After the fun night out the Chipmunks and Chipettes had, they now have to focus back on the competition and start their training.
Hopefully Alvin will live up to the others' expectations and work his hardest to help them win the next round.
The chipmunks and chipettes were enjoying a lie in after a fun Friday night out. But their lie in was interrupted and somewhat cut short by the noise of car engines. They stirred from their slumber as it was almost impossible to sleep through the noise. Simon sat up in bed and put his glasses on in order to check the clock.
"8:15." Simon announced.
Brittany looked across to see that Alvin's bed was empty; this immediately led her to the conclusion that he was the one making the noise.
"What's that racket?" Eleanor said as she sat up in bed; unable to get back to sleep.
"It sounds like a V8." Simon pointed out.
Brittany frowned at him; not caring about what the noise was, just where it was coming from. Not to mention how grumpy she was from being woken up involuntarily, this was a key factor.
"At least I learnt something from that movie." Simon said.
"Well, I have a good idea who is making that noise." Brittany said.
"Alvin?" Jeanette replied.
"Alvin." Simon answered.
"He's cutting short my beauty sleep." Brittany said getting out of bed. "As soon as I've done my hair and gotten changed, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."
"Sounds like trouble." Eleanor commented.
Brittany marched out of the bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom.
"What's going on?" Theodore asked, having somehow slept through all the commotion and just woken up.
In the living room, Alvin is playing video games on the television with the volume up fairly loud. He was playing a racing game after being hooked by the movie they had watched last night. He was up bright and early in an attempt to get in as much practise as possible. He now had his game face on and was concentrating on winning the race. He was so focused that he did not notice that Dave had shuffled into the living room, half asleep, and was stood right next to him.
"Thanks for the wakeup call." Dave said grumpily.
Alvin did not reply as he was too focused on the game; it was taking all his concentration. Dave sighed and headed over to the kitchen to get some breakfast.
"You could at least turn the volume down; you'll wake the others." Dave warned.
Still no reply; Dave gave up and went to make his breakfast. He came back into the living room a few minutes later, with some toast, and sat down on the sofa.
By this time the noise had died down, as Alvin had finished the race. Dave grabbed the television controller and turned the volume down to a tolerable level.
"Have you had breakfast?" Dave asked.
"Yeah, ages ago." Alvin replied.
"The others aren't going to be happy if you've woken them up, you know?" Dave said.
"Well they shouldn't be sleeping in; there's training to be done." Alvin answered.
Dave sighed at Alvin's stubborn reaction; he wasn't going to be able to reason with him, but someone else was.
"It's a weekend, you know." Brittany said sounding annoyed, after overhearing Alvin's comment.
"I'm training for the competition." Alvin replied.
"And I was trying to get some beauty sleep." Brittany answered back.
"Well, you ne…" Alvin began before being interrupted.
"Don't even bother; that joke's getting old." Brittany interrupted grumpily before making her way to the kitchen.
"I told you they wouldn't be happy." Dave pointed out.
Alvin ignored all the commotion and went back to playing the video game. Soon after, the others emerged from the bedroom looking tired, and made their way into the living room.
"What's the big idea of waking us up with that video game?" Simon said.
"I've turned it down." Alvin replied as he continued to concentrate on the next race.
"Too little, too late." Simon said before heading to the kitchen.
Seeing that everyone was now up, Dave decided to go and make them all breakfast; in an attempt to lighten the mood a little.
"It was a bit thoughtless," Jeanette commented before going to the breakfast table.
"What are you playing?" Theodore asked, still half asleep.
Eleanor dragged him away, leaving Alvin to play his video game in peace; not that he had noticed.
The five of them, plus Dave, all still looked tired from their early wakeup call. Brittany was looking grumpy and in the mood to take no prisoners. Alvin's thoughtless actions had put Brittany in a bad mood; setting her up for the day. Dave was noticing that each one of the chipmunks and chipettes were looking annoyed or ticked off, and was quick to jump in and reason with them.
"Listen guys, I know you're all angry at Alvin for waking you up." Dave said. "But, cut him some slack. He woke up early and thought he'd get a head start on the training; he didn't mean to wake you."
