Chapter 6: Brewed Troubles
The new morning arose but Pikachu's not on top of Ash. Instead, Kikki came over and had Pikachu on her lap. He woke and saw Kikki above, not Ash. "Morning, little Pikachu!" she greeted.
("Kikki?") he gawked. ("What are you doing here?")
"Surprised? I wanted to surprise Ash but he beat me to the kitchen to learn about cooking with Wesley."
("Really!?")
"It does give me a chance to hold you!" She gave Pikachu a firm hug, making the Mouse Pokémon squeal. They soon got up before they entered the kitchen. They saw Ash and Wesley kneading dough.
"You've got the kneading down good, but don't put that much pressure to the dough," Wesley warned.
"Oh, not so rough?" realized Ash.
"Ease it just a little bit," Wesley corrected. Kikki saw a picture of Skitty standing on the table and rushed to see it, jumping on Ash's head and nearly toppling him.
"CUTE KITTY!" she cheered. "Is that a Pokémon?" Ash stood straight and sighed.
"And people have called me a human Aipom," he mulled.
"Kikki, down," Wesley scorned. Kikki mulled before jumping down from Ash's shoulders. "See, we're modeling cookies like Skitty's head. He says his friend, May, has one."
"Really!?" she shrieked. "Aw, I want one, too!" After molding the cookies to shape Skitty's head, Wesley used a pick to carefully etch the crescent on the forehead of each cookie.
"20 minutes should be enough time for the cookies to bake," Wesley believed. Ash and Kikki placed the cookies in the oven. "Now that they'll bake, let's get some breakfast." The young ones cheered. After they ate breakfast, the group was ready to go when there was a knock on the door. Wesley opened to see Renée around.
"Good, I thought I'd get to you before you left," she huffed.
"Good morning, Renée," Wesley welcomed.
"Are you on your way to Corina's home as well?" wondered Ash.
"I am, which is why I brought something for Pikachu to hide in," Renée offered as she presented a large purse. This made Pikachu curious.
"Wise," Wesley nodded. "You have a chance to hold Pikachu while keeping him out of public eyes." Renée snickered to the idea.
"Let's get the Skitty cookies and get going," Kikki pointed out. After gathering the cookies, they headed to Corina's home. They met up with Zoey, Mark, Bridget and Elliot. They soon arrived at a large mansion. Seeing it, Ash gasped to it.
"Wait!" he yelped. "This is Corina's home!?" Pikachu's ears drooped while his head's out of Renée's bag.
"Surprised?" asked Renée. "She's part of a wealthy family." She rang the bell by a gate.
"Bucksworth residence!" someone buzzed.
"It's Renée!" she identified. "My friends are here!" The gate opened before the doors. Everyone filed into the main hall where a small brown Pomeranian puppy ran up, barking to Renée who knelt down. "Hey, Mickey! You been a good boy?" Mickey sniffed around the bag where Pikachu was in.
"Mickey!" snapped Corina. Mickey stopped before returning to Corina wearing a blue dress and stiletto pumps. "I never got word of a staff meeting today." Elliot scoffed to Corina's suspicion.
"Not exactly," he replied. "I came with Ash to learn about his world some more." Corina's interest grew as Ash came forward to see Mickey in Corina's arms.
"This is Mickey, huh?" he greeted.
"It is, he's a Pomeranian pup," Corina confirmed. "Being little, he's still trying to adjust in this place."
"Probably because he can sense Pikachu in Renée's bag," Ash pointed out. Corina looked bewildered.
"You found a way to get Pikachu out?" she realized before giving Mickey to Ash and reached Renée's bag. She opened the bag while Mickey, wagging his tail feverishly, began licking Ash's face. Corina removed a happy Pikachu to hold him.
"See, that's how I wanna hold Pikachu!" cheered Kikki. They headed to a new room where couches were available to sit on. Mickey and Pikachu playfully wrestled which made Zoey coo.
"Oh, that's so adorable for Pikachu and Mickey to be friends!" she awed.
"It certainly does," Renée giggled. Corina sat by Ash after she brought teacups and a tea kettle for everyone to enjoy the Skitty cookies.
"So, I still feel bad for what happened in Petalburg City with you and Pikachu with your friends," she apologized as she rested a hand on Ash's knee.
"I know," he nodded. "I still have problems understanding Petalburg's hatred to outsiders like me, Brock and Pikachu. I bet the same thing would apply to some of my other friends like Misty and Tracey."
"But why hate a Pokémon because it's with a trainer?" asked Elliot.
