Midsummer Dreams
By Trish.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Pokémon or Puck or William Shakespeare. I do own the storyline and Callie. The chapter title comes from a song from the same (I think) by KC and the Sunshine Band (again - I think this is correct). But don't quote me on that, all I know is that it was from the 70s. It was played on the radio the other day - and it stuck in my head _ . Anyway it's a kind of upbeat, disco-y thing - so rather appropriate for a dance, don't you think?
A/N: This Chapter is dedicated to Mia (Arrow). To say thank you for her inspiration on the events of "Midsummer Dreams." If you've read Arrow's latest story "Les Amies et Aime" - you will know that we hold marathon chat sessions on MSN. It's become a regular habit. ^_^ We exchanged Muses for a few days too. The results were interesting to say the least. O_o Also please do not take this fic too seriously - it is a romantic comedy. One of my reviewers is having trouble remembering that.
Chapter Nine: Oh, What A Night!
Ash gazed at the scene before him. The enormous Ball Room in the Function Centre was a hive of activity in preparation for the dances. The first of which was to be held that very night.
The function organiser had two different teams of both humans and Pokémon under his supervision. The first team was in charge of placing and setting the tables for the dinner. The other team was in charge of the decorations - placing the floral arrangements, the streamers, the ribbons etc. In a nearby corner, two men were preoccupied with the task of inflating thousands of gold and silver helium balloons, some of which were already floating in the space above the vast dance floor.
The caterers were rushing back and forth with silverware, china and glasses as the head chef went through a final confirmation of the dinner menu with the function director.
Technicians were checking the lighting for the dance floor while the DJ and his crew set up the sound equipment.
"Wow, dis is gonna be so fantastic," Meowth murmured in amazement from his position by Ash's feet. He, Ash, Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Chikorita had stopped by for a sneak peek while on their way to give the babies some fresh air and exercise.
"Pikaaaaaa," Pikachu voiced her agreement before she had to run off after one of her errant offspring.
"Sure is," Ash stated. "Anyway, this company handles all the official League functions so they're used to it."
There were two gentle tugs on his trouser legs. The Pokémon Master looked down to see Eddie and Ellie, the two baby Phanpys at his feet. "Phan!" they trumpeted.
"What is it?"
"Phanpy phan phy phanpy." Ellie waved her little trunk towards the men with the balloons.
"Dey wanta know if dey can help da men dere wid the balloons," Meowth translated.
"I suppose so," Ash said rather doubtfully. But you must ask the men first."
"Phy!" The two baby Pokémon nodded their heads and waddled towards the workers. Meowth went with them. Ash watched with a smile as the cat relayed their request to the men, who grinned then handed the two a bunch of balloons each. Eddie and Ellie carefully grasped the strings with their trunks. The two Phanpys made their way to the dance floor, where they released the balloons, and watched as they floated up to the ceiling.
A startled squeak drew his attention back to the workers. One of the Pichus had scampered over to the men, and had been handed a balloon to hold. However, the Pichu was only light, so the balloon rose to the ceiling, taking the Pokémon with it. Ash rushed over to where the tiny baby was hanging on for dear life. "Don't worry, I've got you," he soothed the terrified creature as he gently rescued it from it's precarious perch.
"Pi." He held the baby close, and the trembling Pichu burrowed its head into the crook of his arms. Pikachu scampered into Ash's arms and soothed her baby with soft "Pikas."
"We'd better get going before anyone else decides to get into trouble," Ash decided.
"Right," Meowth agreed. Pikachu, Chikorita and Bulbasaur rounded all the babies up as Meowth ticked off the names on a little clipboard he carried with him.
Ash stared at the cat. "What's with the clipboard, Meowth?"
"How else do ya expect me to keep track of dem babies?" Meowth replied as he ran his eye down the list of names. "Dis way I can keep track of all of dem."
They made their way to a small clearing in the forest near the Headquarters Building. Ash sat down on the grass as the babies ran off to play, with Meowth shouting out that they were not to go too far. Chikorita and Bulbasaur followed to keep an eye on them.
Soon it was only Pikachu and Meowth who remained at his side. The Grand Master lay on his back, and gazed up at the clear blue sky, as Pikachu curled up in a small ball on his stomach. "This, is the life," he murmured contentedly.
"Ya got dat right," Meowth purred. "And dis Convention has been a great success! Ya done good."
"I guess so," Ash concurred. "It's just that……"
"Just what?" asked Pikachu.
"I can't get over all the odd things that have been happening." Ash explained. "Like what happened at the Chateau Plateau."
