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Chapter 3: A Caucus Race and a Long Tale
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When we last left Lillie, she went through several changes in size as she attempted to escape the room of doors. She eventually wound up back at three inches high and swimming in a pool of her own tears. She happened across a Rattata and several other Pokemon, and they headed together to a nearby shore.
Upon reaching dry land, all present were wet, cold, and uncomfortable. Lillie wrung out her dress and apron, and then put her hair up in a ponytail. The bird Pokemon went on to clean their feathers, while the mammalians shook themselves of the water that clung to their fur. Despite everyone's efforts, there was still plenty of dampness to go around.
"Oh, this won't do," the Doduo groaned, both of their heads speaking in unison. "All of this sodium chloride is in the process of wreaking absolute havoc on our feathers."
"Could you keep it down?" The Psyduck asked, holding his head. "You're giving me a headache..."
"Aren't you a Psyduck?" the Rufflet commented. "Doesn't your kind have headaches all the time no matter what's going on?"
"A mere myth spread through the years by stupid humans claiming to be smart," the Psyduck replied, turning his head up.
Lillie watched this scene unfold in front of her a curious expression, and some of the Pokemon took notice of this.
"Is something wrong?" The Rattata asked. "You look as if you've never seen Pokemon speak before."
Lillie tilted her head a little. "Well, where I'm from, they don't speak at all the way you do..."
"If you listen to them carefully," the Doduo explained, "all Pokemon can speak."
"If there's anyone worth talking to," the Psyduck chimed in.
"Or about," the Chatot added with a laugh. "Oh dear, did I say that out loud?"
Lillie sighed. "Yes...yes you did..."
"Never mind all that," the Psyduck interrupted. "What about our main problem? How are we supposed to get dry?"
"Gather around, everyone," the Rattata ordered. "I know of just the means."
The others moved in closer, and Lillie joined them in sitting around the the Mouse Pokemon.
The Rattata stood up on her hind legs and cleared her throat. "Now, prepare yourselves. This is the driest tale I know from a long time ago, and it shall surely take care of our current predicament."
An air of silence filled the area as the rest of the group waited for her to begin.
"This is a story of one youngster trainer and his team of Rattata. His name was Joey, and Rattata were the only Pokemon he raised..."
"Uh...pardon the interruption," the Chatot said, "but how is this a tale from long ago? Sounds a lot more recent to me."
"It is NOT recent," the Rattata corrected. "This is a tale passed down through my kind from generation to generation!"
"How many generations?" The Chatot asked. "I bet it's a lot, given how short your life spans are."
The Rattata was beginning to lose her temper. "Are you the one telling the story, or am I? Now pipe down so I can continue!"
The Chatot shut her mouth, and the Mouse Pokemon cleared her throat again.
"Now where was I? Oh yes! He never evolved them, believing that they had more than enough power behind them. In fact, he believed his Rattata were in the 'top percentage of Rattata,' and bragged about his presumed training skills to everyone he met. Those foolish enough to share phone numbers with him would have their ears blown out by his constant phone calls discussing his quote-unquote 'leet' abilities and the top percentage of-"
"Sorry for interrupting again," the Chatot said, "but what kind of nonsense is this?"
"Nonsense?" The Rattata asked, clearly offended. "I am helping us all to get dry!"
The Psyduck was confused. "How is a story like this supposed to help with that?
"He's right," Lillie said, holding her dress out. "I'm still as wet as ever."
The other Pokemon murmured their agreement to this.
The Doduo stood up. "We propose we adjourn this impromptu gathering and discover a more energetic means of remedying our current unfortunate situation."
"Speak in shorter words," the Rufflet requested. "I didn't get half of what you said, and I seriously doubt you got it, either."
"And all those longer words are making my headache even worse!" Complained the Psyduck, holding his head again.
The Doduo stomped their feet before continuing. "As we were attempting to enunciate, we recommend we partake in an immediate caucus race!"
"A caucus race? What's that?" Lillie asked, not quite sure if there really was such a thing.
"Well," the Doduo began, "the most efficient way to understand it is to do it, as with most things."
They went over to a large rock that stuck out on the beach, and seemed to draw something all around it in the sand. In a few minutes, the semblance of a racing track formed.
"There is no starting line or 'ready, set, go' here," the Doduo continued. "You merely run around as fast as you can until you can run no longer. Are we all ready?"
"I thought you said there was no 'ready'," the Chatot commented.
"There is a difference between getting ready and 'getting ready'," the Doduo replied. "Now gather here so the race can commence."
Lillie chuckled, standing up with the other Pokemon and meeting by the rock. When all were assembled, the Doduo took off without saying anything.
True to their word, there was no 'GO!' to be had.
The rest of the group soon followed after them, going around the rock over and over again in a counter-clockwise fashion. While some of the bird Pokemon like the Chatot and Rufflet flew relatively low to the ground, others chose to run instead. Everyone went at their own pace with no regard for whether they lapped someone else, or if they were being lapped themselves.