"Yeah, well it was still inconsiderate." Brittany replied.
"Granted, it was a bad move, but his intentions were good." Dave reasoned.
"I guess so." Eleanor commented.
"We do have to start training." Theodore added.
"Yeah, and Alvin was just trying to use as much of his spare time as possible to get in some practise." Dave continued. "He's nervous about performing in the next round; you can't blame him for that."
"Plus, he is going to train us at playing video games." Jeanette pointed.
"So don't go too hard on him, that's all I'm saying." Dave said.
"Point taken." Simon replied.
The six of them continued with breakfast, while Alvin was hard at work trying to improve his video game techniques. Brittany was not buying into Dave's reasoning for Alvin's wakeup call, and wasn't going to just forget about it like that. She had missed out on her sleep and that had put her in a grumpy mood for the rest of the morning.
Once they had all done eating, they returned to see what Alvin was up to. No surprise he was still playing his racing game and didn't appear to have moved an inch since the last time they had looked. His concentration was intense; it wasn't evident whether he knew they were all there or not. After watching the video game for a couple of minutes, the others began to become bored.
Simon had had enough waiting and decided to go and do his own thing, heading in the direction of the computer. Brittany saw that Alvin was deep in concentration and decided to get her revenge for the early wakeup call; with a wakeup call of her own. She walked over to Alvin and stood behind him; he still did not moved or even acknowledge that he knew she was there.
"Wake up!" Brittany yelled down his ear before walking calmly away.
Alvin felt the full force of Brittany's voice and it threw his concentration off completely; causing him to lose control of the video game. He turned round with a frown on his face and looked Brittany straight in the eyes.
"Revenge." She said grinning back and winked at him.
Brittany headed off out of the living room after this as she was bored and didn't feel like watching Alvin play video games all morning. Eleanor decided to follow her sister, as she was bored as well and thought that Brittany might want some company.
"I'm gonna go get some rest." Brittany said as she headed for the bedroom.
"Have fun training." Eleanor added following her sister.
This just left Jeanette and Theodore waiting patiently for Alvin's training to begin. Sure enough, Alvin continued and finished the race he was in and turned around to find that the two of them were waiting for him.
"Oh; ready to learn the art of video gaming?" Alvin asked.
"Yeah." Theodore replied.
"Sure." Jeanette answered.
"Okay, but before you play; you need to know what is required to play well." Alvin explained.
"Required?" Jeanette questioned.
"Playing video games isn't just about pressing buttons," Alvin pointed out.
"It's not?" Theodore asked.
"No; lightning reflexes and quick thinking are essential." Alvin said.
"Okay." Jeanette replied.
"So, I'm going to train you both to sharpen your gaming senses." Alvin said.
He picked up a controller and handed it to Theodore.
"First things first, I need to know how good you are." Alvin said.
He set up a video game in the console and started it up; it was a fighting game. Alvin picked up a second controller and began the game by choosing the required settings, for his training to begin. He set up a tag-team battle with himself and Theodore on the same team; in an effort to lend all the support he could in-game. Jeanette watched on as the game began, Alvin and Theodore started playing at a slow pace. The game was set at a very easy difficulty level to allow Alvin to show Theodore the ropes at the same time as acquiring experience.
Alvin was offering as much support and encouragement as possible; but Theodore was still struggling with the controls of the game. This gave Jeanette an idea; not wanting to waste any time, she acquired the instruction booklet of the game that the guys were playing. Using her head, Jeanette began to read through it to get a better knowledge of the game, and to learn all of the controls that were necessary when playing.
Whilst Jeanette was reading the booklet, Alvin and Theodore continued to play the game with some moderate success. Theodore was now getting to grips with the controls and in no time at all the two of them won a round; mostly thanks to Alvin, but Theodore chipped in.
Ten minutes had now passed and Alvin had gotten a good idea of how good, or bad, Theodore was.
"Okay Jen, your turn." Alvin said as he passed her one of the controllers.
"I'll try my best." Jeanette replied.
She dropped the instruction booklet and took the video game controller. Alvin started the game once again but with Jeanette taking Theodore's place. Jeanette had admitted to being a complete novice, in the press conference they had the previous afternoon; so Alvin didn't know what to expect.