"And Misty and Daisy's strange behaviour," Meowth added.
"That too." The dark-haired trainer agreed. He wished he knew what was the cause behind all these strange incidents. And how was it that he always seemed to become involved somehow? His mother said that he seemed to have a special knack for attracting trouble out of thin air…..
Oh well, there was no use getting stressed over it. He decided to stay where he was for a while. Perhaps take a nap, play with the babies….anything to wile away the time until it was necessary to head back to get ready for tonight's dance. It was also a good excuse to avoid Brock, who had been jabbering non-stop all yesterday about how on earth was he going to avoid dancing with Luana. He closed his eyes and started to drift…..
**************
Drake walked along the leafy boulevard that stretched alongside the Stadium and the Headquarters Building. It was a nice warm summer's day and the weather promised to stay that way for the evening's festivities. The Head of the Orange League was passing a small park when he thought he saw a familiar female figure sitting on one of the park benches. He walked closer to see that it was indeed Trish as he had first thought.
He approached her from behind, but she did not even turn around. Not even when he stepped on a dry twig. Either she (a)didn't like him and was ignoring him; (b)she was deaf; or (c)she was deeply absorbed in something. He tapped her on the shoulder. "Hello, Trish."
He didn't expect the reaction he got. She shot up about a foot in the air with a startled yelp scattering a book from her lap and landed on the grass in a rather undignified fashion. Drake couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. Gasping from a combination of fright and shock, she brushed a strand of hair that had fallen in her face and glared at him. "Don't do that to me!" she hissed, rubbing her back.
"Do what?" He walked over to where she was sitting.
"Sneak up on me like that," Trish grumbled. "Nearly gave me a heart attack."
Drake helped her to her feet and she brushed the grass from her skirt. "I wasn't trying to scare you, I thought you would have heard me approaching."
"Well, I didn't. And I got the fright of my life." The young woman then bent down to retrieve her book. As she straightened up, she gave him a rueful smile. "However it was my fault too. I was reading a good book."
They sat down on the park bench. "If it's a good book, I lose myself in it. The whole world can just disappear," Trish explained further.
"What's the book?"
"The Fist of God by Frederick Forsyth."
The two sat in silence for about two minutes. "So," Drake began. "Are you going to be attending the dance tonight?"
"Yes, I am."
"Will I get to see you there?"
There was an amused twinkle in her eyes. "In other words, you're asking me to be your date?"
"Uh..yeah."
"I'd love to," she smiled.
Drake gave a inward sigh of relief. "So where do I meet you?"
"I'll be getting ready for the dance with a whole group of friends, so I'd say at the venue."
"Inside near the door?"
"Fine with me."
What will you be wearing?"
"Black."
"That's it, then." The Gym Leader stood up and stretched. "You okay from that spill you took earlier?"
"I'm fine, just a bit sore at the moment. Nothing that a long hot bath won't fix."
Drake grinned. "At least I didn't tickle you."
Trish looked at him. "How do you know I'm ticklish?"
"The pillow fight."
"Oh." She nodded her head. When she looked back up at him there was a mischievous grin on her face. "If I remember rightly, you find that when dogs lick you, it tickles…"
"That's right."
The dark-haired girl released two Growlithe puppies - one male and one female. They sat with their tails wagging at their mistress's feet. "Okay, Hamlet and Ophelia. See that nice man standing behind you?" The puppies turned and regarded Drake with their big brown eyes. "He said that you two were the cutest puppies he ever saw. How about you two give him a few licks on the face to say thank you?"
The two puppies were only too happy to oblige, and so Drake found himself on the ground under the combined licking assault of the two Pokémon, and trying his hardest not to split his sides laughing. And failing miserably.
Trish then recalled the two puppies. "That's enough, Hamlet, Ophie. Come here." The Growlithes bounded over to receive a pat on the head before they were returned. She then walked over to where Drake had sat up to recover. "Now, we're even," she giggled as she held out her hand to help him up.
He took her hand and raised himself up on one knee. Suddenly there was a delighted squeal from their right. A young brunette rushed towards them and flung her arms around his female companion. "Oh Congratulations!" she squealed. "But why didn't you tell me anything? When's the big day?"
A slightly blushing Trish detached herself from her friend's embrace. "It's not what you think!" she said quickly. "Ah, Drake. I'd like you to meet my good friend Mia. But everyone calls her Arrow." Arrow waved her hand in greeting with a huge grin plastered on her face.
"Arrow, this is Drake."
