something else. Understand?"
"Not very well." The audience laughed as the Raikou puppet shook its head. "So if I am something else, what am I?"
"Hm..." Sakura looked the Raikou puppet up and down. "Fur...stripes...four legs...a tail...so you must be a Zebstrika! I should tell my Oba-san about you."
"Ah, an Oba-san!" Brock excitedly gasped in character.
Nervous giggles filled the air as the Raikou puppet licked its chops. "Two fine meals for the great Langi!"
The puppet turned to face Sakura again. "Of course I am a Zebstrika, shoujo-chan--you do not fear me, do you?" Brock asked in character.
"No." Sakura replied.
"Then allow me to come with you to your Oba-san's house--I could protect you from any Raikous that lurk in this place." the puppet offered.
"You are too kind, Zebstrika-san." Sakura smiled.
With that, the puppet and Sakura walked in place as the lights went down, with the woodblocks, bells and the drum keeping the beat. Suddenly, a fearful bansi phrase stopped the beat as a spotlight appeared on the chorus.
"Oh, foolish Akane!" Ash cried.
"Oh, wicked Raikou!" Kuni agreed.
"What will happen now?" Rei asked.
A tense tikin riff played as a spotlight appeared on the Raikou puppet. "I will tell you what will happen now." Brock explained in character as the stage ninjas brought on another screen of a house in a field and placed it stage left as Yuki, playing Oba-san, entered. "I will get this foolish shoujo to her Oba-san's house, and then I will have a feast!"
Ash punctuated this with another note that sounded like a female scream. "But how will I do this, you ask?" Brock continued in character, clearly enjoying playing the villain. "Worry not, for I, Langi, am a clever Raikou!"
The puppet then turned to address Sakura again. "Look, out at the sky!"
"What is it? What do you see?" Sakura asked.
"I see Articuno off to the west, with her beautiful blue and white plumes. If you look towards the setting sun, you just might see her as she passes here." Brock explained in character.
Sakura nodded and froze in a westward facing pose. With Sakura distracted, the Raikou puppet tiptoed up to the unsuspecting Yuki and shoved her back behind the screen, complete with Ash blasting another scream-like note as the gong sounded again.
"There! Into the closet with you while I deal with your precious shoujo-chan!" Brock growled in character as the stage ninjas arrived with a copy of Oba-san's costume.
Boos filled the theater as Brock mimicked another Raikou roar. Memo to self--ask Ash how he can mimic a girl screaming with a flute! Misty grinned--her big scene was coming soon!
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Later, Sakura spotted the Raikou puppet's tail peeking from the blanket. "Tails? Oba-sans don't have tails..."
She pulled off the blanket, to a panicked riff. "A Raikou! Where is my Oba-san?"
"Don't try to escape, shoujo-chan!" Brock growled in character.
With that, he mimicked a roar as the Raikou puppet sprung at Sakura as the bansi, vina, tikin, and percussion played an exciting melody. Sakura, meanwhile, used the closed parasol as a sword.
Misty meanwhile, listened for the bansi flourish that served as her cue from the wings. Ash said he'd play a distinct little melody for my cue...
She smiled as she heard a descending phrase down the B minor scale. There it is... she grinned as she drew a prop katana and dashed onstage.
"Praise Arceus, help has come!" a female extra cried.
"It is Takuya, a great hunter!" a male speaker agreed.
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" Rei cried as Misty cornered the Raikou puppet, prompting the music to stop.
"Get away from her, you wily Raikou, before your head falls to the great Kanemoto!" Misty warned the puppet, brandishing the katana for effect.
"What? Cut off my head? You must be mistaken--the girl claims I am a Zebstrika." Brock protested in character.
"A Zebstrika indeed! I know you too well, Langi of the Southern Jungle." Misty grinned.
"Please, have mercy, dear hunter!" Brock pleaded in character. "I have not harmed the Oba-san...she was in the closet the whole time!"
Cheers went up from the audience as Sakura brought Yuki out from behind the screen. "Since you have not harmed the Oba-san nor the girl, I am feeling merciful." Misty mused before pointing the katana at the Raikou puppet. "Do you promise to return to the jungle from whence you came?"
The Raikou puppet fearfully nodded as the katana inched closer to its head. "Do you promise never to bother another human again for the rest of your days?" Misty asked.
The Raikou puppet fearfully nodded yes again. "Now go, before I change my mind." Misty growled.
Ash smiled as a drum roll played to signal Langi bounding offstage. Misty has this hero thing down! he thought as Yuki hugged Sakura, and Misty sheathed the katana over a triumphant vina and bell flourish.
"Shoo, shoo! Wily Raikou!" he called offstage.
"Never return again!" Kuni scolded.
"Hail! Hail! Wielder of Kanemoto! You've saved the red-clad child!" Rei called.
Applause went up as the lights went down, except for Brock in a spotlight nearby the chorus, playing an interlude on his vina. "And so, Langi the Raikou returned to the southern jungle--never again did he show his whiskers around that place." he narrated as himself. "Word of Takuya's brave deed spread to even the Pokemon League, and he received a great crystal medallion from the Pokemon Master."
At this, the instruments played an Asian style rendition of "Golden Hearts and Silver Souls" as Misty knelt at center stage, and one of the stage ninjas draped a large sparkling medallion around her neck before all of them exited...
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"That was fun!" Misty smiled as the group emerged from the theater's backstage area in their normal clothes.
"Not enough water in the whole Johto region--doing Langi's voice was hard work!" Brock mused before taking a long drink of water.
As the group met the Kimono Girls out in the square, Sayo asked Sakura "Are you sure you still want to go with these three? If you do, they must battle us for the right to take you with them."
"I've changed my mind, Sayo-neesan." Sakura replied. "I'll stay here...I thought about it a little more last night, and I don't believe I am ready to go on a journey yet."
She then addressed the group. "While it would be wonderful to go with you three, I worry I would be a burden to you all right now. When I do depart on a journey, I will go by myself, and meet some companions I can call my own."
Sayo smiled. "You'll be doing something very brave, sis--it's always good to learn self-reliance, as you won't always have someone with you. Knowing how to take care of yourself is a sign of a strong, confident, and beautiful young lady."
"Well, if you change your mind, we'll be headed for Olivine City." Ash assured Sakura as Tintri bounded on his shoulder. "I'll be sure to keep practicing for you." he told Miki as she hugged him.
"If you want us to act in another Gekijou play, let us know!" Misty smiled.
Sakura embraced Brock. "Promise me when you play your vina, you'll think of me...I've left you four collections of tunes for you to practice as you travel, as thanks for your performance today."
"Any time--I'd love to act in or narrate another play for you." Brock replied.
"Bye, everyone!" Ash called as he waved back to the waving Kimono Girls. "May we meet again soon!"
To Be Continued...
