Me: ::Singing:: Here's the next chapter! Here's the chapter!
Izzy: What on Earth are you doing?
Me: Singing the theme song for this chapter. What else?
Izzy: Oh great! First, you try to incorporate music into the fic & now you're singing!?
Me: =) Yep! Something wrong?
Izzy: Oh, no. I just wanna sing too!
Me: Ok!
Izzy & I: ::Singing:: Here's the start of the next chapter!!!!!!!!!!
---------------------
The Young Master's Quest Ch. 21: Tour lovely Platinum Castle! Part 1
Izzy: Another 2 parter!?
Me: Yep! Now get into character!
---------------------
The next day after breakfast…
The group had assembled in the front hall.
"Ahem. We will now begin the tour of Platinum Castle, one of the few castles that still stand in Johto today." Prince Israel said in a tour guide-ish tone. He was wearing blue jeans, his crown (doi!), a cape that was blue on the outside & red on the inside (A/N: Heh. He's got a LOT of capes. He even has one for every day of the year!), and a Lavender Robe (A/N: Another Animal Crossing reference! Don't ya love it!?). Sadie was also on his left shoulder.
"Nice outfit." Ash said.
"Thanks. Now then, follow me and for the love of God, DON'T leave the group!" Prince Israel replied. The rest of the group sweatdropped & walked to the doors that were between the staircases. Prince Israel opened the doors and everyone went inside.
"It's dark in here." Brock pointed out. Aside from a few exit lights, the room was pitch black.
"Welcome to the library." Prince Israel said. "The librarian must not have gotten here yet. So we'll have to turn on the lights. Sadie. Go find the switch. We'll cover you."
"Cover her from what?" Misty asked.
"Exactly!" Prince Israel replied. Everybody else sweatdropped. Sadie jumped off Israel & ran to the other end of the room. Thanks to the fact that Sadie's nocturnal (that means "active at night" for you non-bookish types out there), she was able to run through the library with ease. Everybody else, on the other hand, had to feel their way through.
"Ouch! Watch where you're walking!" Brock yelled at Misty.
"Sorry. Ow! Warn me when you're gonna stop." Misty yelled at Ash.
"Oops. Ouch! Who puts a chair in a library!?" Ash yelled.
"Well, this IS a library." Israel replied. He then felt something under his left foot. It was a tail belonging to a certain irate yellow pokémon. I'm sure you all know what's coming next.
"PiiiiiiikaaaaaaaaaaaCHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The entire group yelled as they got shocked. Even—ahem—sweet little Togepi wasn't spared from Pikachu's wrath. Although it seemed like it was enjoying the—ahem—"light show."
"First rule of training electric pokémon: Never step on their tails." Ash said.
"Duly noted." Prince Israel said. He then collapsed on the floor.
Later......
When they got halfway through, everyone saw a pair of red lights behind a glass wall.
"W-what's that?" Misty asked in a scared tone.
"I don't know." Israel replied with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Meowth!" Sadie called from the darkness.
"Ahh… She found the light switch. Ok! Turn it on!" Israel called over to Sadie. All eyes then turned to the pair of lights. If this was the show, I believe a drum roll would be playing right now. Sadie flipped the switch & the lights were replaced by the eyes of A RED GYARADOS!
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Everyone but Israel screamed as the gyarados roared.
"HAHAHA!!!" Israel laughed. "You should've seen your faces!" He laughed some more until…
SLAP
He felt the sting of well, a slap, courtesy of Misty.
"I only wanted to have some fun." Israel rubbed his swollen cheek.
"Well, that's what you get for playing a prank on us!" Misty hissed.
"Woah! It's an aquarium!" Brock exclaimed.
"Man, is he Captain Obvious today or what?" Ash asked no one in particular.
"Whatever. It's just sooooooooo coooooooool." Brock replied. He seemed to be drooling. Everyone sweatdropped.
"What's with us sweatdropping in this chapter?" Israel asked.
Ugh! I don't know. Moving on! There were many water pokémon swimming. One in particular was sleeping in a clam shell bed.
(A/N: Three guesses as to which pokémon this is!)