"Hi. Nice to meet you."
"Hamlet and Ophie knocked him over, and I was just helping him up."
Arrow shot her older friend a look that plainly said 'Yeah, right.' "Sure."
"Believe me they did," Drake confirmed. Arrow still didn't look convinced.
"What's up, Arrow?" Trish asked.
"Jenn sent me to remind you that our appointments with the hairdressers are in twenty minutes."
The young woman grabbed her bag and book from the bench. "Better start on our way, then."
Drake smiled in farewell, "See you later tonight."
"See you," Trish waved then dragged a still grinning Arrow away with her.
***************
Later that evening….
"I'm not nervous, I'm not nervous, I'm not nervous!" Puck muttered to himself as he paced back and forth along the tree branch.
Flory rolled his eyes. "Calm down, Puck," he stated - then resumed his pacing.
"Calm down," Puck said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You've been pacing just as long as I have - and you're telling me to calm down?"
The reason for the cousins' nervousness was that - in a little under two hours, they would be attending a dance in human forms in order to be with the girls they had fallen in love with.
Flory slumped onto a small bump. "Let's just face the facts. We're nervous."
Puck soon joined him. "This is the most important event in our lives."
"I'll probably say something wrong."
"And I'll mess something up. I nearly always do."
"Erina's gonna hate me by the end of the evening."
"Arrow's gonna hate me."
The two cousins exchanged a glance. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Flory asked.
"I think I am."
"We're doomed!" they wailed in unison.
****************
'Wild Women do, and they don't regret it.' Erina grinned as Trish and Jenn grabbed their hairbrushes and sang along to the words on the Pretty Woman soundtrack that was playing. She, Arrow, Rachel and Karlie were preparing for the dance in Trish and Jenn's room. Tracey was there too, not that he had any choice about it, seeing as he was still handcuffed to Karlie. The Pokémon Watcher had been allowed to change first as the whole group turned their backs, although a protesting Karlie had to be blindfolded first.
Then it was the girls' turn and Tracey had the blindfold tied securely in place. Somehow they managed to get Karlie into her dress without having to undo the handcuffs. Not that she would have let them take them off anyway….
Erina started to feel the excitement creeping in as she gazed at her friends rushing around, putting on makeup, perfume, jewellery and checking their hair. All of them looked so different - much older and more glamorous.
Erina looked very pretty in lilac, with her hair swept up on both sides with the rest hanging loose at the back. Rachel was in pale yellow, Karlie in light blue. In contrast the three remaining girls were in stronger colours. Jenn was in a deep purple halter neck dress, Trish in an off the shoulder black gown with her long raven hair swept up in an elegant French Twist; and Arrow in an emerald green one with spaghetti straps, which brought out the colour of her eyes.
"So who's this Puck guy, Arrow?" Trish asked as she fastened an amethyst pendant around her neck.
"He's this guy I met at the Cyndaquil Café," Arrow replied.
"How did you meet him?" Erina was curious.
Arrow went slightly red. "I kinda sat on his lap by accident."
"You sat on him?"
"Well, I was wearing these heels at the time," Arrow protested. "And I can't walk very well in them."
"Puck's an unusual name," Jenn mused.
Trish nodded her head. "Sounds like a character out of a Shakespeare play."
*******************
Ash stood at the edge of the dance floor and gazed at the partying crowds with satisfaction. The dinner had gone smoothly, and there was a real festive atmosphere among the revellers. He noted with a smile that his mom and step-dad were dancing together and enjoying themselves. He made a mental note to have a few dances with his mother before the night was over.
Duplica and Todd were dancing close together as was Brock and this girl called Veronica. He had grabbed her from the crowd as soon as he had seen Luana come towards him. But so far, Veronica seemed to be enjoying herself. Ash just hoped that Brock's night would not end in a slap, as was the usual case.
A pair of slender arms wrapped around his waist. "Hey, Ash."
He turned to gather Misty in his arms with a passionate kiss. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked when they parted for breath.
"Enormously," she smiled. "Shall we dance?"
He smiled back, "Lead the way." And followed her onto the dance floor.
*****************
Arrow sang along happily with the music as she watched the crowds from one of the tables that lined the dance floor. The sea of black tuxedos was occasionally broken with the glimpse of glittering colourful evening dresses. "Oh, What A Night" was currently blasting over the sound system and the dancers were having the time of their lives.
The night was going really well, she reflected. She and Puck were getting along like a house on fire - except for one time when she tripped in these stupid heels she was wearing, onto a handsome young man by the name of Mikey. In fact she had been so captivated by Mikey's dark eyes that she almost forgot about her date standing behind her, tapping his foot.
