Chapter 10: Have a Pinna Fun!
(Rini's Dream)
A princess waited in a tower for her savior to come and whisk her away. A battle ensued far off in the distance. After time passed, a young knight in a suit of armor came flying in on a Pegasus to the window of the tower. "Princess Rini!" sounded someone familiar. Rini saw the young face with glasses after he removed his helmet.
"Max!" she cheered.
"That dragon's long gone. Ready to come home?" Rini didn't want to go yet and instead boarded the Pegasus and gave the raven-haired a flurry of kisses. Funny enough…
(Reality)
She's kissing him as they slept. Max heard lips smacking his cheek and woke to find Rini's lips repeatedly pressed to it. Needless to say that it also got May to wake and look. Seeing her brother getting the cheeky treatment, May covered her mouth, not willing to let out a laugh and wake anyone else. "Don't turn, Max!" she quietly warned, trying to hide her excitement. Not hearing his sister, Max turned and instead of his cheek again, the sleeping Rini kissed his lips. May witnessed, vehemently trying not to laugh so loud as to wake Ash, less and unknowing Kari and Kuriko. Her cheeks ballooned, holding in her laughter. Rini suddenly woke up and spotted who she's kissing. In shock, Rini's face became bright red.
"Ma- Max?" she stuttered. Pikachu woke and crawled up to Max's bed to see the moment. Unable to hold back, May let out a laugh at the embarrassing sight.
"That was priceless!" She laughed hard. Max heard enough cackling.
"I get it, May," he groaned. "Imagine if there was a young man like Brock with you." That quieted the brunette. From laughing like a hyena to acting sheepish, she made no peep. Rini looked befuddled to her location.
"Why am I here and not with Serena and Darrien?" she questioned.
"You and Amy fell asleep in our arms during our movie. Chad carried us here since you couldn't wake up." Hearing what happened, Rini became humiliated. That's when Max noticed the door ajar. "Didn't Ash lock the door?" May turned to the door, something feeling off.
"Yeah, I even reminded him after Chad left," she replayed. They turned to Ash's bed and noticed three bodies underneath as Rini inspected the door.
"What's this?" she wondered. She found a slip of paper with Japanese symbols on it. Max came to see it, a blank in his mind.
"I've never seen that before," he studied. May lurched over to see who's in Ash's bed. She found three sets of hair: blond, raven-haired and brunette in that order. Her curiosity rocketed to having her arm grab the blanket. She pulled and found Ash, Kari and Kuriko in the same bed and all asleep. May's face read terrified. A yelp summoned Max, Rini and Pikachu to see the group. "Kinda makes you jealous, huh?" Kuriko stirred first and glanced glared to Ash's still sleeping face, but he didn't stay asleep for long. Ash's eyes caught the blond first.
"Good morning, handsome," she greeted with a smile. Shocked to find Kuriko in bed, Ash yelped and startled Kari awake. Kuriko saw the brunette and gawked. May's jaw fell like an anvil and caught Rini's attention. She tried to reattach May's jaw but it wasn't working.
"What the heck am I doing here?" shrieked Kari. Ash turned to Kari, shocked to see her as well.
"Kari?" gasped Ash.
"What are you doing in Ash's bed?!" gawked Kuriko. Kari jumped out of the bed, her legs drenched.
"I thought I was in my room!" she stuttered. As if he hadn't had enough in his bed, Elizabeth seeped out of Ash's body. Rini jumped in fright and hid behind Max.
"Never been in a nice and warm body in a while," she complimented. Everyone couldn't believe the crowd with Ash.
"Elizabeth?" gawked Kuriko. Elizabeth glanced to Kuriko with a scowl.
"Don't start, okay? Besides, you decided to rub his bare leg like a dog. Check your underwear!" Both Kari and Kuriko saw their legs soaked to the bone. Max turned away and made Rini follow. Ash's legs needed a few towels. After the fiasco in the Pokémon Room, most of the vacationers gathered for breakfast. The movie seemed to be on some of the vacationers' minds.
"I haven't been able to sleep since seeing 'King Kong' last night," Joey moaned as he nibbled on toast. Rachel and Ichigo came to see Joey and Serenity.
"It's just a movie, Joseph," Rachel murmured.
"I know but the ending didn't make sense to me. Carl said at the end 'It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty that killed the Beast.' I'm sorry but how could Ann be the one to take down Kong?" Ichigo slumped with his eyes closed.