"Wow! Water pokémon are sooooo coool." Misty said.
"Please don't be like Brock now." Ash sighed.
"Am I the only sane one here!?" Israel yelled.
"Meowth." Sadie said as she walked up to Prince Israel.
"Well, at least I got you." Israel said as he picked up Sadie. "Anyway, yes. The library is also the home to my water pokémon corral." He walked up a flight of stairs that was to the left of the corral. Everybody else got out of their little insanity trip & followed him.
"Are all those water pokémon your's?" Misty asked.
"Yep. Every single one." Israel replied.
"Even the red gyarados?" Ash asked.
"Even the red gyarados. You're not the only one with a red pokémon, you know." Israel replied with a grin as the group reached the top.
(A/N: I need to address something. Many of you, if you've been reading since Chapter 2, would be thinking, "If Prince Israel has one of every pokémon, then where's the red gyarados stored!?" Well, the answer to that is simple. The master ball for his red gyarados is stored in a secret area of the castle. Of course, this secret area isn't too far from where the other master balls are stored.)
The top of the giant aquarium & the entire library can be seen as well as a door. It opened and a man in a black swimsuit (think of the suits the animal trainers at zoos wear) came out. He was blond, tall, had a tan & blue eyes.
"Oh Prince Israel! Welcome home. How are you?" The man asked with a surfer accent.
"I'm well. It's great to be home." Israel replied. He then remembered the rest of the group. "Guys, meet Joe, my water pokémon breeder. Joe, these are my friends Ash, Brock, and Misty." The four people exchanged their hellos and such.
"So, how do you take care of Israel's pokémon?" Brock asked.
"As Prince Israel's water pokémon breeder, I have to make sure his pokémon are in tip top shape for whenever he needs to battle with them. This is achieved by having swimming races, giving them healthy foods, training them for battle on land, and of course, by playing games." Joe explained.
"Do the pokémon get different foods?" Brock asked. And so, a trilling (yawn) conversation between the two breeders began.
Israel walked to the edge of the tank. He took out a whistle out of his jeans pocket and after a moment of hesitation, brought it to his lips and blew. The noise stopped the conversation & everybody looked at him.
"I call upon my water pokémon!" He ordered as he lifted his arms. A few bubbles were seen in the middle of the water and a squirtle showed up. It looked at Israel and blinked a few times. A really toothy grin appeared on its face.
"Squirtle!" The pokémon yelled and it dived down to the bottom of the tank, where the rest of Israel's water & dragon pokémon (Don't forget, Dratini & Dragonair are aquatic pokémon too) were waiting.
"Squirtle squirt! Squirt!" (Translation: "Our master is here! Yay!") Israel's kingler then took the floor.
"Cookie cookie cook. Cookie, co?" (Translation: "Maybe we should do a song & dance number to honor our master. What do you think, Boss?") All the pokémon then looked at the clam bed. The pokémon was concealed in darkness. All that any normal person can make out is its red eyes. Nonetheless, the other pokémon did see it nod. The other pokémon cheered & swam to the surface.
Above the surface…
"Hey, are they coming or not?" Ash asked impatiently.
"Err… yeah! Just give them a sec." Israel replied.
Suddenly, the entire surface was bubbling & Prince Israel's water pokémon appeared.
"My babies!" Israel yelled in a cute voice. He waved to the pokémon as they started to dance.
"The music!" Joe said and he went to a control panel on the wall. He pulled a lever and a disco ball lowered. Techno music started to play. The pokémon twirled around, jumped through hoops, and shot their Water Gun attacks. The music ended with the pokémon assembling around the middle of the pool.
"Wow. Cool." Misty said with starry eyes.
"The show's not over yet." Prince Israel said. Joe pushed a button & the lights turned off. Spotlights were moving around the area fast & then settled down on the middle of the pool.
"Presenting the king of all bodies of water!" Israel started. "The lakes, rivers, ponds. Even the sea is ruled by this pokémon. I present to you…" A drum roll began to play as the clam bed was raised to the surface. The clam reached the surface. Its back was to the group of trainers. Joe pulled another lever & the clam started to turn towards the group while slowly opening. The clam was now in front of everybody, fully exposing the pokémon.
