With all the duels going on, Ash and friends decide to take a break from the action by spending the day at the park. But everything just seems to go wrong! Ash oversleeps, Pikachu gets sick, and Team Rocket spoils the group's picnic!
However, the group devises a plan to keep Team Rocket busy, allowing them to escape! It works so well, Team Rocket is singing well into the night, bringing a day filled wth adventure to a close.
What lies in store for our heroes today? Find out!
The Heart of the Cards, part 19: Square Dance Fever
Ash sighed as he glumly flipped through the channels. "Isn't there anything good on?"
"Why don't you play with Pikachu for a while?" Misty suggested as she made the beds. "He could use a little attention."
"Okay, I will..." Ash flicked off the TV and walked over to Pikachu's basket, where Pikachu was sprawled out on his back, staring at the ceiling. "Hey..." he whispered, nudging Pikachu.
"Pika pi..." Pikachu stretched and rolled over to face Ash. "Pikapi?"
"Want to go on a walk?" Ash asked, gesturing to the window, where the warm morning sun was streaming into the room. "It is a nice day, after all..."
"Pika!" Pikachu enthusiastically leaped into Ash's arms, throwing him slightly off balance.
"Goodness, we're excited today, aren't we?" Ash chuckled as he deposited Pikachu onto his shoulder, adjusted his cap, grabbed his pack, and walked towards the door. "If Brock asks where I am, tell him I'm out on a walk. I'll be back in a few hours."
"Okay, I will!" Misty called. She waved goodbye as Ash departed.
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Ash stretched as he trotted along the street, observing the citizens of Titian City go about their daily routines. "Isn't this great?" mused to Pikachu. "Sunny day, everyone's out..."
"Pika pika?" Pikachu asked, pointing out a newstand in the distance, where a wide array of newspapers, candy, other books, and small toys were arranged in neat little rows. Some people were seated at several tables, conversing with one another or reading the newspapers they had bought. But none of this concerned Pikachu...he was more interested in the candy. "Pika?" he begged, longingly pointing at the rows of candy.
"Well..." Ash unzipped his pack, reached for his wallet, and opened it. "Let's see..." He searched around for any sort of money, ultimately placing his 500 credits from a few days earlier on an empty table. "I just so happen to have a little bit of money...so tell me what kind you want, and I'll go get it for you, okay?"
"Pika pi!" Pikachu replied, enthusiastically pointing out a row of mint chocolates.
"Think you can wait here while I go get it?" Ash asked. Pikachu nodded and watched as Ash disappeared into the crowd.
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"Okay..." Ash sighed as he returned with a mint chocolate bar and a copy of the local paper and sat down. "Here you go..." Pikachu snatched the chocolate from Ash's hand and tore open the wrapper, eager to savor his little treat. "Pika pika!" he replied in between bites.
"You're welcome." Ash replied as he studied the newspaper. "Let's see...Team Rocket heist busted....trading card tournament draws huge crowd...Dance on the square tonight?"
"Pikachu?" Pikachu climbed atop Ash's shoulder to get a closer look at the headline. "Pi pika pikachu?" he asked, pointing at the picture of people dancing.
"Well, a dance is where a bunch of people get together and...well, dance." Ash explained. "Remember that dance in Houen we went to?"....
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"Ash?" May asked as she brought back two glasses of punch, one for herself, the other for Ash. "Don't you want to dance?" Ash just relaxed in his chair and watched the crowd swirl and sway throught the square as the band played a waltz.
"Pika?" Pikachu climbed up onto Ash's shoulder, eager to try some of the punch.
"Okay, Pikachu...you can have a taste..." Ash chuckled, slightly tipping the glass towards Pikachu, who happily licked up his share of the sweet mixture of juices and ginger ale.
"You've been awfully quiet tonight...is there something on your mind?" May asked as she sat down in the chair next to Ash and put an arm around him.
