Chapter 21
After the day when Ash, Alice, and Reisa are forming a band, Reisa brings a lot of musical instruments to Sevestar Island. Ash asks, "Wow...that sure is a lot of instruments..."
"My Dad wants me to learn these instruments when I was little, considering that he is a Coordinator, and he is so into arts." Reisa shrugs. "It is a good thing I have 3 Electro-guitars. How about you two try it?"
"Is it different from the original guitar?" Alice asks. "My mom taught me how to play the guitar before, but not an Electro one..."
"Don't worry, the chords are basically the same, the only difference is the size, the sounds, and so on." Reisa says, and Ash picks on and starts to play it, and he is already used to playing it.
"Wow, Ash. Are you sure you haven't touched an instrument in your whole life?" Reisa asks.
"Well, it just feels natural to me..." Ash says as he hands the guitar back. "How about these ones?"
"You can try all of them, but what matters right now is to make a song." Reisa says. "There are covers, but with the copyright problem, I don't think it is a good idea if we want to make an album."
"You're right about that." Ash says. "Not only that, what are we going to call with our band name?"
"If we are going to put on masks, how about we call ourselves the Colors?" Alice asks, "We can also have our code names, like Red, Green, and Blue?"
"Good idea." Reisa says, "Then I'll pick the Blue one."
"I choose Red, since it was my father's name." Ash says.
"I'll be Green." Alice says as she takes the leftover mask.
Ash says, "Now that's done...So we have to make original songs. Um...how many should we put in an album?"
"According to the rules, an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes." Reisa says.
"From what we've heard from the other songs, they are 3 to 4 minutes, so that means we have to make at least 8 songs in an album?" Ash asks, "That sure is a lot of work."
"That's why we have to work it out. We have to compose the music, and we have to compose the lyrics." Reisa says. "Trust me, making music is not that hard, all we need is a tune and we can just work it out, or we can just use sounds that we hear in our lives and lengthen them."
Ash notices the Poke Ball and he says, "Like the Poke Ball captured sound?"
"Exactly!" Reisa says, "We can try to mimic the sound using these instruments, and then we make lyrics according to it!"
"Sounds fun." Alice says as they start to work on the new album. And before leaving Kalos, they go to Ambrette Town and capture a Cluncher at the ocean. Then they train the Pokemon back on the island.
Clawitzer: Ability: Mega Launcher. Moves: Swords Dance, Aqua Jet, Crabhammer, Muddy Water, Aura Sphere, Smack Down
From that day on, they start to work on the songs, Alice and Ash help each other with the lyrics of the song, while Ash goes to help Reisa with the sheet and the tune for the songs. They named their first album 1.2.3 to XY&Z, which contains 10 songs with both covers and original songs.
For the Cover songs, Ash decides to show himself to the music companies and purchase the copyrights for the band, which doesn't seem to change the money that he has because of the money from D&W and Helen's Kitchen. And all the songs are sung by Ash and Alice because Reisa has to do the work of DJ and other stuff, like guitar, keyboard, and so on. There are duets, and there are also solos. Ash and Alice each have their own solos, and they seem to enjoy it a lot.
Song List: 1.2.3 (Sung by Jude and Aoi), Libra (Cover from White Cat Project: Zero Chronicle, Sung by Jude and Aoi), High Touch (Sung by Jude and Aoi), Beauty and the Beast (Cover from Beauty and the Beast, Sung by Jude and Aoi), Best Wishes (Sung by Jude), Let it go (Cover from Frozen, Sung by Aoi), This is the Moment (Cover from Jekyll and Hyde, Sung by Jude), Future Connection (Sung by Aoi), Ready Go (Sung by Aoi), XY&Z (Sung by Jude)
Now they have finished recording all the songs, all they need is to find a music company for business. And Reisa has to contact all her former music teachers to see if they know any company. Luckily, one of Reisa's teachers suggest them to the IBM Company, and they bring the whole disc to the company and let the producers listen to their songs. Much to their surprise, they are accepted to join in as they really like a band that can make both sentimental songs and rock songs, not to mention that all the songs are perfect.
The music producers also help the three with the recording and the advanced filming, and eventually, their songs are put in the music stores online under the name of their band, the Colors. After a week, they can't believe that their songs have been downloaded 10 thousand or more times, not only that, but their music videos also reach a lot of likes and subscribers. When they put their album in stock, they are quickly sold out as best-sellers. From then on, the craze for the Colors has begun.
"Wow...people really like our music." Reisa says after seeing their subscribers on the Poke Tube channel.
"Well, even though I am not understanding music as you do, I can tell that they are also great. In fact, I start putting these songs in my restaurant as many crowds enjoy it." Helen says.
