Chapter 36: The Bells Are Chingling!
Last time on "Pokémon Sinnoh Journey", the group was taking a break on a route that led to Pastoria City, where they were headed there for Ash and Hikaru's fourth Gym battle and Gym Badge.
During their break however, Dawn was shown to receive a vest for Buneary as it fit perfectly after making an explanation about the Pokémon fashion design in a fashion magazine.
Once they were about to make their way again, they met up with a Pokémon magician named Francesca, who was having a problem with one of her three Chingling, who was spoiled and affectionate.
Ash and Dawn had a double battle against Hikaru, with Hikaru ending up as the victor to show the spoiled Chingling to mature during a battle. However, when battling against Ash's Turtwig, it didn't seem to get battling ideas.
How will this turn out? Read for yourself and you will find out.
"Let's take it from the top..." Ash chuckled nervously. "Hear that, Chingling? Let's go! Astonish!" Francesca called. But, instead of obeying orders, the Psychic Type turned to Francesca in confusion.
"Chingling, come on! Just use your move!" Francesca scolded. Hikaru face palmed with this, mumbling under his breath. "This is going to take a while..." Hikaru mumbled. "Ferno..." Monferno sadly replied.
Dawn then cheered the bell Pokémon on. "You can do it, Chingling! I know you can!" Dawn cheered on. But, once again, Chingling looked at the female Coordinator in confusion.
Ash then made his call instead. "Okay then, we'll start! Turtwig, use Razor Leaf!" Ash called. The Tiny Leaf Pokémon shot his attacks at the little Psychic Type, which made a direct hit!
Chingling squealed in pain as it was sent to the ground. Francesca panicked with this. "Sorry! A little rough!" Ash apologized. Dawn didn't accept this as she and Buneary scolded the two.
"Ash and Turtwig, I call foul!" Dawn snapped. Hikaru stepped in, glaring at the two. "Cut it out! I object! Battling is supposed to be serious! You're not supposed to call foul unless it's cheating!" Hikaru objected.
Dawn pouted as she turned away as Francesca ran to her Psychic Type. "Oh no, Chingling!" Francesca shrieked as she and the four trainers ran for her Pokémon.
As everyone tried to run for Chingling, suddenly, the ground gave itself away! Everyone screamed as they all fell in. "What's this hole doing here...?" Francesca groaned.
Hikaru rubbed the back of his head with an annoyed look. "I think we know whose hole this belongs to!" Hikaru stated. Indeed, the Twinleaf boy was right. There were voices making their motto.
It was Team Rocket! The evil trio sneered as they began their motto, but in an awkward way.
"Excuse me, would you like some cheese with that whine?"
"That moaning of yours is way over the line!"
"On the wind!"
"Past the stars!"
"At least I feel fine!"
"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!"
"Dashing all hope, putting fear in its place!"
"A rose by any other name is just as sweet!"
"When everything's worse, our work is complete!"
"Jessie!"
"And James!"
"Meowth's the name!"
"Putting the do gooders in their place!"
"Yes, we're Team Rocket!"
James - "We're Team Rocket~!"
Jessie - "We're Team Rocket~!"
Meowth - "We're Team Rocket~!"
All three - "And we're in your faaaace! Yeaaaaah!"
"You see? Chingling aren't the only one with talent!" Jessie sneered. Francesca grew confused with that statement. "So, what's your point?" Francesca asked. Hikaru face palmed with this.
"Bad rhyme, you morons. Those guys are thieves who try to steal people's Pokémon!" Hikaru snapped, glaring at the once, singing evil trio. "Right! Francesca, let's go!" Dawn called.
But then, a net flew out of the balloon's basket. "Casting off!" James called. "Reel her in!" Jessie called. With that, the net caught the little Psychic Type as it came to the balloon.
The magician panicked with this. "Oh no! They've got my Chingling!" Francesca panicked. As the net was up to the balloon's level, Meowth gave a knowing smirk. "That's not bad! We only took one!" Meowth reminded.
Both Ash and Hikaru glared at the evil trio with disgust. "It doesn't matter if you only took one Pokémon! You're still morons no matter what you think you are!" Hikaru snapped angrily.
"Yeah! That's one too many! Quick, Turtwig, Razor Leaf!" Ash called. "Leafeon, use Magical Leaf to aid Turtwig!" Hikaru shouted. Leafeon appeared as the two Grass Types flew their attacks at the net.
