Kanto Gets Loud
Chapter 26: Interlude #1
At that same time, in Royal Woods, morning,
Lynn had just woken up from a peaceful sleep, feeling refreshed like she always did in the morning, but today she felt… off. She couldn't pinpoint it, but something didn't feel right. She then looked over at Lucy's bed, seeing it empty as it had been for the past several days. Lynn then thought about the night Lucy had cleared their brother's name for the Princess Pony incident, and got to thinking that maybe calling her a 'traitor' may have been pushing things a bit too far. She was still convinced that Lincoln was entirely at fault for everything that happened, but as far as Lucy was concerned, Lynn thought that maybe she was being a little too hard on the little goth girl, "Maybe I ought to make amends with her. Maybe a few cheesy vampire novels should work as a good enough apology," she said, as she was proceeding to get out of bed, only for her foot to somehow get tangled in the sheets, causing her to fall face first onto the floor.
"Ok, that hurt," she commented, as she got up, not noticing a tennis ball by her feet, which, upon trying to stand up, caused Lynn to stumble and hit her face once again, this time, on the dresser. She groaned in discomfort, as she made her way to the door, only to find that the doorknob was jammed, "Ugh, stupid thing's always jamming! Why don't we just replace the broken stuff in this house?" she questioned, as she tried to force the door open, which, after a few attempts, did open, a little too fast, causing it to smash into Lynn's face once more, causing her nose to bleed, "What the hell is going on? That's three different times I got smacked in the face!" she complained, as she stepped out into the hall, only to trip on the rug, "You have got to be kidding me," was all she said before she tumbled down the stairs, losing consciousness at the bottom.
Meanwhile, in Lori and Leni's room,
"Ah, what a beautiful morning!" Leni said cheerfully, as she got out of bed, and went to get dressed. Lori sat up in her bed, but looked just plain tired, especially after what had transpired the day prior with the call from Lincoln. Her thoughts were mostly on what Ronnie Anne had said, about how she and Lincoln could never be a couple if Lori and Bobby were a couple, and about how Ronnie Anne admitted to liking girls as opposed to boys.
"Who does that little brat think she is, thinking she can decide who she likes on her own? I've already decided that she and Lincoln are betrothed to each other, and that's just the way it has to be. It'll be Lincoln's fault if anything happens. Him and his stupid bad luck," Lori cursed under her breath as she got out of bed, and went to fetch a change of clothes, and went to the bathroom, while fiddling with her phone, "Come on, you stupid thing! I need to call Bobby!" Lori grumbled, as she entered the bathroom. Her phone, for some reason, was unable to get a signal. She was still trying to get a signal while brushing her teeth, but as she let out a groan of frustration, she let go of the toothbrush, causing the dental tool to hit the back of her mouth, causing her to gag. She was attempting to pull out the toothbrush, but failed to notice in time that she had let go of her phone, which bounced off of the sink, and flew straight into the toilet, which Lori was horrified upon seeing that the toilet had apparently not been flushed since the last use. Lori then let out a piercing shriek, which resonated throughout the entire house.
"Ugh, will whoever's screaming shut up?! Some of us are trying to sleep in!" Lola screamed, as she took her pillow, and covered her head in a futile attempt to drown out the noise. However, the screaming continued for five minutes, prompting Lola to begrudgingly get up. She looked over to her twin's bed, who grumbled something under her breath that Lola couldn't quite make out. Getting out of bed, and grabbing one of her wrenches, Lana then stormed out of the bedroom.
Lola grinned vindictively at the thought of Lana hitting whoever gave the rude wake-up call, as she went over to her closet, and pulled out one of her gowns, only for Charles to run into the room, and immediately rush over to snatch the dress from Lola's hand, "What the…?! Charles, let go!" Lola demanded, as she tugged on her gown, trying to get it away from the dog. Lola couldn't fathom what had come over Charles. He had always been a well-behaved pooch. Her thoughts were cut short when, with a mighty tug that caught the six-year-old off guard, Charles finally pulled it away, and ran out of the room, "Dang it, Charles, get back here!" the little pageant princess demanded, giving chase.
While the brattiest sister was chasing down Charles, Lana had arrived in the bathroom, with a grieving Lori huddled in a corner, mourning the loss of her beloved phone, "Alright, what seems to be the problem?" the older twin asked in an annoyed tone.
"M-My phone is lost! In… THAT!" Lori said a little overdramatically, pointing at the unflushed toilet. Even Lana, who normally liked gross things, could sympathize with Lori, not wanting to stick her hand down the toilet.