"Let's see if I can help with that," he offered. "Before seeing Ann, Kong's been lonely for a long time. After the film crew found his island and Kong saw Ann, it's love at first sight. With Ann's ability as an actress, her role continued despite the real life crisis. Kong's attention is what led to his downfall." Ichigo's explanation gave Joey some insight but not enough to convince him about the closure.
"Still, you're talking about a chick that weighs a hundred pounds soaking wet and a monkey that's about the size of Coconut Mall." Conan overheard Joey's argument and tried to offer his opinion.
"I heard that beauty's in the eye of the beholder," he pointed out. "Sometimes, people see different things others don't." Joey slumped to the explanation and gave it some thought.
"Great, I'm having someone half my age try teaching me about a movie he didn't watch." Serenity didn't think Conan watching something else mattered.
"I believe Conan's saying it in general," she pointed out.
"I'm not saying I disagree with him… I find it weird he's the one telling me." This interested Rachel to the movie Conan saw.
"So, we teens and some of us older kids saw a modernized version of 'King Kong'," she said. "What did you guys see?"
"'How to Train Your Dragon'," Conan answered. "I thought it was cool seeing all those dragons in the Dragon's Nest, though it did scare Shippo to hide behind Sasami." Overhearing the conversation, Max and Sasami entered.
"No kidding, and how cool Toothless was and how he and Hiccup worked together prior to those tests by the vikings," Max added. Conan laughed and nodded.
"I was gonna say that," Sasami giggled. "But I wonder, who's training who. The title seemed misleading."
"What, you think it should've said 'How to be Dragon Trained'?" joked Conan. That's when he irked at his joke. "On second thought, bad idea for a title." Sasami patted Conan on the back.
"Still, seeing Astrid kissing Hiccup... I nearly melted in awe." InuYasha came by and heard the discussion.
"You guys talking about the movies last night?" he asked.
"We are," Ichigo confirmed. "Come on, I saw you stoked during Kong's fight with the V-Rex." InuYasha grinned.
"That was brutal, especially the way Kong corked that V-Rex's head. Kagome couldn't watch." Rachel's reaction was a shiver.
"I didn't think you could kill a dinosaur like Kong did," she cringed. "Then again, those bugs… I think termites and cockroaches are the least of the bugs to bug out on." Max snickered to Rachel's quiver.
"Trust me, your reaction's not as bad as Misty's," he compared. InuYasha laughed to Max's point. Alphose, who saw the Dragon movie, compared it to something involving Edward.
"I will admit, seeing Hiccup's aftermath and having an artificial leg reminded me of Ed," he compared. "Although, how it happened were completely different." Edward heard Alphonse and wondered about it.
"Let me guess, he also had it replaced with auto-mail, right?" he assumed.
"No, it's a peg leg, not auto-mail." Edward cringed to the difference. Ichigo looked around but found someone missing.
"Max, where's Ash?" he asked. "He's usually on his second plate. I haven't seen him in the dining hall."
"Yeah, he's usually the first one in here," Serenity added. Max had a guess to the reason.
"He's probably still feeling embarrassed about having Kari, Kuriko and Elizabeth in the same bed," he assumed. Ash sat outside on edge overlooking Sirena Beach. He couldn't believe the morning he had. Out of sympathy, Elizabeth came to Ash's side.
"Excuse me," she called. Ash turned to the ghost that slept inside of him."Are you doing okay? I know this morning seemed… crazy, but…"
"Crazy doesn't do what happened enough," he groaned. "You, Kari, Kuriko… Who's next, Kagome?!" Elizabeth irked to the notion.
"Okay, you have a point! What I'm trying to say is that I'm noticing Kuriko going after you a lot more than Kazuki. He's got a family lineage that her family needs but she's abandoning her duty. I want to know why and I thought I'd see if you had the answer inside of you." Ash sighed at Elizabeth's method.
"You can't simply ask her, yourself?"
"She's ignored me… a lot!" Ash jerked forward in response.
"Sorry I asked." To Ash, he had to find the answers for Elizabeth and himself. "Guess I'll ask her when I have a moment with her… and awake to talk." Elizabeth wanted to take Ash's word for grant.
"Thank you. If Yuna, Kazuki and I can't do it, at least you'll get answers." Ash nodded before Elizabeth flew off. As Ash stood up, he found a ship. Inside, Neo stepped out to see everyone.