It made hits, as the net repelled it! "What!?" Hikaru gasped in shock. Both Turtwig and Leafeon stepped back in surprise. "Ha ha ha ha! This net's bigger than your head!" James sang with insults.
Hikaru gritted his teeth, not taking the insult well. He turned to Monferno on his left shoulder. "Monferno! Burn the metal with Flamethrower!" Hikaru called.
Monferno nodded as he jumped in the air, burning up the metal that was holding. The Twinleaf boy then turned to the female Coordinator. "Give us some ice, Dawn!" Hikaru called.
At first, Dawn was confused of what Hikaru meant, until she looked at her Rabbit Pokémon. "Oh, right! Now, Buneary! Use Ice Beam!" Dawn called. Buneary nodded as she shot ice at the burnt metal.
Once the ice froze the metal, Chingling pulled itself free, breaking the metal and the net! The evil trio panicked with this. "We've hit an icy patch! That gave a brain freeze!" James exclaimed.
As the Psychic Type fell, Brock took out his Pokéball. "Happiny! Catch Chingling!" Brock called. The Playhouse Pokémon appeared as it ran to safely catch the Bell Pokémon.
Hikaru then looked at Leafeon and Monferno. "Alright then! This is our chance! Monferno, use Flamethrower! And Leafeon, use Shadow Ball!" Hikaru called. The two Pokémon shot their attacks, which ripped the strings holding the balloon.
Team Rocket screamed as the basket they were on were falling to the ground. Then, there was an explosion as the trio were sent flying into the air. They sang their weird part again.
James - "We're blasting off..."
Jessie - "We're blasting off..."
Meowth - "We're blasting off..."
All three - "We're blasting off-"
Dawn - "Your flat!"
All three - "Thanks... We're blasting off agaaaain!"
Team Rocket sang their blasting off part before they were out of sight into the sky. Francesca knelt down to her little Psychic Type. "Are you okay, Chingling?" Francesca asked.
"Chingling!" Chingling rang happily. Ash knelt down, smiling at the little Pokémon. "Great! You've been through a lot!" Ash chuckled. Chingling turned and leapt onto the Kanto trainer.
Ash yelped in surprise as Chingling happily tried to hug him. "Oh dear..." Francesca sighed. "There goes the immature embrace again..." Hikaru muttered, rubbing the back of his head.
"Mon." Monferno agreed, copying his human brother's gesture.
Later...
Everyone moved to another place where Francesca attempted to do her magic trick again. "Here we go!" Francesca called. She gave the signal to her three Chinglings as they made their call.
"Ching ling..."
"Ching ling ling..."
"Ching ling ling ling..."
"Chingling! Ching ling ling!"
"Wow... They sound beautiful!" Dawn exclaimed. Suddenly, the spoiled Chingling hopped to hug Hikaru this time! Hikaru blinked in surprise as the others grew startled with this sudden hug.
The magician sighed as she pried the Bell Pokémon off of the Twinleaf boy. "Chingling, please stop. You can't keep doing this anymore!" Francesca pleaded, holding the spoiled one up.
"Think of the children that's waiting for us at the next town!" Francesca scolded as she held the Psychic Type up. She walked over back to the magic set, only to see three Chinglings!
"How are we going to go on... Huh? What's this?" Francesca started, then stopped in surprise. The others got up, seeing a new Chingling on the table. "Hold on! One, two, three, and four!?" Dawn asked, surprised.
"Excuse me. Did you have four Chingling before, Francesca?" Ash asked. "No! I've only had three Chingling for the whole time!" Francesca answered, frowning.
"You don't suppose a wild Chingling came by, hearing its fellow species sing out their voices?" Hikaru guessed. Francesca thought about it, looking at the strange looking one.
"Maybe... But, the only thing to do now, is to see if they can all sing... And, go!" Francesca called. She signaled her three Psychic Types to make their singing, including the fourth one.
"Ching ling..."
"Ching ling ling..."
"Ching ling ling!"
"CHING!" The fourth one bellowed. Everyone fell to the ground, covering their ears in shock. "That was a little off, number four..." Ash muttered. But, the fourth one kept on going!
Hikaru narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Hold on... I don't think this is a Chingling! A normal Chingling shouldn't sound like this!" Hikaru guessed. The others looked at him in surprise.
