Here's the second chapter of the day! The third one may come early tomorrow, but it'll most likely be tonight since I have to stay up anyway. This chapter doesn't have much Pokemon in it I guess you could say. It's mainly about the people like the last chapter. I guess you could also say that this is the first 'official' chapter of the third season since it's the first episode, but I honestly don't care. Enjoy the chapter!
Warnings: Really, nothing. There's a bit of talk of people being helpful, but nothing else really.
Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon. Autumn and her grandparents are mine.
-Autumn's P.O.V.-
"Alright," Kukui smiled, "It's time to start planning our school play!"
"Our school play?" Ash asked, "What's it about?"
"That's why I'm telling you all a month in advance," Kukui answered, "You are all going to come up with it and put it on!"
"We're… writing the script?" I asked, "And there aren't any guidelines to what we have to do?!"
Kukui nodded, "In previous years, the teachers got most of it ready while our students would practice and help with the costumes. This year Principal Oak wanted to challenge all of you by doing everything. We'll invite the people, but your guyses job is to put it on."
"Autumn's in charge of costumes!" Sophocles quickly called out.
"And we should all come together on the script!" Lillie added.
"What's the story going to be about?" Mallow asked.
"Saving the Alola Islands," Lana stated.
Kiawe beamed, "Perfect! We could create a story with the Island Guardians that help someone save the Islands!"
"It's perfect!" Ash jumped up, "Now we've got to write it!"
"That's what we're going to work on for a while," Kukui admitted, "You've got until the day of production to work on it."
"Alright, let's write the script and plan the costumes," I beamed and we moved our desks into a circle.
"We're going to need to decide who plays what as well," Kiawe pointed out, "So we make sure not to overwhelm someone too much."
"I wanna be Tapu Koko!" Ash raised his hand enthusiastically.
"I can be Tapu Fini," Lana volunteered.
"Tapu Lele's always been my favorite," Mallow admitted.
"Could I be Tapu Bulu then? I've always wanted to act like an Island Guardian," Sophocles asked.
"Well, we've got our Island Guardians then," I smiled, "Who else are we going to act out?"
Surprisingly, we came up with a long list of things to be ready for and who would act the part. I even got a picture of everyone so I could plan the costumes! "This is going to be amazing!" I told Ash as we walked home that day, "I'm going to have to get the materials tomorrow, but everyone's going to look amazing in their costumes! I can't wait!"
"Things can change though," Ash reminded me, "We may not have every character in the final script."
"I know, but I want to be prepared," I shrugged, "Besides, I know how much I can spend. Professor Kukui gave me the total for costumes. Apparently props have a different budget."
"We forgot to assign who's going to be in charge of props!" Ash paused in realization.
I rolled my eyes and started dragging him along, "And we'll have plenty of time to figure out who we'll put in charge of that, but right now, I'm concentrating on the costumes. Hopefully I won't need as long to make them and I was given permission to look through the school's costumes and use them or alter them!"
Ash smiled at me, "You're going to have a lot of fun with this aren't you?"
"The best!" I agreed, then walked a bit faster, "And I want to get started as soon as possible!"
When we burst into the house, Professor Burnet was already there, "How was school today you two?" She asked with a smile, making something.
"Amazing!" I answered, running up to the other side of the counter and making sure not to accidentally kick the Pokemon that were all over the house, "I'm in charge of making costumes for the school play we're going to be putting on!"
Her eyes widened as Ash went outside to train with his Pokemon, "Really? Are you sure that won't be too much with Amelia and Daniel's wedding?"
"I have practically everything done for their wedding so I can fully concentrate on this. All that's left for their wedding is a final fitting which is going to happen a week before their wedding so I can make sure everything fits perfectly," I smiled as I pulled out my laptop and turned it into a tablet to start to draw, "And that's not happening for another two months. They had to push it back again since their coworkers are stuck on the island they're visiting because of a huge storm."
"Well, I hope you're able to do everything. But make sure you're taking care of yourself."
"I will," I was already lost in my designs.
The next day, I got everyone's measurements and planned all the fabric I would need, including the Pokemon's costumes, "Everyone's going to look amazing!" Winter cheered as she looked through my designs when I was looking at fabric.
"You haven't seen the best part, Winter," Ribobmbee said and showed her a special design, "She's making this for all of us!"