At first Jeanette was slow to press the buttons, but after a couple of minutes she had familiarised herself with the controller and was playing like a pro. Alvin was impressed and, after the two of them had won two rounds in a row, he decided to turn the difficulty level up slightly. The two of them played another round and struggled, but still managed to win again. After seeing that Jeanette was competent and in control of the video game, Alvin decided to let Theodore take his place. Jeanette and Theodore played on the same team, forming a good in-game partnership. Alvin watched on as the two of them became progressively better at the game; Jeanette noticeably so. She was a natural and was guiding Theodore through the challenge; improving his game at the same time as her own. Alvin let the two of them continue at their own pace; chipping in with some helpful advice when needed as he supervised their progress.
Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Brittany and Eleanor were chilling out together. Well, Eleanor was trying to but Brittany was still in a grumpy mood; and was not giving her sister a moment of peace.
"Sometimes I just don't know what, if anything goes on in his head." Brittany said. "I know he can be stubborn and he puts himself first a lot of the time, but surely he would have considered that we were still sleeping."
"Maybe it was just a mistake; I mean he didn't wake us up on purpose." Eleanor said.
"I wouldn't put it past him; I've been victim to Alvin's pranks enough times to know." Brittany replied.
"Why does Alvin always pull tricks on you?" Eleanor probed.
"I really don't know, it really frustrates me; sometimes I think he just doesn't like me that much. I mean why would he pull such horrible pranks on me?" Brittany contemplated, remembering the last prank that she had been subject to.
"Well, maybe it's his way of expressing that he likes you." Eleanor suggested; looking on the bright side.
"That's a strange way to express feelings you have for someone, but this is Alvin we're talking about." Brittany said.
"Think about it; Alvin only pulls pranks on you. He doesn't bother with me or Jeanette." Eleanor pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess, but why would he pull pranks on you two anyway; you have Simon and Theodore by your sides." Brittany said. "You already have boyfriends; so he's focusing on me."
"Well, I wouldn't say that Theo and I were boyfriend and girlfriend. We're good friends for sure, but not at that stage yet." Eleanor corrected.
"I got the impression that you were." Brittany said.
"How come?" Eleanor asked.
"Well, you're always hugging, and you hold hands," Brittany pointed out.
"Only because we're close friends." Eleanor reassured.
"It must be nice to have a stable relationship that's steady going." Brittany said.
"What about you and Alvin?" Eleanor replied changing the subject.
"We are a couple, but he doesn't treat me with the proper respect." Brittany said.
"He can be a bit of a handful; but you two make a great couple." Eleanor assured.
"Speaking of couples; you and Theodore ought to become boyfriend and girlfriend." Brittany suggested.
"Why?" Eleanor questioned.
"It's just that Theodore is a member of The Chipmunks after all. He'd be a prime target if anyone realised he was still single." Brittany explained.
This gave Eleanor something to contemplate; she drifted off into a deep trail of thought. She had noticed that Theodore and Emily were becoming friendly at school. Maybe Emily was trying to gain his trust and friendship; then make her move. But even if she did, Theodore surely wouldn't go along with it. Although, Theodore is a little naïve and can be influenced if persuaded in the right way. But Theodore was her closest friend and that had to count for something.
While all these thoughts were preoccupying Eleanor's mind; she was spaced out and lay on the edge of her bed. Brittany had noticed that Eleanor was deep in thought and knew that something was up; it wasn't often that she spaced out like that.
"Elle?" Brittany asked; snapping her sister out of her daydreaming.
"What?" Eleanor asked curiously.
"Was it something I said?" Brittany asked.
"Huh?" Eleanor said slightly confused.
"You were daydreaming; what's up?" Brittany replied. "Is it about you and Theodore?"
"Maybe; if you're right, do you think Theo would ditch me for Emily?" Eleanor asked.
"Why so specific? Is Emily making a move on Theodore?" Brittany asked becoming interested.
"No, but I'm afraid if she does that Theo will fall for her." Eleanor revealed.
"Why would he; you're all that he will ever want or need." Brittany said.
"You really think so?" Eleanor replied.