"That's a success, right? Alice?" Ash asks and Alice smiles back and nods.
After a month of selling their first album, the three of them are also invited for an interview. The three are asked if they will have their live performance, they discuss it and eventually, they create a fan website and also show them the date of their first live through the page.
On the day of their first live, all three of them are now wearing aqua-themed clothes, they also have backup musicians that are provided by the company because the song quality has to be the same as the recording, and all the recordings are different audio tracks combined since they have only 3 people. Ash asks Alice, "Are you nervous? This is our first live."
"I know, but I am ready for everything." Alice says.
Reisa says, "No matter what happened, just go in the flow, interact with the fans, and let's make a successful live."
Ash and Alice nod as they put their hands together and reach into the air. As they get to the top of the stage through the lift, people can't see them because the lights are turned off. Reisa nods at the drummer, who gives them the beat before they all play the song, with Ash and Alice standing in front playing the guitar.
When the song starts, all they can see is the cheering of the crowd. All kinds of people are there, and Ash and Alice recognize some of them. Much to Reisa's surprise is that even her father Wallace has come to this live show.
Once they finish singing the first two songs, they start to have their own talk. Ash says, "Good night everyone! We are the Colors!"
The crowd cheers, and Alice says, "It is very amazing, to think there are a lot of friends coming to this live."
"I know." Reisa says, now holding her own microphone, and walks towards them. All three of them do their introductions, and then they start to talk about how they formed the band and also the music that they have just sung.
It is after the final song XY&Z was sung, they are about to leave the stage when they hear the crowd cheering, "Encore!"
After a while of cheering, the three of them decide to play their new song, which they are planning to put in the next album, called "Aim to be a Pokemon Master." Ash is the one singing this song while Alice does the background voice. Once the song is over, they are backstage as Reisa says, "We've done it! We finished our first live!"
"That sure was tiring but fun." Alice says. "I mean, we are really good at this."
"I know." Ash says as he turns to the backup musicians and thanks them for helping them out. After a lot of things are done, they decide to head back to their own places to rest.
After heading back to the house, Alice hears their music from Eve's smartphone and asks, "Hey, sister Eve, isn't that XY&Z from the band The Colors?"
"Yeah, I purchased it online. The Colors is my favorite band and I also managed to watch the whole live online." Eve says.
"The band is also my favorite as well, not to mention, they are also the talk of the region as well." Flora says as she gives Alice a smile.
"Wow..." Alice says with a little blush, and only Eve is oblivious to it.
Valerie says, "You know, the band sure is talented with the music, and I am really surprised at how short amount of time they reached their fame."
Wulfric says, "Indeed. But the only problem is that their identity is hidden under the masks. Nobody knows who they are under the mask."
"Maybe they don't want to show their faces? I remember that there are some bands that do so so that they won't be bothered by fans in their normal life." Flora says as she looks at Alice with concern.
"That may be possible." Eve says. "But still, I bet that Jude is really handsome under that red mask."
Once they are finished eating, Alice goes into the room and then she takes out the notebook. "Now where should we start..."
"What are you doing?" Valerie asks as she walks into the room.
"Mom?" Alice is surprised as she jumps from the seat. "Nothing, I was just thinking."
Valerie raises her eyebrow at the way Alice is acting and she sees the notebook on the table that has the words: lyrics, she says, "What is this? Can I read this?"
Alice is nervous as she nods. Then Valerie looks at it and she recognizes that it is the lyrics of each song from the Colors band. She says, "So are you a fan of Colors as well?" She looks at the album on the table and says, "Consider that you also have an album from them as well."
"You can say so..." Alice sighs, knowing that she won't need to hide from her mother. "In fact, Mother. You see..." She takes out the mask and puts it on, she says, "I am Aoi from the Colors Band."
Valerie blinks a little as she starts to smile, "So I am right after all..."
"You knew about it?" Alice gasps.
"As a mother, I knew what my daughter's voice sounds like. And I can say that the only boy is Ash, right?" Valerie asks.
Alice nods and she also tells her about Rainbow, who is Reisa in disguise, is to her. Valerie is surprised that Ash would approach Wallace's daughter and even let her join the band, but she is proud of them.
"Mom, since you know this, can you keep a secret from Eve? I mean, just look at Flora, she already knows, and look how crazy she is right now. If Eve knows the truth as well, I will be doomed."
"Of course." Valerie says with a small smile. "But I am really happy that my daughter has all grown up."
"Mom!" Alice yells in embarrassment.
Here is a new chapter, and this is how Ash's band has started. I hope you like it and we will have more Water Type captures in the next chapter.