"Morning, Ash," he greeted. "You okay?" Ash shrugged his shoulders.
"A wild morning so far," he simplified.
"I see. I'll go and see the rest. It's Pinna Park today for that celebration." After breakfast for everyone, all boarded the ship. They sailed before reaching an island that had the Ferris Wheel. Stepping off, they viewed many sunflowers with eyes.
"Welcome to Pinna Park!" they greeted. The kids awed the sunflowers and even the large sunflower with a brown face. As they continued on, they found the park with many rides, kiosks and stands, some under tents. All sorts of Piantas, Nokis, Toads and an assortment of turtles filled the park.
"Wow, we came to a party!" cheered Serena.
"No kidding!" agreed Rebecca.
"Hey, we can't just stand around!" urged Elie. "Let's get out there and have some fun!" All of the vacationers bolted to enjoy the music and the rides like the tea cups and the roller coaster which Edward freaked out.
"Too fast!" he screamed. Alphonse sighed while watching Edward's struggle.
"Some people, Ed," he mulled. "They can't handle the pace." There was a parade on a stretch of road. Many Toads, some Yoshis and the locals carried and rode floats of people and turtles. One was a mustached brunette in red with blue jean overalls. It also appeared he carried a F.L.U.D.D. on his back. Another was a young ponytaill blond woman wearing a light pink ballgown and a parasol while sporting a gold crown. Another was a giant spiked turtle with claws and a snout of a dragon with a large tuff of red hair. One more was a smaller version of the first turtle with an addition of a scarf and holding a paintbrush. Kazuki, Yukinari, Yuna, Miharu, Rachel, Haru, Elie, Tenchi and Conan watched the parade.
"From what Neo told me and seeing the pictures, there's Mario!" pointed Kazuki. "And he's even got his own F.L.U.D.D." Elie helped identify the rest.
"That's gotta be Princess Peach!" she noted. "And behind them are Bowser and son, Bowser Jr."
"I see now!" awed Yuna as she placed a hand on Yukinari's shoulder. Yukinari jumped as a rash developed on his face and limbs.
"Yuna!" he cried. Looking, Yuna jumped at the fearful sight.
"What the heck!" Miharu and Haru came to Yukinari's aid.
"It's his Girl Rash!" she determined. Tenchi also tried to help. Meanwhile, May, Max, Serena, Darrien and Rini tried a ping pong bottle game using Chukacola bottles with the necks of the bottles cut out. Each one had different colors with bronze in the middle, silver in the inner square and gold in the middle. Each one tossed the balls at the bottles but most of the balls fell between the bottles. Max threw one and it caromed from a bronze bottle to the gold bottle in the center. The Pianta in charge of the carnival game gawked to the lucky bounce.
"Hey!" she awed. "A grand prize shot! You win, kiddo!" Max pumped his fist in celebration.
"Nice toss, Max!" applauded May.
"Alright, take your pick! I'm sure there's something you'll like." Max saw all sorts of plush dolls including different turtles, furry brown mushrooms, Bloopers… but Rini saw plush dolls of Peach as an adult and as a baby, along with Mario adult and baby forms. Max caught her eyes and turned to the Baby Peach dolls.
"That one!" he pointed. Rini gasped but awed Max's choice. The Pianta reached and pulled the Baby Peach doll.
"You got it!" After handing the doll to Max, Rini came to congratulate the raven-haired when he had a surprise by handing the doll to her.
"You wanted this, right?" Rini gawked at Max's offer. Cheeks blushing, her shock and awe exposed itself to the offering.
"You- You're giving it to me?" she guessed.
"Well… There wasn't anything that caught my eye but I saw yours focused on that doll. How could I say no to that?" Rini gulped to the words, further awe-struck. She dropped the Baby Peach doll to hug Max, stunning him.
"Oh, Max! I love it! Thank you!" She kissed Max on the cheek. The scene made May laugh.
"Wow, Max," she began to tease. "Looks like you two will need wedding bells soon!" Max gawked to his sister's goading.
"Come on, May!" he complained. "You're embarrassing me!" Darrien didn't mind Rini's take about Max.
"Well, you're never too young to love someone," he insisted. "You and Rini do make a nice pair."
"I'll say," May agreed. "Brock should take some lessons from you. Oh, maybe I can tell Mom and Dad about this little Pidgey being in love." Max's eye twitched to May's tease.