"I'm sure of it." Brittany answered.
"Thanks Britt." Eleanor replied.
She got up off her bed and jumped down to give her sister a hug. Just as they began their embrace, Dave called through to them that their lunches were ready.
The six of them all joined Dave at the table for lunch; which did not last very long. No sooner had Alvin, Jeanette and Theodore sat down for lunch; they had finished and left the table. The video games certainly hadn't affected their appetites. The others took their time eating, before going back to what they were doing beforehand.
Alvin, Jeanette and Theodore continued to train straight after lunch, and were passed by Dave who was on his way to the music room. He stopped before he reached the exit of the living room, and decided to caution Alvin in case he went over the top like he had done before.
"Be careful what you're doing with that thing." Dave warned. "Remember what happened last time?"
"Relax, we aren't throwing anything." Alvin assured.
"Good; because I'm not planning on buying a new television." Dave replied.
Dave walked away after this brief discussion; heading for the music room to continue with the organisation of the tour of England. As soon as Dave had left the room and was out of earshot, Jeanette questioned Alvin out of curiosity.
"'Last time'?" Jeanette asked.
"Alvin and toby were playing a bowling game, and Alvin let go of the controller." Theodore explained.
"We needed a new TV anyway." Alvin pointed out.
"It sounds kind of dangerous." Jeanette commented.
"Nah, it's perfectly safe." Alvin reassured.
"As long as you're not bowling." Theodore added.
"We're not going to be bowling, are we?" Jeanette asked nervously.
"Don't worry, we don't need to practise on that game." Alvin reassured, as he changed the game disc in the console.
The three of them played a shooting game; Alvin filling in for either of them when they wanted a break. After all, it was about training Jeanette and Theodore. Throughout the afternoon, the three continued to play the action RPG/first person shooter, and were gaining crucial understanding and experience.
Later on in the afternoon, Simon returned to the living room to check up on Jeanette. He sat down on the sofa and read a book he had brought with him. Shortly after he had sat down, Jeanette noticed that he had come to see how she was doing, and so she decided to take a short break from the gaming. Jeanette left Alvin and Theodore to continue playing the video game, while she sat down beside Simon to see what he was up to. She caught his attention as she sat down, prompting him to put his book down.
"How's Alvin's training going? Taught you anything useful yet?" Simon quizzed.
"Well, I feel like I know what I'm doing." Jeanette replied.
"So he's taught you how to play, but none of the methods behind gaming." Simon summed up.
"We're doing fine." Jeanette said, realising that Simon was putting Alvin down. "Alvin's putting in a lot of effort to train us."
"I'm just saying that Alvin's approach to playing video games is to go in all guns blazing." Simon explained.
"Well it seems to be working." Jeanette replied.
"Yeah, but only in the genres of games that you have been playing." Simon continued. "That technique sure doesn't work for strategy based games or even racing games."
"Well what do you suggest?" Jeanette asked.
"Foresight is the key to winning at any video game; anticipation of opponents' moves can change the course of any game." Simon pointed out.
"Really? How come you're an expert all of a sudden?" Jeanette questioned.
"I do play video games, you know? Just not the types that Alvin does; I prefer the strategic genre that involves in depth thinking." Simon replied.
"Hi guys." Eleanor greeted, as she entered the living room with Brittany.
"How's your training going?" Brittany asked. "Alvin's not being too bossy, is he?"
"No, training has been going great." Jeanette answered.
"Good, we need to win the next round." Brittany replied.
Alvin noticed that Jeanette was being interrogated about how training was going, and decided that he should be answering the questions. He signalled to Jeanette to swap with him, before leaving his post and meeting up with the others. Jeanette escaped the interrogation and returned to training with Theodore.
"Come to observe my expert training?" Alvin asked.
"Expert?" Brittany questioned.
"Well, I'm better than you guys." Alvin pointed out defensively.
After receiving the remark from Brittany, he picked up on the vibe that she was still annoyed with him. In a quick move, Alvin switched from his boastful style of conversing to a more conservative one; hopefully quelling Brittany's annoyance.
"That's questionable." Simon replied.