This went on for a good ten minutes or so before Lillie and several others grew exhausted. She took the opportunity to stop, noticing that her dress was not as damp than it was earlier. As crazy as this was, it was also a simple solution.
Once everyone had stopped, the Doduo leaped on top of the rock. "Huzzah!" They shouted excitedly. "The race is over!"
"But...who won?" The Rufflet asked.
"EVERYONE has won, of course!" The Doduo proclaimed. "Now the time has come to award prizes to the winners!"
"Prizes?" The Chatot asked. "What are the prizes, anyway? And who's the one that is supposed to provide them?"
The Doduo moved both of their heads independently back and forth, trying to formulate an answer.
"Why, SHE is the one!" They finally replied, raising a leg and pointing it towards Lillie.
"Me?" Lillie exclaimed, bewildered. Before she could reply further, all of the other Pokemon circled around her.
"Prizes, prizes, prizes!" They chanted with anticipation.
"Oh dear," Lillie sighed, putting her hands in her apron pockets. "I-I'm sorry, but I don't have any-"
She stopped herself when she felt something inside one of said pockets. She pulled out a small tin, which she did not notice earlier. Opening it, she saw there was a multitude of mints. How they didn't all dissolve in the pool of tears was a mystery to her. Unsure of what else to do, she started handing them out to all of the Pokemon. There was just enough for everybody to have one...except for Lillie.
"This won't do!" The Rattata stated, noticing the situation. "If she is unable to have a prize for this race of ours, she must receive a special prize for providing the prizes!"
"Quite right," the Doduo replied, turning to Lillie. "Do you have anything else on your person?"
Lillie checked her pockets again, finding nothing. "I'm afraid not..."
The Doduo huffed, looking around with both of their heads before spying a little thimble that had washed ashore. Picking this up in one of their beaks, they presented the article to her. "We humbly request that you accept this as an esteemed token of our appreciation."
Lillie couldn't help but laugh, finding all of this absurd, but she still played along. "Th-thank you." She said, accepting it.
With the ceremony over, everyone went on to partake in their mints. The mammalian Pokemon seemed to enjoy theirs, from the look of things. As for the bird Pokemon, the larger ones complained they couldn't taste anything, while the smaller ones had difficulty swallowing theirs, having to be pat behind their necks to help get them down.
Lillie shook her head before turning her attention to the Mouse Pokemon. "Ms. Rattata," she started,
"you mentioned earlier about having other tales...on how you hate...uh, certain other species. Can you tell us?"
The other Pokemon gathered back around, curious as to what she was referring to.
"Oh, it is such a long and sad story," the Rattata said with melancholy, and she began.
What transpired was a long-winded tale about how her kind had been under constant threat of feline and canine Pokemon alike. She went on and on about the life cycle of her species, how they gave birth to over half a dozen offspring at a time, and how some were able to become Raticates, thus gaining a short-tempered disposition. It began to sound more like a boring nature documentary than a story with each passing moment, and it kept going for what felt like hours. Lillie tried her best to stay awake, but she was starting to nod off, as were all other Pokemon present.
"JUST A MOMENT!" The Rattata suddenly shouted, noticing her audience was no longer as captive as she would have liked. "Have any of you been paying attention?"
Lillie was startled by this. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me..."
"I do," the Chatot replied, addressing the Rattata. "It's come over all of us. Your storytelling is so boring and dull, even an insomniac would be falling sleep."
"Well, I never!" The Rattata growled, insulted. "See if I tell a story to you lot again!" She turned around and stormed off.
"Wait, don't go!" Lillie called, but it was no use. The Rattata had left everyone else behind.
"Oh dear...was it something I said?" The Chatot asked.
"You're a Chatot," the Rufflet replied. "Your kind can' t help running their beaks all the time."
"Such an unfortunate turn of events," the Doduo lamented. "We were beginning to become accustomed to these extraordinary tales of hers."
"I for one am glad it's over with," said the Psyduck. "My head was pounding the whole time..."
Lillie sighed as the crowd of Pokemon began to disperse, continuing on with their own respective days. Eventually, only she and the Doduo remained.
"Well my dear," they said, "we believe the moment has arrived for us to part ways. We hope you found some enjoyment in partaking in our little game."
"It was fun, I suppose," Lillie replied, letting her hair down again. "Before you go, you wouldn't happen to know or have seen a Scorbunny wearing a red waistcoat, would you? I've been trying to catch up with him since before I even got here."
The Doduo thought for a moment. "Hmm...we believe there is one that lives not too far from here."
They stretched out a leg in the direction of the forest beyond the beach. "There's a walking path through there. If you follow that for a good half-mile, you should come across their place of dwelling."
"Thank you," Lillie replied, giving a curtsy. "I'll be off, then."
The Doduo nodded both of their heads. "Goodbye, good luck, and safe travels."
The two departed, with Lillie leaving the beach and entering the forest, hoping that she would find what she sought...
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Tune in next time for "The Scorbunny Sends In a Little Heliolisk," in which Lillie will find herself in yet another precarious situation, and in a big way...