"Do that and I'll never speak to you again," he warned. Serena tried to muffle her laugh to the siblings' squabble. Rini saw TK and Madison heading to the Ferris Wheel.
"I know what we can do next," she chimed to Max. "Follow me!" Holding the Baby Peach doll in one hand, Rini dragged Max toward the Ferris Wheel. Other vacationers heard speakers sounding and came to see it.
"Hello, Isle Delfino!" a young man greeted with an Italian accent.
"It's us, Princess Peach and my protector, Mario," a young woman spoke. "Today's the 15th Anniversary of Mario's liberation of King Bowser Koopa from your island. We're sorry that we couldn't attend this year. Mario and I do wish for everyone to have a great time in our absence and be safe."
"Stay fantasico!" The message from Mario and Peach gave insight to the vacationers to know who the two were.
"So, that was Mario and Princess Peach," Ryoko nodded. "I wonder if they're married or are planning on it." Several of the vacationers like TK, Madison, Max, Rini and Shū and Nodoka rode the Ferris Wheel. During which, Ash wandered from the action. Elizabeth's words didn't help him in easing the situation and Pikachu hung around his shoulder.
"I've never been so bothered by girls sleeping with me," he complained. "Sure, Misty and May didn't do it to me but it's like why now?" Pikachu couldn't come up with an answer and shrugged his shoulders. Just then, a whine from above.
("What was that?") the mouse squeaked. More whines, now helping Pikachu's ears as they perked.
"You found the sound, Pikachu?" Looking up, Pikachu determined a direction.
("On the roofs!") Ash saw Pikachu point and followed in the direction. They found a ladder and propped it to a wall as Serenity wandered in the same area. Watching Ash set then climb the ladder, something didn't settle with Joey's younger sister.
"What's going on?" she asked. Just as Ash reached the rooftop, Serenity stepped onto it. Ash and Pikachu saw a yellow star-like creature flat on the roof.
"What's that?" the trainer wondered. The two came to see this star-like creature to find eyes half-open while in Ash's arms. "Exhausted?" The creature saw Ash and whimpered as Serenity reached the roof.
"Ash, what did you find?" Ash turned to Serenity and saw the creature.
"Doesn't look too good." Pikachu suddenly spotted something from a short distance: gelatin-like rocks of different colors. Serenity saw Pikachu dash to the rocks.
"Pikachu, did you find anything?" Pikachu returned with a rock to which the creature's eyes lit up. It chimed in desire of having the rock. Serenity had an idea. "You think this thing wants that?"
"Let's see." Pikachu offered the rock which it slurped up like gelatin. It cheered in favor of eating the rock up. "There we go!"
"Nice thinking, Pikachu!" The Pokémon smiled before retrieving the rest of the rocks. Serenity hand-fed them to the creature. A few of the rocks later, it left Ash's arms and floated. The three looked amazed at the creature's fast recovery.
"You're looking a lot better!" It chimed before a shrill when it became two stars spinning oppose to each other, and surrounding a startled trio. "Okay, what's this?" The stars began to spin faster and faster as it separated from each other. As the stars spun, so did the three.
"Ash…!" When the stars appeared completely above and below Ash, Serenity and Pikachu. The stars stopped. They came together and launched the three to the sky so fast, their panicked scream weren't heard until they vanished in the sky. They broke the sound barrier. Serenity's delayed scream caught Joey's attention.
"Sis?" he gawked. Ash's scream alarmed Kari and Kuriko.
"Ash!?" they gasped. Ash, Pikachu and Serenity flew away from the planet and into space at supersonic speed. Needless to say neither one of them enjoyed the flight.
"Not good!" yelled Serenity. They flew past meteors and shooting stars before a giant castle emerged.
"We're gonna hit!" yelled Ash. They passed into a bubble and began to slow down before falling onto ground of a giant platform. The three scattered out of breath as the star-like creature reemerged. The three started to come around. "Is it over?" Serenity looked up and saw different platforms with structures.
"Is this part of Isle Delfino?" Ash got up and looked around as well. The midnight blue sky alerted him to find the edge and dash to it. He found a planet below, the planet they were on a couple of minutes ago.
"I highly doubt it!" Serenity heard and came over to Ash. Seeing the planet below, she gasped in horror. A chortle sounded from behind the two.