"C'mon, I'm the only one who could be picked for the event; and I'm doing the best I can." Alvin said pleading his innocence for his earlier remark.
Brittany saw this honesty and her annoyance petered out; Alvin was trying his hardest to help the team and the last thing he needed was people on his case.
"Besides, I'm seeing some progress with the two of them." Alvin added, pointing out the evidence; as Jeanette and Theodore continued playing.
"That's good to hear," Brittany replied, reinforcing Alvin's effort.
"So, is Theo doing okay?" Eleanor asked curiously.
"He's getting there; he just needs a bit more practise." Alvin replied.
"And Jeanette?" Simon asked.
"She has a lot of potential." Alvin replied. "But like with Theo; she still needs more training."
"I hope you can get them up to a high enough level; the jocks will be tough to beat." Brittany said.
"And we can't afford to lose the next round." Simon reminded.
"Don't worry guys." Eleanor said. "We can win."
"Yeah, plus we have the rest of today and tomorrow to get ready." Alvin pointed out.
Soon enough, Dave called the six of them for dinner; putting training on hold. They all rushed to the table, starving; as dinner was rather late. Dave must have been really busy in the music room organising their tour of England; he's usually on time when it comes to making meals. As soon as Alvin sat down at the table, he started to chow down at a quick pace. Dave noticed this and could tell that he was eager to get back to the training.
"Take it easy Alvin," Dave said. "You'll get indigestion."
"Your food isn't going anywhere, you know?" Brittany added.
"Listen guys, you've spent a lot of the day playing that video game, and you don't want to overdo it." Dave explained. "So I think you should give it a rest for today."
"But…" Alvin began protesting, temporarily stopping eating.
"No but's; you can get eye strain from video games, so you should take a break." Dave ordered.
This made Alvin a little moody; he was trying to train them as best he could but was being limited by time.
They all finished their late dinner and relaxed around the house; Dave had banned them from using the video game for the remainder of the day, and so they had to go further afield for entertainment. Seeing that this was the case, Jeanette decided to make use of the time by using the computer and looking up stuff about video games. It took her a long time to find anything relevant, and when she did find something it wasn't really helpful.
"What're you up to?" Simon asked as he jumped up onto the desk.
"I'm looking for something useful to help my training." Jeanette replied.
"Any luck?" Simon asked.
"No; nothing useful." She replied.
"Well, I think the best thing to do is to take my earlier advice, and anticipate." Simon suggested.
"I tried and it helped, but I need to develop my technique." She explained.
"I meant about the next round of the competition." Simon said expanding on his earlier suggestion. "If you know what's coming, you can prepare for it."
"Of course, but how do we know what's coming?" Jeanette pondered.
"Well, the round will feature a multi-player format for six players." Simon highlighted.
"And it won't be a shooting game because of the age ratings." Jeanette continued.
The two of them thought for a few seconds before coming up with a conclusion to the dilemma.
"A racing game." Simon and Jeanette said in unison.
"So I should focus on racing games." Jeanette confirmed.
"It's a sure fire way to boost your chances of winning." Simon agreed.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Dave was sat with the others watching the news. He was relaxing after a long day's work and had allowed them to at least watch the television. After a couple of minutes, the pre-match press conference was shown on the channel. It showed the entire question and answer session; and by the time it had finished Alvin was fired up.
"We're gonna beat those jocks." Alvin said confidently.
"I hope so." Dave said.
"But we need more training." Alvin added.
"Calm down; you have all of tomorrow to train," Dave replied, "And speaking of tomorrow; I think it's about time for bed."
Dave turned off the television and directed them towards the bedroom. Simon and Jeanette overheard the others making their ways to bed and decided to finish what they were doing and join them. While they were getting ready for bed, Simon and Jeanette filled the others in on their conclusion of the research they had done. This gave Alvin an idea of the plan of attack for Sunday's training.
The six of them went to sleep, resting up for a hard day's training; with the emphasis on car racing games. Although the team have their work cut out for them, they are still working to get as much of an advantage as possible ahead of a tough third round clash.
The rest of the weekend will be full of hard work and training as the Chipmunk team look ahead to the video games round against the jocks.
Good luck Alvin.
Thanks for reading :)