"Now that you say it, check this one out! See anything strange about it?" Ash asked. The four trainers looked closer to see the fourth one. "Yeah... You know, Ash... Hikaru... You're both right!" Brock agreed.
Suddenly, the Chingling called its darkly voice, releasing a smokescreen! Everyone yelled in surprise as they coughed, covering their eyes from the smokescreen. "It IS a fake!" Hikaru yelped.
"But how!?" Francesca shrieked. "Heads up!" Ash called. "Buneary and Piplup! Stay together!" Dawn called out. "Monferno! Hold tight on my shoulder!" Hikaru called.
"Where did the Chinglings go!?" Ash asked. "They must've been separated and startled by this sudden smokescreen!" Brock coughed as everyone flailed around, trying to find the three little ones.
Pikachu, Monferno, Piplup, and Buneary cried out as they coughed along as well, trying not to breathe in the smokescreen. Suddenly, they all crashed into each other, jumping right back.
Hikaru - "Monferno! Are you still there!?"
Monferno - "Monferno! Mon!"
Ash - "Pikachu!"
Dawn - "Piplup!"
Pikachu and Piplup - "Pika!" "Piplup!"
Brock - "Francesca! Where are you!?"
Finally, the smokescreen cleared as everyone were able to see again. "Finally! It's clearing up!" Ash coughed. Piplup was still flailing around, accidentally hitting Monferno, who grew annoyed.
He landed a Mach Punch on Piplup's head, which settled him down. "Buneary and Piplup! Are you okay!?" Dawn asked. Dawn's two Pokémon responded with a positive attitude.
"Hey buddy, how about you?" Hikaru asked. "Monferno." The Playful Pokémon smirked, rubbing his head on Hikaru's cheek, causing him to smile. "That's such a relief." Hikaru sighed, rubbing Monferno's furry head.
"How about you, Pikachu?" Ash asked. "Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu called out with a smile. Then, everyone turned to the magician. "Francesca?" Brock asked.
"Fine... At least I think I am... But, look what I've got!" Francesca answered. She showed the group a Chingling, which was the fake one! "Problem is, that's the fake one!" Ash recalled.
The magician blinked in surprise as she let out a shriek. "Huh!? Oh dear!" Francesca shrieked, throwing the fake one away. Then, the four trainers and the magician looked around.
The four Pokémon looked around as well. "So, what about the real ones!?" Dawn asked. "Ah! They're gone!" Francesca exclaimed. The Kanto trainer gritted his teeth as he took out a Pokéball.
"Staravia! I choose you!" Ash called out. The Starling Pokémon appeared, as Ash explained the matter. "Look for the Chinglings! We've got to find them, quick!" Ash called.
Staravia let out a chirp and a nod as he went to search for the three Psychic Types. "Oh... I do hope that they're alright..." Francesca sighed sadly. Hikaru made some thoughts, before looking over.
"Hey, check this out!" Hikaru called. Everyone else came over to see what it was. "A gas mask!" Hikaru stated, taking it up. "Those kinds of things can go through smoke easily!" Brock explained.
The Twinleaf boy gritted his teeth as he made a crack on the glass of the mask. "I think we know who the obvious kidnappers are. They kidnapped the three Chinglings..." Hikaru grunted.
"Team Rocket!" Ash and Dawn called out together. "So, they must've used this Chingling robot in order to create a distraction while they got away with the three." Brock explained.
Monferno growled deeply as he looked around. "Staravia should give us clues of where those morons could be. So, all we have to do is search around to make things easier." Hikaru answered.
"Right!" Everyone else agreed. Pikachu, Piplup, Buneary, and Monferno nodded along to search for the three and Team Rocket.
Later, everyone met up, getting negative news. "Found anything?" Ash asked. "Not a thing!" Dawn admitted. "Same here." Hikaru sighed. "Pip..." "Bun bun..." "Ferno." The three Pokémon sighed.
"I couldn't get a thing either!" Brock explained. "Neither can I!" Francesca answered. Hikaru gave a sigh and made a suggestion. "I think we should find the little ones together now." Hikaru suggested.
"Good idea. Then, the search would become much more easier!" Brock explained. Everyone agreed to do so as they walked along the woods to find the evil trio and the three Chinglings.