"Well..." Ash began. "I really can't dance...and Brock looks like he's having fun..." He pointed out Brock and his partner as they waltzed past the stage. A crowd of girls followed them, anxious to get a turn dancing with the former Gym Leader.
"Sure you can dance!" May assured Ash. "I've seen you do it!"
"Okay, I can't slow dance...so I've been waiting for the band to play something reasonably fast..." Ash sighed, applauding the band as they concluded the waltz.
May offered her hand to Ash as the band began a lively reel. "You may just get your wish! Come on!" She lead Ash out into the crowd and began to twirl him around in rhythm to the music.
"May, not so fast, I'm getting dizzy!" Ash protested as he was swung and twirled about....
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"...May was spinning me so fast, I was dizzy afterward." Ash continued his story. "But all in all, it was a memorable evening."
"Pika pi, pika pika..." Pikachu sang, all the while imitating Ash's dance with the candy wrapper as his "partner". He spun the wrapper around as he danced, ultimately spinning it into the trash.
"Well, aren't you clever?" Ash cooed as Pikachu climbed back onto his shoulder. He stretched and slung his backpack onto his back. "Come on, let's head back." and with that, walked off down the street.
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"Misty, I'm back!" Ash called as he returned to the room.
"Oh, did you enjoy your walk?" Misty asked, looking up from the novel she was reading.
"Yeah!" Ash replied as he unzipped his pack and set the newspaper on the kitchen table. "We went down to the newstand on the square and relaxed there."
"You got the paper?" Brock asked as he walked into the kitchen and stuck two pieces of bread in the toaster. "Are we on the front page?"
"Nah..." Ash replied. "But there is something special going on tonight..."
"Oh?" Brock was interested. Just as he was about to move closer to get a better look at the headline, a knock came at the door.
"I'll get that!" Misty called. She strolled over to the door and let Maya and Michael in. "How are you guys today?"
"Hey, toast!" Michael paid no attention to Misty's question as he grabbed two pieces of bread for himself and stuck them in the toaster.
Maya sighed as she sat down. "Michael had a Junior League team meeting this morning, so he didn't get a chance to have breakfast."
"Well, Ash found an interesting item in today's paper..." Misty noted as she went to look at the headline Ash was studying. "Dance in the Square Tonight?" she asked, interested.
"Oh, the annual Western Dance is tonight!" Maya exclaimed. "The Western Dance is a fundraiser the local card leagues put on every year to raise money for children with life-threatening diseases..."
"How sweet..." Misty mused.
"You'll be dancing the night away for a good cause!" Michael added. "Last year, we raised over a million credits!"
"Wow!" Ash was impressed. "Why don't we all go? We don't have anything better to do tonight..."
"I'll go!" Brock volunteered as he put his plate in the sink and walked off to the other room. "If you guys need me, I'll be practicing!"
"I don't know..." Misty was unsure. "I've never been to any kind of dance before..." Her thoughts were interrupted by a horrible screech from the other room. "What was that?" she asked. Just then, Pikachu and Togepi ran in from the other room, ears covered. "What is it, you guys?"
"Pipika pika pi..." Pikachu began, "playing" an imaginary fiddle to prove his point. "Pi pika pika pi pika pipipi!" He gestured to Togepi, who was sniffling from holding back tears.
Misty sighed. "I wish Brock wouldn't practice fiddle this early in the morning..." Just then, another earsplitting screech pierced the air, causing everyone to shield their ears!
"Look at it this way, Misty...be thankful Brock is not practicing the drums." Michael assured her.
"Well, even the drums would sound better than this!" Misty complained over another sickening screech.
"Are you guys making fun of my fiddle playing?" Brock called from the other room. "I'm just running through some new material!"
"Play something you know, please!" Misty begged. No sooner had she said this, did a BEAUTIFUL rendition of "The Dancing Treecko Rag", a dance tune, come flowing from the other room.
