Gavin's POV
I watched from a nearby doorway as the well-dressed donkeys dragged a massive skinny Christmas tree into the grand hall. Several more matching trees were already set up against the wall, decorated with platters of food.
Another donkey was driving a Zamboni across the floor, which was disturbing. We were going to have to spend the evening on an ice-covered floor, which did not bode well for those of us who'd only recently figured out how to walk on four paws. Especially since Pigbumps seemed to want us to dance.
Man, another Legendary battle we probably could've dealt with. But if the school proms back home were any indication, there was NO WAY we could put on a satisfying dinner/dance party. We were in trouble with this challenge, that was for sure.
Unless Pigbumps was judging it by comedy, in which case we'd probably end up winning the grand prize.
Sighing, I made my way back to the Knowitclaw common room, deciding that I might as well get dressed for tonight's catastrophe.
After slowly climbing up several flights of stairs, I arrived at the statue of a sphinx. Its eyes lit up, and it asked, "What is the ultimate answer?"
That was easy, if you had read as much as I had. "Forty-two."
The sphinx sank into the floor, and a doorway appeared behind it. I walked through, and was greeted by quite the scene.
There was a giant snake made out of fire in the common room, while my friends were struggling to take it down. There was a student in the corner, yelling, "It was an accident! It was an accident!", but no one seemed to be paying him any attention.
Joel ran past me, shouting, "I'm weak to fire!" The snake lashed out at him, but was blocked by Rei stepping into the way and safely absorbing the flames.
My sister Sylvie was climbing up onto a shelf, searching for something she could fight the snake with. Peter, meanwhile, was guarding his game console while holding his free magic wand between his teeth. Erik seemed to be trying to help out Wendell, but I wasn't sure what they were doing.
Matthew shot off a Hydro Pump at the serpent, causing it to recoil, hissing and steaming. Charging past him was Jack, who was holding his own wand. He flicked it at the snake, and it suddenly turned into a snake made out of water.
"Ack, still trying to get the hang of this thing!", he shouted.
Matthew said, " Adjusting parameters. Accessing Roserade databanks. Attack: Giga Drain."
He proceeded to use Giga Drain on the serpent, which caused it to shudder as he drained its volatile energy.
I knew I needed to help, so I charged at the water snake and used Quick Attack. I ended up charging right through it, soaking my fur, but it seemed to hurt the snake. As it shook itself off, Erik started tapping out a tune on a random drum sitting around.
"Hey, now's not the time for beatboxing!", Jack shouted, "Um, does anyone remember the stun spell from Harry Potter?"
"Was there a stun spell?", Peter asked.
"Petrificus Totalus, maybe?", Sylvie suggested.
Jack shook his head. "No, that was the full-body freeze...wait, maybe that'll work!"
He pointed his wand at the snake, and shouted the spell. The snake's mouth was glued shut, but it was still moving.
"Uh, why didn't that work?", asked Jack.
"Maybe because there's no limbs to lock to its body?", answered Peter, "I'll try...um, how about Expelliarmus?"
The wand fired and blasted a vase off of a shelf, shattering it.
"Oops, should've aimed that first!", Peter yelled.
At that point, Wendell pulled out his microphone and started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
A Jigglypuff's lullaby paired up with Erik's beatboxing? No one stood a chance. I fell over and immediately passed out. (-o-)
I woke up to see Wendell above my face, holding a marker and trembling.
"Uh, what are you doing there?", I asked.
Wendell sighed in relief and tossed the marker away. "Thank Arceus you guys are waking up! For some reason when you all fell to sleep, I got this uncontrollable urge to scribble all over your guys' faces with a permanent marker. Now that you're awake, it's gone."
"Accursed anime logic.", I muttered, "You didn't draw on anyone, did you?"
Wendell shook his head. "No, but if you were asleep just a little longer I would have lost control."
I managed to get to my feet, barely remembering to keep four on the ground instead of two. "Good thing we avoided that, then. Snake's gone, right?"
"Either that or it's a deep sleeper.", Wendell replied.
"Let's hope it's the first one.", I stated.
I noticed everyone else seemed to be awake now. Sylvie had procured a mop and was trying to clean up the huge puddle on the floor where the snake had been, while Rei was using her jet tail to dry it up in rapid time.
Everyone else was proceeding to get ready before the ball. Matthew was running through a list of catchy one-liners. Peter and Erik were arguing about which bowtie they were each going to wear. Joel was smiling before a mirror nervously. Jack was reading a book titled How to Impress the Pig, featuring a picture of Pigbumps's ugly snout. It seemed to have a list of recipes inside it.
Looking at our gang of geeks, I sighed.
"We are so doomed tonight." (-o-)
As evening fell and we were overtaken with a feeling of foreboding, Miss Melody and our friends returned, successful. Excitedly, we began discussing a plan, but before we had any time to practice, dinner started and we had to hurry to our seats.
Adjusting the simple bowtie I had attached to my mane, I started eating some of the food. Much to everyone's relief, Pigbumps had conjured his own table of food, and was eating off of that instead of ours.