"Do not be afraid of finding my Luma on the island," a woman's voice. "Welcome to the Comet Observatory." The three turned to see a tall but slender platinum blond woman in a sky blue gown worn past her shoulders. She had a silver crown on top and a star-shaped brooch above her chest. Pikachu gawked at the shine from the new woman and squealed in awe.
"The Comet Observatory?" repeated Serenity.
"Yes. It's my home, as well as home of the Lumas like the one you helped on the island." The star-like creature reappeared and flew to Ash before taking his cap.
"Hey!" he snapped. The creature reached Serenity and applied the cap to her head.
"Hey!" she laughed. "I'm not a Pokémon Trainer!" More of the creatures appeared with different colors. The newcomers saw the creatures. "Wait, are you saying they're all Lumas?"
"Of course," the platinum blond confirmed. "I take care of them when they seek shelter in the galaxy." Ash and Serenity awed the responsibility of the woman as Pikachu began to play with the Lumas. "I am Rosalina. I watch over the galaxies when there are issues to assess." Ash and Serenity admired Rosalina's dedication.
"I'm Ash Ketchum," he introduced himself. "Playing with your Lumas is Pikachu." A Luma flew Pikachu to show Rosalina who took the Pokémon to meet her. Rosalina held Pikachu and tickled his chin.
"I'm Serenity Wheeler," she welcomed herself. "My brother, Joey, is a Duel Monsters' duelist." Rosalina nodded before having more to say.
"You came from Isle Delfino with friends, is that right?" she studied.
"We did." Rosalina floated to a giant screen and tapped it. It showed Pinna Park and Joey and Elie coming to the screen.
"Whoa, what's that?" gawked the blond. When the two reached the screen, Ash and Serenity spotted the other two approaching the screen.
"Joey!" Those in the park gasped in shock at who was on the screen.
"Ash!? Serenity!? Where are you?!" Serenity huffed a sigh.
"Calm down, Joey. You don't need to yell." The Elric brothers saw the monitor and wondered the ordeal.
"Where are you guys?" asked Elie.
"You're not gonna believe us but we're on the Comet Observatory…" answered Ash. "Way above you guys." None of those at the park knew what Ash meant. Rosalina appeared.
"Everyone can relax," she advised. "I'll watch over these two… or three tonight up here. I'll bring them to the island tomorrow morning." Joey breathed a sigh of relief, knowing his sister will be okay.
"I'll keep your word." Rosalina's eyes saw Edward and Alphonse before the monitor shut off.
"What the hell's going on?" asked Edward.
"We're not sure but Ash and Serenity are somehow on the Comet Observatory," Elie reported. "I'll tell May and Max the update."
"Right, leave Yuge to me," Joey agreed. Alphonse palmed Joey's shoulder.
"I'll come with you," he offered.
"Thanks, Al." As the two headed out to advise Yugi. When Elie arrived at the Ferris Wheel, he heard that Max rode with Rini.
"He'll be in here," she believed. The door opened and Elie got ready to inform. "Max, I got news-" She stopped and gawked to Rini and Max having a kiss. Seeing the moment, Elie decided to back away. "I'll let you two finish… and wait outside." While waiting, Elie couldn't believe her sight. 'Those two are hitting it off, even if they're not close to the teenage years.' Back on the Comet Observatory, Ash looked out to the planet below as Rosalina met up with him.
"Is everything okay, Ash?" she asked. Ash turned to the owner of the Observatory.
"Just a wild morning with Kuriko Kazetsubaki, Kari Kamiya and Elizabeth in the same bed with me," he explained. "I don't know what to say. I guess I'm not use to having a girl in the same bed or sleeping bag, let alone two and a ghost." Rosalina giggled to the issue.
"I do not see anything wrong with that. Do you have any interest with either?" Ash blinked while Serenity watched with a Luma in her arms and Pikachu on her shoulder.
"Should I?" Rosalina rested a hand onto Ash's head.
"It's not a big deal. Perhaps a time will come when you understand their reasoning. I would like to see them myself to understand." Rosalina's words started to sink in for Ash.
"A reasoning… I wonder if it's me or my Pokémon." Rosalina floated away to let Ash ponder.
"I may like him but I won't go as far as the three he mentioned," Serenity admitted. Pikachu didn't mind Serenity's take. They and Ash would spend the night in space. Ash released his Pokémon who started to play with the Lumas and enter structures around the Observatory. While two beds may be vacant in Hotel Delfino, those who came with will know they're okay with Rosalina.
TO BE CONTINUED…