"…Aqua King! My suicune."
Aqua King gave a slight roar. Ash, Brock, and especially Misty gasped in shock at the sight of the water pooch. It walked on the surface of the water towards the group. Once it reached the other side, Aqua King looked at Prince Israel. Israel was also staring at his pokémon as well. Aqua King walked to Israel and started to nuzzle against his body. In reply, Israel began to pet his pokémon.
When he finished petting Aqua King, Prince Israel went to the tank, sent out his (normal) gyarados, and proceeded to pet the other pokémon. Brock & Joe went back to their conversation and Ash & Misty walked up to Israel.
"Your water pokémon are amazing." Misty said.
"Thanks. I guess I made the right choice to start the tour with the library, huh?" Israel replied.
"Yeah. I had no idea you own a suicune." Ash said.
"See. I wasn't lying when I said I own every pokémon." Israel replied. Ash nodded remembering that day in the forest. "Anyway, let's continue with the tour."
Brock ended the conversation with Joe and the group continued through the door by the light switch Sadie flipped. The group was now standing in the castle's pokémon field.
"This is our indoor pokémon arena." Prince Israel started. "I sometimes have tournaments here in the castle instead of at the gym. This field is used if the weather outside proves to be less than satisfying." The group went through a pair of doors and were now standing outside.
"And this is the outdoor arena." The stands were on the left & right sides of the field. The announcer's booth was on the right side and a titantron was on the opposite side. Behind the group, above the doors, was a clock. The current time was 10:14 A.M.
"Impressive." Was all that Brock can say. Ash & Misty oohed & ahhed in agreement.
The group walked a little bit passed the field and an amazing sight was before them.
"This is our backyard." Israel said. At the bottom of the hill, there were many fenced off areas, each containing many types of pokémon. The "backyard" stretched for miles.
"Are you sure this is a backyard? It looks more like a large grassland to me." Misty said.
"Yeah. I guess it does look like a large grassland." Israel said while sweatdropping. Everybody the walked down the hill and to the closest corral.
"This is the normal pokémon area." Israel said as the group entered the corral. He blew his whistle. Instantly, most of his normal type pokémon ran up to the group. There were lots of normal pokémon. Among them was an eevee, a persian, and a… PIKACHU!?
"Um Israel, why do you have a pikachu in a corral for normal pokémon?" Misty asked.
"What's that?" Israel asked. He then noticed the pikachu. "Oh. Hi Copier." He addressed the pikachu. It transformed into a ditto. Prince Israel knelt down and petted the ditto, now known as Copier.
"This is Copier. It must've saw Ash's pikachu and transformed. I'm really impressed. It usually transforms into a fat version of the target." Copier squeaked in delight at its master's compliment.
"Your normal breeder must be real good to make a ditto transform perfectly. Where is he, anyway?" Brock asked.
"SHE is coming this way." Israel said. He pointed to his left and a Nurse Joy appeared with her chansey. Brock got into his lovey-dovey mode & approached her.
"Oh, my heart fills with Joy at the fact that you're Israel's normal breeder! Will you go out with me?" Brock grabbed her hands while saying all that. Joy sweatdropped as Misty dragged Brock away by the ear.
"Ow! Come on! Stop!" Brock wailed.
"Come on lover boy. Before you get fixed." Misty replied. She let go of Brock, who whimpered & grabbed his crotch.
"She wouldn't."
"Take a look." Misty replied. Brock looked over and saw Joy with a pair of hedge clippers. She opened & closed them very fast. She had a look in her eyes that just said "Come here." Brock whimpered even more.
Israel & Ash sweatdropped and laughed nervously as Joy approached them.
"Majesty, how are you this fine day?" She asked.
"I'd feel a lot better if you put down those hedge clippers." Prince Israel replied. Joy handed them to her chansey. "That's better. Anyway, this is Ash." Ash waved. The hound is Brock & the redhead is Misty." Israel pointed to the two trainers in question.
"Nice to meet you all." Joy said. She then turned to Israel. "Sir, I would like to show you a new attack that your clefairy learned."