"Chingling! Where are you!?" Brock called. "Come on! Say something!" Dawn called out. As they kept walking, they stopped to see Staravia flying towards them!
"Staravia! Star Star!" Staravia chirped out loud. Ash grinned with that. "Great, Staravia! You found them!" Ash called. With that, everyone ran to find where Team Rocket and the Chinglings were.
They hid in the bushes as they saw Jessie and Meowth, with the two Chinglings. However, James was nowhere to be seen! "There they are!" Ash called. "What should we do?" Francesca asked.
Both Hikaru and Monferno smirked as they took out the Chingling machine. "We'll use this to give them the distraction!" Hikaru suggested. "Monferno!" Monferno screeched lowly.
"Great! Then we'll have a chance to make our move!" Dawn exclaimed. The Twinleaf boy nodded as he turned the switch on. He then placed the mecha Chingling on the ground.
When it was placed, it slowly hopped to where Jessie and Meowth were. Everyone then stayed quiet as they looked to see if they took the bait. The two noticed it as they smiled.
"Isn't that nice? James is attempting to make amends! He's sweetly gone and returned Chingling #3!" Jessie giggled. "So now, our trio is re-trio!" Meowth stated. He jumped to the ground and gasped.
Jessie gasped along, seeing that it was their mecha. "It's our Tone Deaf Mecha!" Jessie shrieked. "All that thing does well is blow smoke!" Meowth exclaimed. With their shriek, the mecha shot smoke.
Both Jessie and Meowth coughed, covering their mouths. "Ugh! There's nothing worse than getting tricked by our twerp trap!" Jessie coughed. "You never have a gas mask when you need one!" Meowth coughed along.
As the smoke cleared, the duo saw the four trainers and Francesca! "You're just terrible!" Dawn snapped. "I knew it! I knew that you were the morons causing this mess!" Hikaru snapped.
Both Jessie and Meowth gasped in shock as they sang out their surprise. "Noooo! It's the twerrrps!" Jessie sang. "No! It's the tweeerps!" Meowth sang along.
"Yeees, it's the twerps! Phony old dough! Hey!" The two sang. When they finished, the female Team Rocket member glared at Meowth. "You couldn't carry a tune in a bucket!" Jessie snapped.
"Yeah... You know?" Meowth asked himself. "Give us back those Chingling!" Ash demanded. With the words, the two Chinglings hopped over to their magician and trainer. Dawn looked around in confusion.
"But, they've only got two Chingling!" Dawn reminded. "What did you do with the third one!?" Hikaru snapped angrily. "To us, that's two more than you're gonna have! Dustox! Let's go!" Jessie called.
The Poison Moth Pokémon appeared from its Pokéball, ready to battle. Ash took out his Pokéball, summoning his Pokémon. "Chimchar! I choose you!" Ash called, summoning the Fire Type.
Chimchar appeared right beside Monferno, who was glaring at the two. The two Fire Types nodded each other, before glaring back at their opponent. "Hey! No fair! Two twerps against one!?" Jessie shrieked.
She then shook her head before Meowth could make a word. "No matter! Dustox, Tackle, pronto!" Jessie called. Dustox charged at the two Fire Types, as Ash and Hikaru made their order.
"Dodge it! Then, use Flame Wheel!" "Counter with your Flame Wheel, too!" Hikaru called. Chimchar dodged Tackle, as Monferno bashed Dustox with the Fire Type move.
Then, together, they combined their double Flame Wheel attacks, smashing into both Jessie and Meowth! The duo screamed as they were sent flying in the air, along with Dustox.
"We're blasting off in two part harmony~!" Jessie and Meowth sang as they disappeared into the sky with the fainted Poison Moth Pokémon. Chimchar and Monferno high-fived each other when the two were gone.
"Wow! They're so sweet to each other!" Francesca exclaimed. "Well, they do treat each other like brothers or so, so yeah." Hikaru explained. That's when everyone went back to the problem.
"I think it's your spoiled Chingling that's missing!" Dawn stated. Francesca looked at her two Psychic Types, before giving a sigh. "You're right..." Francesca sighed. Ash looked up at his Flying Type.
"Staravia! Try to find one more Chingling!" Ash called. Staravia chirped with a nod as it flew into the air to find the spoiled Chingling. "Follow him!" Hikaru called. "Right!" Everyone agreed.