Winter's eyes widened as Riolu and Oricorio also looked at it, "Wow, that's... beautiful!" Oricorio answered, "But how is it going to fit me? My wings will get in the way."
"That's why yours is going to help you fly," I smiled, "It's supposed to be used for the play, but since I've already planned this for a while I'm just going to make them from the materials I already bought."
"So, what do we still need?" Riolu tried to keep me on track.
"Fabric, right," Which I still had to look through. Luckily though, I didn't have to get too much since I could alter the costumes at school. Still had to get fabric so I could alter them correctly though.
The next day I was able to start making the costumes for everyone, "We're going to have to shorten it a lot," Lillie admitted once they finished on the script.
Kiawe frowned, "True, Professor Kukui doesn't want this to be too long."
"So, what can we take out?" Mallow asked.
Sophocles smiled and presented his script that was marked red all over the place, "I already figured that out!"
We all stared, "That's a lot of things we don't need," Ash admitted.
"It's mainly because it just doesn't add to the story," I admitted after looking through it quickly so I could concentrate more on the cloth that was in my hand, "It's filler."
Lana nodded, "I didn't realize that when we were writing it."
"That's why we go through it more," Mallow stated, "So we can figure out what we can keep and what shouldn't be in it."
"We're going to need to practice soon though," Kiawe admitted, "I'm not good at acting."
"Don't worry," Ash smiled, "Acting isn't as hard as it seems."
"Hopefully you're not nervous so you don't forget your lines," I added.
Sophocles looked at him, "You get so nervous that you forget your lines?"
Ash was embarrassed, but still answered honestly, "Yeah, it's happened a lot."
"Don't worry, we'll be able to help you if you do forget," Lillie put a hand on his shoulder.
Now Ash was a bit red, "Thank you."
"No problem," Lillie also turned a bit red.
I just had to, "So, we having Lillie and Ash fall in love in the play?"
Everyone laughed as Ash and Lillie cried out, "Autumn!"
It didn't end up happening, but we had a lot of fun practicing. Although, I was lucky and wasn't in the actual play. My job was costume designer and making sure no one missed their ques while helping everyone change into costumes quickly since everyone was playing multiple roles. A week before our one and only showing, I was the one driving to school while Kukui walked with Ash, "Dress rehearsal!" I beamed, carrying as many things as I could with me.
They just stared, then beamed, "Awesome!" Mallow was the first to come forward, "Are there more things to bring?"
"They're just out in the jeep," I answered, setting the first load down, "But don't worry, I'll be able to bring everything with another load… maybe."
It did just take one more load, but I wasn't doing it alone. Everyone brought at least something in, "You know," Kiawe smiled, "When you agreed to do costumes, I didn't think you would do the entire outfit."
Sophocles nodded, "I thought you would just do the clothes."
"If you're doing a costume you have to do everything. Clothes, shoes, jewelry, hair, everything," I answered seriously.
Ash smiled, "So, which one am I going to wear first?!"
All of the outfits fit, if needing a bit of tweaking, but my job was practically done until the showing. I did help the others, giving them an 'audience perspective' by sitting on the benches and telling them what I thought about it. The last few days before the performance though, we were all working on props, backgrounds and getting things ready to make the environments believable, "Alright, that should do it!" Mallow smiled, adding the last stroke of paint to the last background.
"Now all we have to do is wait for the big day!" Kiawe smiled.
"It's tomorrow," I answered, "But since we still have plenty of time, do you guys want to run through it again?"
It was the last time they would be able to do it without an audience, but we were quickly able to figure out where and when props, backgrounds and special effect machines would have to be and at what times. When the day came, I was running around trying to get the costumes in order so it would be easy for the others to change into them, "Remember," Rotom told us, "Your families are all coming so give it everything you've got."
Ash was instantly nervous, "You mean my mom?"
"But Dad has the restaurant," Mallow countered, even so, they both checked in the audience and I joined them.
"My mom really did come," Ash said.
Mallow was sweating, "Now I'm really nervous!"
"Don't worry," I tried to help, "Just pretend like we're rehearsing again," Although I was nervous as well. Kukui's parents came to watch as well!
"Places everyone!" Lillie whisper-shouted, "We're starting in less than a minute!"