Jenn and Gary Oak, Vickie and Giovanni were sitting at the table with her and Puck, and Drake had gone off to get some more drinks. She scanned the crowd for the rest of her friends. Trish was dancing with a good friend of hers, Russell, in order to tease him about Cissy and Prima. Rachel was dancing with Richie, and Erina and Florian had not been out of each other's sights since they met.
Arrow saw Jenn look at something behind her and utter a soft groan. She twisted in her seat to see Rudy come up to their table. "Where's….." he began, but was immediately cut off by Jenn.
"She's dancing with a friend. And I wouldn't bother asking her if I were you, because she's not interested," she stated bluntly.
"Well, she should be," Rudy declared. "Why's she dancing with a nobody like him, when she could dance with me?" He started towards where Trish was.
"Oh, he is such an arrogant slime!" Arrow seethed quietly to her date. "I wish something could be done to teach him a lesson."
Puck gave her a funny look. "Really?" he enquired.
"Really."
Arrow turned her attention back to the dance floor. She thought she heard Puck mutter something under his breath, but wasn't too sure what it was. Suddenly Rudy became engulfed in a blinding white light, and when everyone's eyesight had returned, all they saw….was a Muk.
The Orange Crew as well as Ash and Gary all rushed over to the Pokémon.
"Is …that Rudy?" Cissy asked as she wrinkled her nose at the smell.
"It can't be," Gary shook his head. "People just don't turn into Pokémon."
"It could be." Ash rebutted his best friend. "Because where's Rudy?"
"One way to find out," Drake muttered as he walked over to the DJ. He whispered something to the DJ, who nodded. Soon the beat of "Saturday Night Fever" by the BeeGees came through the speakers. The Pokémon began to move its arms rhythmically from side to side and spun a few times on the spot.
"Yep," Danny nodded slowly. "That's Rudy all right."
He turned to his colleagues. "Anyone got a spare Pokéball on them?"
*****************
Erina and Flory walked out through the French doors onto the large stone verandah outside the Function Centre. The young couple leaned against the wide stone railing as they gazed at the leafy valley below the Plateau. Erina lifted her eyes to the sky. Thousands of little stars twinkled and glistened like diamonds on the black velvet backdrop of the night sky.
The whole effect was magical. This whole evening had been magical. She had been a bit nervous when she first met Florian again - it turned out that he was just as nervous as she was. After that, both had relaxed, and Erina could truthfully say that she had never had so much fun at a dance before.
She felt really comfortable and relaxed with Flory. They had chatted about anything and everything - tonight had only reinforced the very good impression she had of him. The dark-haired boy had completely won her over the first day they met, and tonight she had fallen for him. Did he feel the same way about her?
After a few minutes silence the petite brunette straightened up. "Shall we go back inside?"
"Sure." As they headed towards the doors, they heard the DJ announce the next song. "And here's a nice slow one for all you boys and girls."
Flory turned to her with a smile and bowed low. "May I have this dance?"
"Here?"
"Why not?"
Erina couldn't find fault with that, so she let him take her hand and hold her around the waist. The beautiful strains of the melody began wafting out of the speakers as they began to dance.
When I fall in love
Erina's heart began to beat loudly as she recognised the words to the song that defined the movie Sleepless In Seattle. Her grey-green eyes were met with his dark brown ones and their gazes locked.
It will be forever…
Her breath caught in her throat as they moved ever so closer, until their lips met in a gentle kiss.
Or I'll never give my heart….
To be continued…..
Author's Note: From here until the end of this fic (at 12 Chapters)- expect more romance, peeps! If you don't like it or the story - then go away. Flamers are fed to my Tassie Devils.
The title as I said - comes from song that got stuck in my head. I don't know all the words. It goes something like "Oh what a night. Late December back in '63," and "What a very special time for me. I remember what a night." As well as "What a lady, what a night." Very appropriate for a dance. One word of warning - I'm going rather retro with the songs. ^_^ The song at the end comes from one of the ultimate chick flicks "Sleepless In Seattle" and is sung by Clive Griffin & Celine Dion. Fluffy, mushy and romantic especially for Riny.
I really can get so absorbed in something like a book that I'm not aware of anything else. As a result - I get quite a shock if someone taps me on the shoulder. ^_^
I call the pairing of Arrow & Puck - Klutzshipping.
Next Chapter - Calliope returns! Puck & Flory had better watch out!