"Oh? And what attack is that?" Israel asked. It was clear that he was interested.
"I haven't thought up a name yet. Follow me please." Joy replied. She then started to walk off. Everybody else followed.
"Why is Joy here? I thought that she would be at the pokémon center." Ash said.
"My sister—twice removed—is the one who runs the Platinum City pokémon center. Joy replied.
"Man! How long has it been since we got that kind of response?" Brock asked.
"Too long!" Misty replied with a chuckle.
The group then reached an area of the corral that had some targets. They saw a clefairy meditating.
"Clio!" Israel called.
"Cle?" Israel's clefairy looked up & saw the prince. "CLEFAIRY!!!" She skipped over to Israel. They both hugged each other.
"Oh Clio, it's been so long." Israel said. He was crying animé tears.
"Fairy!" Clio replied. She was crying the exact same way.
"Could you show me the attack you learned?" Israel asked. Clio nodded & the group backed away from her. Clio then faced a target. She held up her left paw and the King of Hearts crest appeared on the back of it. Her paw then started to glow green as the song for this attack started to play.
"What's with the music?" Prince Israel asked Joy.
"I don't know. When I first taught her the attack, that song always played for some unknown reason." Joy replied.
"It's catchy." Ash said.
Clio said some strange poem thing that I don't feel like typing the words to right now and charged at the target. When she grabbed it with her paw, the saxophone solo played as the target exploded. The area around the target was engulfed in black smoke. When the smoke cleared, Clio was seen jumping with joy at the execution of a perfect attack.
"So what will you call it?" Joy asked.
"I shall call it 'Shining Fingers.'" Israel Replied.
(A/N: This scene was inspired by two things. One, the show G Gundam. The main character uses an attack much like what Clio used. Two, the card game. A clefairy card in the Expedition set has an attack called 'Shining Fingers.' I think that's exactly what it was called. Anyway, the attack makes the opposing card go to sleep. And now back to our story.)
"Would you consider making this into a TM for your gym?" Joy asked.
"Hmmmmm… It seems to take a long time to execute, but the damage inflicted seems to be high. Make the move into a TM and I'll think about it." Prince Israel replied.
"Yes sir." Joy said.
"See ya later." Israel said as the group went to leave the corral.
"So what was that TM thing about?" Misty asked.
"It like this; you know how every gym leader gives a TM with their badge?" Israel asked. Everybody else nodded. "Well my gym is the only one in Johto that doesn't give a TM."
"Why don't you just use any other TM?" Ash asked.
"I can't because the league rules state that each gym leader must use their own attack as a TM." Israel replied.
"Judging by your conversation with the ever-beautiful Nurse Joy, you know how TMs are made. So how are they made?" Brock asked.
"I'm not exactly sure, but I think that you're supposed to record the attack in action. Then, you have to get a document from the Johto League, stating that it's ok to make the TM. Finally, the tape & document are sent to Johto's TM factory, where a hundred or so TMs are made and sent to your gym." Israel explained. "Why did you ask? I thought that all gym leaders had to do the same thing." Brock & Misty laughed nervously.
"Well you see." Misty started. "The Kanto League picks a random attack & assigns it to us." Israel fell over.
"Oh, you guys have it easy!"
"So why not use Shining Fingers? It seems like a strong attack." Ash said.
"It does seem like a strong move, but, as I said earlier, it takes a long time to do the attack. I need an attack that will hit the enemy hard & fast." Israel said.
'There is one attack I want though. The attack that Prof. Oak told me about the day I began my journey.' He thought.
"This'll sound dumb, but why do you want a strong move?" Misty asked.
"It's to match my gym." Israel replied. "I feel that going through the hardship of actually beating me is worth something slightly more valuable than my badge."
"I guess that's true." Brock said.
"Another thing." Misty started. "How are you supposed to record attacks?"
"There are cameras posted everywhere in the backyard where a pokémon can be found training." Israel replied. He showed them a camera that was cleverly hidden behind a bush.
"Oh." Misty replied.
"Let's continue on." Prince Israel said. The tour moved on.
To be continued…