Everyone was running around after that and we got everything ready just as the curtain pulled back from Principal Oaks' introduction. Everything was going well and I continued to help people get into their costumes, mainly Sophocles since his scenes were the closest to each other and all our Pokemon went at the right times. Just as things were getting interesting, Team Rocket sort of joined our play, "Found them!" Ash answered as we were trying to figure out who could also be in the play.
"I can be in the play too if you need it," I told Rotom.
Rotom nodded his whole body, "Of course!" And things just went crazy honestly.
Now, everyone had multiple parts with Rotom giving them out while I fixed the costumes that needed it and helped make more props. Everything was going crazy and I hooked Roxy to Rotom when he was struggling to keep up so she could help him. When Mallow spoke the words, "And they all lived happily ever after!" All of us sighed.
"That was exhausting," Sophocles muttered as we all stood in the middle of the stage.
"Let's never do something like that again," I muttered just as the curtain parted.
"You were all wonderful!" Delia clapped.
Ash just looked a bit embarrassed, "Mom! Tell me before you're going to show up."
Then Lusamine literally jumped up, "Oh, Lillie! You gave it your all!" She cheered, beaming like a proud parent.
Lillie moved her hat to hide her face a little, "Oh, Mother, please…" She muttered.
Rotom interrupted before anyone else could say anything, "Now! Get ready! Time for your curtain call!"
"Thank you all so much for coming!" All of us cheered, glad that we made it through this.
"Great job!"
"Amazing!"
"Who came up with that script?!"
"Wonderful!"
"Everything was top notch!"
"It's sounding like everyone liked it," Kiawe pointed out.
Lana just smiled, "I'm just glad we got through it."
"I know, I'm ready to sleep for a day," Sophocles admitted, "That was so nerve wracking!"
"Come on," I smiled, "Let's get everything cleaned up and go meet our families."
Once everything (mainly the costumes and props) were put away, we went out into the crowd to talk to our families, "You did amazing Autumn!" Christine complimented as soon as I came to them, "You looked just like your mother," Then she was crying slightly.
Rick just smiled, "You did a great job on those costumes Autumn! They looked like different people but their voices gave them away."
"Yeah," Christine smiled, "But why did the Pokemon have costumes of themselves when they went on stage the first time?"
"Ash really wanted the Pokemon to have a costume and didn't think it was fair that most of the Pokemon didn't get a costume and everyone agreed that they should have a costume that looked like themselves," I shrugged, "So, I asked them if they wanted to help and that was what came from it."
Rick laughed, "They did a great job on their costumes then!"
That's when Delia came over with Ash, "Autumn, who are these lovely people?"
Christine held her hand out, "I'm Christine and this is my husband Rick, we're Kukui's parents."
I smiled, "Delia, these are my grandparents," Her eyes went wide, "Kukui's my Uncle," It was true, but… for some reason it didn't seem completely right, "Grandma, grandpa," I was so happy I could say those words, "This is Delia. She's the one who took me in when Ash found me."
Delia just smiled, "It's my pleasure to help you whenever I can. I will always be here for you."
That's when Christine wrapped Delia in a hug. When she let go, she was crying slightly, "Thank you so much for taking care of our granddaughter. Without you, we may not have ever known that she was even alive."
"I'm not sure about that. You would have found each other eventually," Delia tried to comfort.
I knew otherwise, "I actually wouldn't," I admitted and all of them looked at me, along with the other parents and my friends, "You gave me a reason to stay and even though it took a long time for me to actually stay out of the house, you never gave up on me. It… reminded me a lot of my mom at first and I didn't think I would be able to stay, but then I realized that that was just who you were! You and Ash were the reason I didn't just keep running and stay away from people and found a reason to start trusting people! I've had setbacks, but both of you were there to help me get back up and then I came to Alola and… met more people," I looked at my friends, "All of them accepted me for who I was and encouraged me to get past my fear while also making sure I wasn't overwhelming myself in trying to be normal while… falling in love along the way."
After a moment, I realized everything I just said and blushed in embarrassment. I had nothing to be embarrassed about in the first place though as Delia came and wrapped me in a gentle hug, making sure to go slow, "We would have found you eventually," Delia said after a moment, "Because we'll never let you stay out of our lives. You forget how much you do for us."
Christine was next, "Now, how about we turn to happier things. Like getting some food into you," She patted my stomach as I chuckled, "You're much too skinny! You need to eat more food!"
Everyone went back to their families, but kept looking over at us. My family was growing bigger and I was loving every second of it.
