Day 6, Morning

"There now...Think you can behave yourselves and look after Ami while we're at the store?" Ash asked as he finished going over the grocery list.

"Pika!" Pikachu smiled, putting an arm around the still sleeping Ami.

"You know the drill, play quietly, no making lots of noise..." Misty cautioned.

"and more importantly, no crazy ideas!" Brock added as he climbed aboard Swellow.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu sighed, annoyed by the constant reminders. "Pipi pika pi chu!"

"Okay then..." Ash sighed, climbing aboard Swellow. "We better not come home to find the house destroyed, okay?"

"Pika chu!" was Pikachu's reply. He waved goodbye as Swellow took off into the sunshine...

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"Toto..." Totodile slumped to the floor, obviously bored.

"Cynda..." Cyndaquil agreed. "Quil cynda?" He was about to say more when he noticed Ami beginning to stir. "Cynda!"

"Ril?" Ami glaced around the empty kitchen, bewildered as to where everyone had gone. "Azu ri?"

"Pikapi, Pikachupi, pi Pipika pika pi chu..." Pikachu explained. "Pika pi chu..."

"Cynda quil!" Cyndaquil added, licking his chops at the prospect of sharing a bunch of grapes with Ami. Ami, meanwhile, had tottled over to the cabinets and gathered all the cups, pans, spoons, and any other cookware that she could find. "Ril!" she smiled as she set the towering pile on the floor.

"Pika..." At this, Pikachu grabbed several cups and began filling them with water.

Chink ka-chick, chinkety chink-chink... Ami had figured out how to click two spoons together.

PANG! PANG! PANG!.... Cyndaquil began banging on a pan with a wooden spoon.

Dink dank dink dinkety-dink dink dink.... Pikachu had finished filling the glasses and was now tapping them with a pencil. "Pika pi?"

"Toto!" Totodile hurried upstairs, only to return with an armload of boxes, scissors, buttons, paper plates, bells, rubber bands, plastic eggs, a bag of small rocks, and other items--not to mention a sleepy eyed Grovyle. "Toto dile!" he explained, gesturing to the pile of supplies on the floor.

"Vyle?" Grovyle studied the array of makeshift instruments scattered throughout the room, impressed. "Grovyle..." With this thought in mind, he grabbed a box and several rubber bands, and set to work stretching them across the box.

"Azu ri!" Ami laughed as she bounced about the room, clinking the spoons together.

"Grov!" Grovyle had now finished his makeshift guitar, and was now singing "Grovyle, vyle, vyle" to the accompaniment of twang, twang, twang...

Pikachu, meanwhile, emptied out the glasses and hurried upstairs. He returned several minutes later, clutching Ash's harmonica. "Pika pi!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and grabbed their makeshift instruments, awaiting Pikachu's next order. "Pika, chu!" With that, everyone started to march around the kitchen floor playing a surprisingly good sounding rendition of "Yankee Doodle". When the song concluded, applause filled the air. Pikachu whirled around, only to discover Ash, Misty, and Brock standing in the doorway, applauding the song. Flattered by the unexpected applause, he led the others in taking a bow.

"That sounded great, you guys!" Misty smiled as she set the grocereies on the countertop.

"Who knew that these guys would form a kitchen band?" Ash smiled. "Or that Pikachu could play my harmonica!"

"Say..." Brock mused. "Maybe we could show Ami the concept of a harmonica band?"

"Great idea!" Misty lead the way upstairs...

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"Azu ri rill?" Ami asked, piqued by what Brock had meant by a "harmonica band".

"Basically...a harmonica band is a group of three or four people--sometimes more than that--all playing harmonicas in harmony with each other." Brock explained as he settled down on the couch. Misty and Ash sat in two nearby chairs, warming up and doing some last minute practicing.

"Rill?" Ami asked, confused.

"Harmony is where you're playing different notes to blend in with each other." Misty explained.

"While we're each playing different parts, when those three parts mix together, it sounds pretty." Ash continued. "For our purposes, we're going to play in three parts: a melody, a harmony, and a bass..."

"Azu ri rill?" Ami was impressed.

"Yes, there is such a thing as a harmonica that can play very low notes..." Brock smiled as he fished his low harmonica from his pocket. "That is what it looks like..."

"Ril?" Ami asked, pointing out a small knob at one end of the small instrument.

"That's the tuning knob...when you push it in, you get extra notes...that way you can play in any key you want!" Brock smiled. "Let's do a song that Ami would like...any suggestions?"

"'When the Saints...' Ash whispered. He waited as Misty and Brock readied their instruments, then counted "and a-one, two, three four!" With that, a rousing three part harmony rendition of "Oh When the Saints Go Marching In" rang throughout the room!

"Pi pika pi....pi pika chu..." Pikachu sang along, all the while encouraging Ami to clap...