I noticed that the tables had a bunch of boxes of crackers on them this time. I didn't want to touch them, because who knew what these twisted versions would be?
Sherlock was checking his watch, and seemed right at home compared to everyone else looking awkward in their outfits. It was probably because he was a secret agent, and they loved fancy suits. He had even smoothed his hair into perfection.
Above, I could see a chained-up Mr. Vernon, who Pigbumps seemed to be 'sharing' his meal with. Except Vernon couldn't eat while he was gagged, so Pigbumps kept tossing food onto him and splattering him with it.
After a short while, Pigbumps demanded, "Alright, are none of you even trying!? You're supposed to be trying to impress me with your dinner party skills, not hushed eating as if you're at my funeral! Come on! Give me some flirting! Give me some conversation! Dancing! Opening those crackers if you have to! Anything! If none of you comply, I will have to expel you!"
Everyone looked panicked, and started trying to do something. I noticed Erik, Zeke, and Wendell hurrying over to the stage, where a bunch of violinist donkeys were playing. Our plan was starting.
I looked up at the staff table, and all the insane teachers atop it. I hadn't really noticed him before, but there was an old, dazed-looking man there, who was constantly staring at the ceiling. That was Professor Bumblebore, or at least what was left of him. We were going to have to take the Book-silisk's page to him if our plan was to succeed.
So swallowing the lump in my throat, I walked over to Lulu. She looked rather stunning tonight, even as a Riolu, and I found it unnaturally hard to talk to her. "Um, may I have this dance?", I asked timidly.
Lulu smiled. "Of course."
Taking each other by the paw, we strode out to the dance floor, which was slowly melting as Rei tried to fix the anti-dance maneuvers Pigbumps had set up.
We both seemed unsure what to do, but we began to slowly dance, while others saw our example and started making their way onto the dance floor as well. I saw Barry leading a protesting Steven to Sara, grinning. Meanwhile, Zoe was dragging Akio out to the dance floor, also grinning. Mia opened a box of crackers and jumped as a bunch of Magikarp flopped out.
"A mass outbreak was reported!", a random guy shouted.
On the stage, Zeke was throwing the violinist donkeys off, shouting, "Violins are overrated and overused!"
Erik grinned as he spotted a set of drums backstage, and dragged them out.
As Lulu and I waltzed, we made sure to tuck some cotton balls in our ears, and slowly started dancing our way to the staff table. Although it was an act to distract Pigbumps, I still felt extraordinaryily happy to be dancing with Lulu.
Leaping into the middle of the dance floor, Eddie lit up his oversized disco shoes and started dancing like there was no tomorrow. Pigbumps seemed genuinely interested, although he was pretending not to be. He did not notice Sherlock and Draco flanking him from behind, one holding a wand, the other their fancy power gauntlet.
Zeke strummed a dramatic chord on his guitar. "Who's ready to rock this party to the ground!?"
Rei gave him a thumbs-up, which wasn't easy with her huge feathery wings.
Erik began jumping across the drums, tapping out a familiar beat. Wendell took a deep breath, and readied his microphone. Lulu and I glanced at each other, nodded, then started heading faster to the staff table, disguising it as a tango. I even had a red rose for Lulu, one I had painfully removed the thorns off of.
As soon as Wendell started singing, the effect was immediate. Everyone who hadn't prepared fell asleep, and Wendell roared a battlecry. He leaped onto Pigbumps's snout and started scribbling away with a marker as if his life depended on it. Draco flicked his wand and bound Pigbumps's limbs to his body, while Sherlock activated a buzz cutter and started removing Vernon's bonds.
Meanwhile, Lulu and I charged up the stairs to the staff table, still keeping up our dance routine. When we reached the top, she leaned against my arm as I leaned over her, and she tucked the piece of paper into Bumblebore's unconscious hands.
It immediately started glowing brightly, and Bumblebore flared awake, his eyes suddenly focused. He floated up into the air, a large wand made out of an elder tree appearing in his hand.
"I must thank you, children!", he cried, his voice full of power, "Now I can send this pig back to the vault, my mind is restored! Let's-"
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion at the main entrance, and a bunch of smoke billowed up.
"Hand us the pig!", screeched a voice, as a massive red vulture floated out of the smoke, followed by the gang of Dark Three who'd attacked us in the Forgotten Court, "Your lives will be spared!"
Vernon, free of his bonds, shouted, "No! Do not let them have him! He is a key to their plan!"
At the same moment, one of the trapdoors in the floor burst open, and Hoopa floated out, followed by some unfamiliar faces.
"Wanderers! The Dark Three must be stopped!", Hoopa shouted, "Protect the pig! If they claim him, they'll be one-fifth of the way to opening the forbidden gate!"
Lulu and I glanced at each other. Then we readied ourselves for battle. (-o-)
AN: That's another chapter down, folks! One last great battle before our next dimensional shift! What will happen now? We'll find out next time!
As always, happy Pokemon hunting, because really it's tradition at this point.