"Pikachu's not someone to hate!" argued Kikki. "Even Mickey likes Pikachu!"
"Actually, when Pikachu helped us stop Team Rocket, they praised Pikachu's efforts," Ash corrected. That's when he recalled the demands the citizens wanted from Ash. "It may be why they wanted Pikachu to keep and try to murder me for it." This additional information made everyone believe Pikachu's life wasn't a factor.
"They would've killed you for Pikachu?" realized Mark. "Talk about disheartening." Ash bobbed a nod to it.
"I've actually been curious about your friends," Bridget brought up. "Brock, May, Max and now Misty and Tracey."
"Indeed, are they all Pokémon Trainers like you, right?" guessed Wesley.
"Not Max," Ash corrected. "He's not old enough to be a trainer." This made everyone wonder about the Pokémon World's laws.
"Is there an age limit to become a trainer?" asked Kikki.
"There is, and believe me: I couldn't wait to be a Pokémon Trainer and get my first Pokémon," Ash replied. "At ten years old, you're old enough to be a trainer. That's how I wound up with Pikachu, but he wasn't among the original choice."
"Clarify," urged Renée.
"When you get your first Pokémon, you either have a choice among three Starter Pokémon," he pointed. "There's a Fire-Type, Grass-Type and a Water-Type." This made Bridget realize an issue with Ash and Pikachu.
"But… Pikachu's none of those!" she pointed out.
"Right, because three other new trainers got those three Starter Pokémon before I had a chance," Ash confessed as Mickey jumped into Ash's lap and licked his face, making Ash laugh. "MICKEY!" Corina scooped the energized Pomeranian.
"That is enough, Mickey," she warned. Mickey growled to the denial. "Ash, as you were saying."
"Right, I got Pikachu from my professor and along with some disagreements and close calls, Pikachu's been with me as we make our goal to become the greatest Pokémon Master," Ash concluded.
"Talk about a goal that may take years to accomplish," Mark assumed.
"It may, but it hasn't deterred us," Ash grinned.
"Well, what about your friends?" asked Zoey. "You know, May, Max and Brock? Anything else about Max other than being too young to have a Pokémon?"
"Well, there's no age limit to have a Pokémon," Ash adjusted. "He's not old enough to be a trainer."
"Oh…" everyone figured.
"Anyway, May is a new trainer who actually took a bit of an alternate path to become a Pokémon Coordinator," he continued. "She told me that she didn't want to be a Pokémon Trainer and only used it as an excuse to travel the world."
"Isn't that what you do a little bit?" pondered Corina.
"I do travel a lot but I do to compete in the region's Pokémon League," Ash added. "May has a Torchic, Skitty and Beautifly. You can imagine her little brother, Max, and how anxious he is to be a Pokémon Trainer." Kikki giggled to the idea.
"He'd be fun to have around!" she cheered.
"Brock is the oldest that has been with me since he had the Pewter City Gym returned to his father, Flint," Ash continued. "Brock's with me from my home in the Kanto Region, to Johto and now in Hoenn. He's training to be a Pokémon Breeder, though he does go after girls like Renée." Her name mentioned, Renée became rather defensive.
"A breeder, and he's after girls?" she repeated. There were some disdain among the girls about Brock.
"Someone like him doesn't deserve a girl," Zoey mulled.
"He should be strongly kept away from everyone," growled Bridget.
"He also cooks, cleans, sews…" continued Ash. "He's like a maid away from the household." It did not settle the tension growing.
"This sounds like Brock wants children of his own, a family of his own," Renée scowled. "And it won't be with any of the Mews. That's when Wesley had an idea.
"Say, Ash…" he spoke up. "Have you been to a zoo?" Ash blinked while Pikachu stopped teasing Mickey.
"A zoo?" he repeated.
"Yeah, where you see all sorts of animals," Wesley clarified.
"We don't have zoos in the Pokémon World," Ash shook. "It's… actually illegal to do so." Everyone blinked to Ash's briefing.
"It would be unfair to cage Pokémon who can escape and cause havoc," Bridget believed.
"Luckily, I don't think that'll be a problem," Elliot sided. Everyone soon got ready and entered a zoo where Ash became excited seeing all sorts of animals on display in habitats like elephants, giraffes, monkeys, hippos and others. Pikachu secretly watched from inside Renée's bag.
"Some of these animals remind me so much of the Pokémon but in simple knowing," Ash awed.
"Some of these animals are endangered species," Bridget explained. Corina stayed close to Ash.