They all ran after the evolved Starling Pokémon to see where James and the spoiled Chingling was.
Later, Staravia gave loud chirps, stopping. "There!" Ash called. Everyone saw the spoiled Chingling, along with James and his Mime Jr. Mime Jr. looked as if she was about to use Tickle!
"Chingling! Dodge it!" Francesca called. Chingling quickly dodged out of the way, as the others grew amazed. "Whoa! Nice move, Chingling!" Dawn complimented. "Chingling, Hidden Power, go!" Francesca called.
Chingling shot the glowing move at Mime Jr., which made a direct hit! James wasn't about to give up, though. "Mime Jr.! Mimic!" James called. Mime Jr. shot Hidden Power with her Mimic attack.
"Chingling! Dodge it!" Francesca called. The Bell Pokémon evaded it as Francesca called another attack. "Confusion!" Francesca yelled. Confusion hit both James and Mime Jr.
James wailed as he and his Psychic Type were sent flying in the air! "WHY!? You try and coerce someone to sing your song and go off with them making their own! We're blasting off again!" James sang as he and his little Pokémon disappeared out of sight.
Francesca ran over to her spoiled Bell Pokémon. "Chingling! Are you alright?" Francesca asked. "Chingling! Ching!" Chingling responded happily. "Chingling's battling style was awesome!" Ash commented.
"Not only that, the two of you actually won the battle!" Hikaru stated. "Monferno! Mon!" Monferno screeched happily. "Chingling! Chingling!" Chingling asked. The magician grew confused with the call.
"Aw... I think Chingling is asking to give a hug!" Brock chuckled, seeing the Bell Pokémon's cry and happy face. Francesca blinked in surprise, yet smiled. "But... Chingling has never asked for that before!" Francesca explained.
"Well, there's a chance that Chingling is growing mature now for a change!" Hikaru guessed. Francesca smiled, looking back at her Psychic Type Pokémon. "Maybe!" Francesca shrugged.
Then, to Chingling, she smiled. "Of course, Chingling! Have as many hugs as you want!" Francesca giggled. The Psychic Type, who was now matured hugged its trainer happily that her request was accepted.
So, as everyone walked through the woods, there was a fork in the road. One led to where Francesca was headed. "Well, I guess this is where we say goodbye! I can't thank you all enough." Francesca thanked.
"Thanks! You take care of yourself!" Ash called. "And! The next time we meet, I hope we get to see another Pokémon magic show!" Dawn exclaimed. The magician nodded and smiled.
"Sure! Okay, gang! How do we say goodbye?" Francesca asked her three Chingling. With the question, they made their answer.
"Ching ling..."
"Ching ling ling..."
"Ching ling ling ling!"
"Chingling! Ching ling ling!"
"Perfect!" "Uh huh!" Dawn and Brock replied with smiles on their faces. "Peaceful as well! Isn't it, bro?" Hikaru asked his Pokémon brother. "Ferno." Monferno called happily, rubbing his cheek on Hikaru's.
"They sure can sing, can they, Pikachu?" Ash asked. "Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed. With that, the group said their farewells to Francesca as they made their way to head to Pastoria City. Stay tuned for what's coming on next!
To be continued...
Hikaru's Team:
Monferno: (M): (Flamethrower, Flame Wheel, Mach Punch, Fury Swipes)
Luxio: (F): (Thunder Fang, Shock Wave, Iron Tail, Hidden Power)
Leafeon: (F): (Magical Leaf, Shadow Ball, Synthesis, Iron Tail)
Buizel: (M): (Aqua Jet, Ice Beam, Water Gun, Swift)
Dragonair: (M): (Dragon Tail, Dragon Rage, Twister, Thunder Wave)
Kirlia: (F): (Psychic, Shock Wave, Teleport, Magical Leaf)
Next chapters:
Chapter 37: The Past Love!
Chapter 38: To Save the Crossing!
Chapter 39: Double Electric Battle!
Chapter 40: Pikachu VS Raichu! The Rematch!
Chapter 41: The Water Contest Master!
Next chapter preview:
Brock: There should be a Pokémon Center just up ahead!
Ash: Great! Then, let's get going before it gets dark!
Dawn: Um... Hikaru?
Hikaru: Yeah?
Dawn: I... I have something to tell you!
Hikaru: About what? Something wrong?