"Now that's more like it!" Misty cried. "Dance with me!" she begged as she grabbed Ash by the arm.
"Misty....!" Ash protested as Misty dragged him out onto the floor, but he sighed, knowing it would be of little use to argue and spoil Misty's high spirits.
"Swing your partner, do-si-do!" Michael called, playing the role of a square dance caller. Ash swung Misty to the left, then twirled her with his other hand. "Now swing your partner back to the left and promenade!"
Maya laughed as she watched Ash and Misty whirl about the floor to the soulful song of the fiddle. "If you two keep going like that, you'll probably be a star at the dance tonight!"
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"Wow! I never dreamed that there would be so many people here!" Misty cried as she led the group into the ballroom, where a large crowd of people clad in Western attire where swirling around in intricate patterns, all to the rollicking beats of the band and the commands of the caller.
"Hey, Misty, your hat's crooked..." Ash noted. pointing out the white cowgirl hat that lay askew on Misty's head.
"Oh, it is?" Misty asked, blushing as she adjusted her hat so it was on straight.
"So she dusted off her boots and put her cowboy hat on straight..." Brock mockingly sang as Misty struggled to look presentable.
"I heard that!" Misty yelled. Brock just snickered, pleased with himself as he watched the crowd dance.
"You know, Maya..." Ash began as he tied a bandanna around his neck. "It was a great idea to get us all these great clothes!"
"Pika pi!" Pikachu agreed as he modeled a cowboy's vest and hat, complete with a little sheriff's badge, for Maya. Togepi tottled along behind him, also wearing cowboy attire.
"Aw...." Misty cooed, picking up Togepi. "You look so cute in that!"
"Togiiiii-ha!" Togepi replied, waving his hat in the air.
Pikachu, meanwhile, settled down on the chair next to Brock. "Pika..."
"Howdy, Sheriff Pikachu." Brock began. "Caught any bandits lately?"
"Pika pika pikachu?" Pikachu asked, unrolling a picture depicting stick figures of Jessie, James, and Meowth, all in Western attire. The word 'WANTID' was written out at the top in bold, black letters.
Maya just laughed. "Did you really draw that? All by yourself?"
"Pipipi pika....pika." Pikachu explained, gesturing to Togepi, who was apparently having fun playing 'Ponyta' on Misty's lap.
Just then, Ash heard the band start to play "The Dancing Treecko Rag"--the same song Brock had played earlier! "Hey, Misty...can you dance with me, please?"
"Sure!" Misty replied, depositing Togepi on the chair she had been sitting in. Ash took her by the hand, and the two joined the crowd in the dance...
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"Ow! That's my foot you're standing on!" Jessie complained as she led the other Rockets through the backstage area.
"Why is is so dark in here?" Meowth complained as he groped in the darkness. "I can't see a thing!"
"We're almost there!" James assured the group as he heard the crowd applaud the song. "Now, Meowth, you grab Pikachu while Jessie and I distract the audience..."
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"Whew...that was fun, Ash!" Misty giggled as she applauded the band.
"Would you like to dance some m-" Ash started, but a distress cry that sounded vaguely familiar interrupted him. "Pikachu?" He was about to go check on Pikachu when a huge crash came from the stage, causing the whole crowd to gasp.
Misty sighed. "Oh no, not again...."
"We've come to town to rustle up some trouble!" Jessie announced to the crowd as she finished tying up the bandleader.
"When it's time for a showdown, you'll be seeing double!" James agreed as he tied up the remaining band members.
"You let the band go, RIGHT NOW!!!" Misty demanded.
"Oh yeah, try and make us!" James retorted.
Misty turned to answer James' taunt when a whistle echoed through the hall. "Huh?"
"What?" Jessie watched, surprised, as Brock appeared on the stage, calmly sawing away at his fiddle. "I thought we'd tied up the band!"
"Step we gaily, on we go, heel for heel and toe for toe!" Brock commanded. At this, Jessie grabbed James and began to twirl him about, only stopping to touch her heel, then her toe, to the floor.