"Endangered?" repeated Ash. "As in nearly wiped out?"
"Yes," Renée agreed. "Some of the reasons is the constant changes in climate and how man has grown in the centuries." Ash began to worry as a giraffe lifted its head up to see Ash and the crew.
"Hi!" he greeted. The giraffe didn't react, but similar people from Petalburg City hung around. They saw Ash.
"The twerp's here!" noticed James. "And he's got a young and attractive entourage!"
"Meowth, dose goils are a lot better dan dat redhead and brunette twerpettes combined!" mewed Meowth.
"Who cares about that, Meowth," Jessie denied. "What I wanna know is where Pikachu is. It wouldn't be like the twerp to forget his Pokémon."
"Maybe, but wouldn't he stand out if Pikachu's with him?" warned James. "Not to mention that all of these people would prevent us from bringing him back to the boss!" Jessie heard the argument before realizing the situation.
"Oh, good point…" she accepted. Suddenly, alarms.
"EMERGENCY!" shouted someone over the speakers. "THE SIBERIAN TIGER IS RUNNING LOOSE! PLEASE CLEAR THE ZOO AND STAY CLEAR OF THE TIGER!" The person continued to repeat her lines as people scrambled. Roars came out as a royal orange striped tiger emerged from behind spectators and right at the Mews.
"That's a big tiger!" shrieked Bridget. Ash saw the tiger growling at people nearby. With one step, the tiger turned to meet Ash and roared. Ash didn't budge. Pikachu became fearful for Ash's well-being.
"Ash, don't do it," Kikki quivered. "That tiger's hungry!" Not listening, Ash stepped forward. The tiger snapped growls as a warning.
"I'm not here to hurt you," he calmed. "I can tell that you're scared." People ran behind the tiger and it roared at them. The distraction allowed Ash to advance.
"Ash, it's not worth it!" called out Corina. Turning to Ash, the tiger back-peddled. Ash didn't stop.
"It's alright," he softly said. "Just focus on me." Ash was within arms reach of the tiger. It offered a quick snarl, but Ash wasn't stopping. He crouched to meet the tiger eye-to-eye. The Mews watched in astonishment to Ash's unwavering bravery as were Jessie, James and Meowth. Ash reached for the tiger's head while not showing any fear. The soft growls from the tiger were warning Ash not to touch but Ash ignored and reached once again. He finally reached the chin of the tiger before stroking it. The tiger reeled its head back but Ash followed and continued to itch the chin, softening the tiger's anger. Finally, it closed its eyes and Ash petted it behind the ears as zookeepers arrived. They lassoed the tiger by the neck but not too rough.
"We finally arrived to see this," one zookeeper sighed. "Sorry about that, but thanks for keeping the tiger still while we got here. Some delinquents bothered her so bad when we tried to feed her that she escaped and chased the boys." Inside Renée's bag, Pikachu sighed in relief that Ash wasn't hurt. Police came to the other zookeeper while the first escorted the tiger back to her cage. By the officer were two teenage boys.
"We found the two boys that angered your Siberian Tiger and broke free from her cage," he reported. The two looked guilty.
"We're sorry," they apologized. "We heard the roar was loud and-" Renée had little sympathy.
"Honestly, you should've been mauled for your misdeeds," she scowled. The boys winced, not wanting to be scolded by the eldest Mew.
"From the looks of things," the officer continued. "They're looking at serving the community after the judge learns about this." Ash and Corina nodded. With the boys in a squad car, the girls gathered around Ash and hugged him.
"That was so cool of what you did!" cheered Kikki before kissing Ash's cheek.
"Wild animals are nothing that bothers Ash!" joked Renée as she gave Ash a noogie. Corina had the best spot possible as she was in Ash's face.
"Now I know why you're here, Tiger King," she teased before giving Ash a kiss to the lips. Ash's face shone red from embarrassment. As the day turned to night, Renée came to Ash.
"Say, is it alright if I watch Pikachu tonight?" she requested.
"Sure, he's grown trustworthy of you," Ash allowed.
("I wouldn't mind either!") squeaked Pikachu.
"Thanks, you two," Renée accepted. "I'll see you later." Renée walked off with Pikachu still in her bag. Everyone returned home which Corina bathed Mickey.
"I knew from the first sight that he'd be the one," she told her Pomeranian. Mickey barked, voicing his like to the idea. Ash had been exposed to the people but for how he handled the tiger. He didn't know that he was followed by three individuals.
TO BE CONTINUED…