"I'm going to get some gloves," she commented, leaving the bathroom. Lori had gotten up, but didn't notice a wet spot on the floor, which caused her to slip, and land head first into the toilet. Lana was making her way back to her room to get her gloves, when she saw Lola chasing Charles, who was carrying her twin's dress. Lana merely shrugged, and continued towards her room, when she mistakenly stepped on Cliff's tail. The cat yelled in pain, before proceeding to scratch Lana all over, "Ow, ow, ow! Cliff, cut it out!" Lana demanded, not noticing that she was at the top of the stairs, as she lost her balance, and tumbled down the stairs, bowling down Lynn, who was slowly making her way back upstairs. Upon reaching the bottom, both sisters groaned in pain, but got no sympathy from Cliff, who began scratching them both up.
Meanwhile, Lola had chased Charles through the dining room, and the kitchen, before following him out through the doggy door. While Charles was able to easily slip through, Lola was not as fortunate, as she found her head was stuck within the doggy door frame, "Someone help! I'm stuck!" she called out. To rub salt in the wounds, Lola had a clear visual of the inside of Charles' doghouse, where he was chewing and tearing at the dress. Lola saw in horror as Charles then lifted his leg, "Charles, don't you dare! Don't even think about it!" But he did.
Lola's scream resonated through the house, causing Luna and Luan to wake up abruptly, but the former forgot that she was sleeping in the top bunk, and upon stepping out, she plummeted to the floor, "Watch that first step, Luna. It's a real doozy," Luan joked, as she got up as well, walking past her roommate and out of the bedroom. Luna took a moment to compose herself from the pain she was experiencing, which was beginning to fade. Luna then made her way to the window and opened it, only to then notice a swarm of angry bees beginning to form. They swarmed together in a skull and crossbones formation.
"Uh oh," was all Luna said, as they flew inside, and began to sting her all over. While this was going on, Luan was making her way to the bathroom. She was puzzled as to see Lori's head in the toilet, while remaining unaware that the pull-out ladder to the attic was starting to give out, eventually coming undone, and smacking the jokey sister in the face, and chipping her tooth. Luan held her mouth, howling in pure agony as she stumbled towards the stairs, loosing her balance as she tumbled down them, and towards Lynn and Lana, who were just getting back up. The two of them saw Luan tumbling towards them.
"You have got to be kidding me," Lynn grumbled, as Luan slammed into both of them, knocking the wind out of them.
While his daughters were getting acquainted with their own misfortune, Lynn Sr. was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for everyone. He was heading to the fridge to retrieve some bacon and eggs, only to be met with a spring-loaded boxing glove to the family jewels, causing him to double over in pain, "Oof, must've been leftover from April Fools Day," he whimpered, as he got back up, and retrieved what he was after. He was now cooking up the bacon, a smile on his face, but it didn't last long, as some grease popped up and struck him right in the eye, causing him to scream out in pain. Not paying attention to where he was putting his hand, he had placed it on a still hot frying pain, causing him to scream out again. He then slipped on some grease, causing him to slip and fall back-first against the stove. It was then that the eggs, that had been balanced rather poorly on the edge of the counter, had fallen over, splattering all over the Loud patriarch. A foul, reeking stench then assaulted his nose, "Ugh, the eggs must've gone bad."
Meanwhile, in Lisa and Lily's room,
While the others were having a less than pleasant morning, Lisa and others were going through the Pokedex data that Lincoln had sent over, all in an in-vain attempt to take their minds off of what had happened the day prior, "As much as I like seeing all the Pokemon Lincoln's seen during his travels, I can't feel any better about what happened yesterday," Leni commented.
"You're right, Leni. We were making slow, but sure progress with fixing things with Lincoln, only for Junior to jeopardize it all by running her mouth. Why is she so bent on wanting Lincoln to suffer?" Rita questioned.
"Lynn's just being the stereotypical bully, thinking that its funny to watch others feel bad just for her own amusement," Lisa replied.
"Olu, Riolu!" Riolu chimed in, sounding like he was trying to contribute, as he ran in, along with Poliwag and Zubat. Beedrill, Pidgeotto, and Fearow were already in the room with them.
"Sorry little one, but I'm afraid we don't know what you're saying," Rita apologized to the Emanation Pokemon.
"Wait a minute, I think I have an idea!" Lisa exclaimed, as she rolled her chair over to the wall, and pressed a button that was affixed to it. A section of the wall then opened up, revealing a very fancy looking piece of tech.
"What is that thing?" Lucy asked.
"It's a translator device that I invented a while back. I built it as a means to more effectively communicate with animals. I'm hoping that it can do the same for Pokemon," Lisa replied, as she punched in a few keys, "Ok Riolu, go ahead and say something."
"Can you hear me speaking? Check one, check two," the device said, as Riolu was speaking.
"Hey, how about that? It works!" Lisa exclaimed proudly.
"If you can make more portable versions of this device, you might be able to market it off at a big tech company in Kanto and help bring in plenty of money to help support the family," Rita commented, impressed by the functionality of the device.