"But..." James protested as Jessie dragged him across the floor.
"You heard the caller, now do as he says!" Jessie retorted as she attempted to get James to follow along.
"Arm and arm and row on row; swing your partner, do-si-do!" Brock commanded, snickering as the Rockets copied his call. "While I have them occupied, I might as well keep them busy while someone notifies the police..." he thought as the spinning Rockets nearly crashed into the back wall of the room, nearly squishing Meowth and the sack with Pikachu inside!
"Brock! Tell them to release Pikachu!" Ash called.
"Hey there, let that Pikachu go, he didn't do a thing to hold up this show!" Brock commanded. Jessie and James watched as Meowth rhythmically untied the sack, freeing Pikachu, who ran into Ash's waiting arms.
"That was very clever of Brock to get you out of there like that!" Ash cooed as he scratched Pikachu's head. "Who knows what else he has up his sleeve..."
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Jessie sighed as she danced. "I never would've imagined the our plot would be crashed by the caller, of all people!"
"Hey, look!" Meowth called, snapping Jessie from her thoughts. "Da janitor's closet is right over here!"
Jessie turned to look in the direction Meowth was pointing, spotting the closet's entrance nearby a dark hallway. "Well, so it is!"
"Maybe we can find somethin' to keep da caller quiet so we can catch Pikachu again!" Meowth suggested. He waited as his comrades danced over to the closet door, opened it, and began rummaging through the cleaning supplies, trash bags, buckets, and other items, all the while keeping step with the music.
"This should do it!" Jessie announced, triumphantly holding a bucket of hot water in the air. "Now to go dump this on the caller!" She was about to lead the others out when...
"Hey now, what's the bucket for? Why don't you use it to clean the floor?" Brock commanded from the stage.
Jessie rolled her eyes. ""When in Rome..." she sighed, dumping the hot water onto James and Meowth.
"YEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWCH!" Meowth cried, dancing around the closet in pain.
"What was THAT for?" James also demanded as he tended to several burn wounds on his hands. "Now we're both burnt and soaking wet!"
"Well, the caller said for me to dump it out onto you guys, so I did!" Jessie protested.
"He needs some hot water dumped on him, dat's for sure!" Meowth grumbled as he grabbed a mop from the clutter. "Or maybe a good whack on da head should do it!" With that, he lead the soaked Rockets out of the closet and towards the stage, where Brock was still playing one rousing fiddle tune after another. Just before Meowth could aim...
"Time for a cleanup, you don't need a broom, so whack those Rockets across the room!" Brock commanded with a wink in the Rocket's direction.
"Oh no..." James braced himself for the impending whack...
THWACK! "Fore!" Meowth called as he sent Jessie and James hurtling across the room, where they both crashed into the refreshment table. Jessie emerged from the mess picking bonbons from her hair.
"Happy landings!" Meowth chortled as he threw the mop aside and ran to help his comrades.
"You stay out of this..." James grumbled as he picked bits of taco shells from his shirt.
"Well, we know things couldn't get any worse..." Jessie sighed as she brushed herself clean. No sooner had she said that...
"Goodness, you guys are a hungry brood, so why don't you share all of that food?" Brock taunted the Rockets as he started another song.
"Translation: FOOD FIGHT!!!" Meowth cried, hurling a tomato in James' direction. James countered by tossing some pears at Meowth.
"Yah!" Jessie countered by throwing a pie at James, but James ducked, causing the coconut custard missile to land on Meowth!
"Why you..." Meowth grumbled, slapping a banana peel on Jessie.
"Take that!" Jessie defended herself from the rain of produce by flinging the afterdinner mints at Meowth.
"Bombs away!" James called, firing a brownie at Jessie...
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"Boy, when the caller said share the food, I don't think he meant a food fight..." James groaned as he waited for his shirt to come out of the dryer.
"Food fight or not, our plot's been ruined enough!" Jessie snapped. "I don't even want to know what the boss would say if we told him about tonight..."
"Den if he calls, don't tell him!" Meowth suggested. "What we really need to do is break that fiddle da caller's using!"
"And if that doesn't work, the boss might as well turn you into a bunch of fiddle strings and play you!" Jessie roared, exasperated. Meowth, frightened by Jessie's threat, slunk behind a towel dispenser, cowering in fear.
"Well..." James sighed as he pulled his now clean shirt over his head. "The least we can do is escape..." Just as he opened the door, another fiddle tune came blaring into the bathroom, causing James to start tapping his foot again. He quickly slammed the door and slumped to the floor. "The caller's still out there, still playing...either he's soloing or waiting for us to come out..."
"Den let's just sit here and wait until he stops!" Meowth suggested.
"Yeah! Sooner or later he's going to run out of songs to play, that's when we bail!" Jessie agreed. The other Rockets nodded in agreement.
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"Is he done yet?" Jessie asked. "We've been waiting for an hour now..."
"I'll check..." and James crept up to the bathroom door, pressed his ear against it, and listened hard. "I don't hear anything."
"Maybe he's stopped?" Jessie asked as she struggled to carry several bars of soap and some rolls of toliet paper. "At least the boss will be thankful we got him some fresh soap..."
"Come on..." James carefully opened the door and led the Rockets through the darkened hall. But before they could open the exit door...
"Thought I was finished? Done? Oh no..." Brock called as the lights came up in the room and the stage, surprising the three Rockets! "I still have plenty more tunes to go!" With that, he raised his fiddle to his chin once again and started yet another tune, causing the Rockets to dance again!
"AUGH!" Jessie cried, dropping the soap she was carrying as the fiddle's song consumed her body yet again.
"Yeee-ahhhh!" James and Meowth struggled to keep their balance as they slid across the room, entangling themselves and Jessie in toilet paper in the process. Finally, they came to a screeching halt nearby an exit door.
"Well, we know things couldn't get any worse..." James sighed. At that moment, his cell phone rang. "Oh no..."
"If that's who I think it is..." Jessie groaned.
James shakily picked up the phone. "H-hello?"
"What is with all this blasted fiddle music?" Giovanni demanded. "It's scaring Layla!" Some yowls from a Persian permated the background.
"Sorry boss, we'll..." James started...
"Hey, put down the phone and listen well, march on over and ring that bell!" Brock commanded, pointing out a large blue button with a bell symbol on it with his bow. Jessie used Meowth as a balance as she hit the button, completely unaware of what the description of the button read: POLICE ALARM....
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"So, Officer Jenny came after you made Team Rocket push the police alarm?" Misty asked as she watched the news in the Dome's lounge the next morning.
"Sure did!" Brock laughed. "You should have been there!"
"Well, they evacuated us after Team Rocket came!" Ash explained. "We were all looking for you!" He was about to see more when...
"So, the famous Ash-man and friends are here?" a voice called.
"Huh?" Ash looked up and saw Brawly and Shawna standing over him. "You guys...what are you doing here?"
"Oh, we just needed a little vacation..." Shawna explained as she gave the others hugs. "We were on our way down to Fuschia Beach to check out the surfing there, and Brawly suggested we stop over here!"
"At any rate, it's good to see you!" Ash laughed.
"Now, I understand trading cards are the big thing here, so I bought a few packs of them and made a deck..." Shawna continued as she unzipped her bag and dug out a deck tin with a Meditite on it. "Brawly helped by donating some of his cards...but I don't know who I should challenge."
"Fancy taking me on?" Brock called from an arena, where he was leaning against the Sapphire platform.
Misty sighed as Shawna ran over to the Ruby platform. "When will he ever learn?"...
Can Brock keep his romantic instincts in check long enough to win the third round? Stay tuned!