"Funny you should mention that. I've actually been trying to make portable translators for just such an event," Lisa replied, as she pulled out a tray, containing what looked to be Bluetooth earpieces, but they were all sparking, "They're… still in the testing phase. I need to work out a few more bugs," she added, scratching the back of her head.
"Well, I ain't too tech savvy, but I can tell this could benefit your family a lot, even if most of them don't really deserve it," Pidgeotto said, as the machine translated her.
"That may be true, but they still need a suitable place to stay, and good food to eat," Lisa replied. It was then that she remembered, "That reminds me, what was is that you were trying to say, Riolu?"
"I was saying that I really can't stand that girl in red. I also don't like the other tall blonde girl. Y'know, the one who kept talking about her boyfriend?" Riolu replied.
"You mean Lori. Yes, she does seem to hold Bobby in very high regards. Maybe more so than she does her own family," Rita replied.
"What I would like to know is why she was saying that it would be Mr. Lincoln's fault if he and that girl in purple broke up?" Poliwag asked.
"It's a common stereotype that in fights between boys and girls, the girl is always the one who ends up getting hurt. It's really a bunch of sexist hooey that could eventually blow up in Lori's face, most likely when Bobby hears about it and decides to break up with Lori on the spot," Lisa explained.
"Heh, sounds just like the kind of soap opera I'd like to see," Pidgeotto snickered.
"Hush now. We shouldn't go getting involved in these kinds of family squabbles just yet," Fearow scolded, smacking Pidgeotto's head.
"Oh yeah, that's reminds me!" Lisa said, wheeling herself back over to her desk, where she pulled out the newly revised Sister Fight Protocol documents, "Leni, Lucy, I'm going to need you signatures on this."
"What are these?" Leni asked.
"Those must be the revised Sister Fight Protocol procedures I had Lisa come up with so that they would include Lincoln," Rita replied, looking over the documents herself.
"So, the Protocol's going to have a plan in place for Linkey now? I doubt the others are going to like that," Leni commented.
"Well, they're going to have to sign off on them if they want to use it again. A procedure like ganging up against Lincoln is not acceptable. Besides, after the last time, the Protocol itself needed a major overhaul, like being used only for REAL issues, and not dresses," Rita replied. Leni scratched the back of her head, as did Lucy and Lisa, embarrassed from being called out for using the protocol for a petty reason like a dress.
"Dare we even ask what this is all about?" Beedrill asked.
"Oh, it's a system we put into place to help resolve fights between sisters more easily. The first time completely backfired due to a number of holes in the system itself," Lisa explained.
"We can get the others to sign off on the new procedures at the breakfast table. Let's get going," Rita stated.
"You all go on ahead. I need to take care of something first," Lisa said.
"OK, just don't be long," Rita replied, as they all left the young genius alone in her room.
"I need to contact Professor Oak and see about getting Lincoln's peers to one of the regions, just as they requested," Lisa said, as she dialed up Professor Oak's number on the videophone. Moments later, the screen turned on, showing the professor himself, looking like he was preparing some instant ramen.
"Ah, you're one of Lincoln's sisters, if I recall. Lisa, was it?" Professor Oak asked.
"Indeed, I am Professor. I hope I'm not calling at an inconvenient time?" Lisa asked, noticing the Professor placing a brick of noodles into a boiling pot.
"Actually, you called me just as I was preparing my dinner. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Professor Oak asked.
"Well, you see, some of Lincoln's friends came by here the other day, asking about Lincoln's whereabouts. They now know everything, from what we did to where he currently is right now," Lisa replied.
"I see. So, what exactly does this have to do with me?" Professor Oak asked, his eyebrow raised in a questioning manner.
"Well, when Lincoln called home yesterday, his friends expressed a very keen interest in becoming Pokemon Trainers themselves," Lisa replied. Professor Oak was now full attentive towards the toddler genius.
"Ok, are these friends of your brother close to him?" Professor Oak asked.
"Very close. Two of them especially. The first being Clyde, Lincoln's best friend, and the other being Ronnie Anne, someone that I had originally thought was in a relationship with Lincoln, but upon learning that her brother is the boyfriend of the eldest sibling, I realized that a relationship between the could never work," Lisa explained.
"You said 'two of them'. Am I right to assume that there are more?" Professor Oak asked.
"You would be right. There are five others, by the names of Rusty, Liam, Zach, Stella, and Jordan. Though in the case of the last one, she's referred to as 'Girl Jordan' by her peers," Lisa replied.
"And are you speaking on their behalf?"
"Indeed. I gave Ronnie Anne something that could potentially ruin our family's reputation forever if it ever got out. I gave it to her as a sign of goodwill, and an incentive to go along with their wishes," Lisa replied sheepishly.
"So, basically you gave this Ronnie Anne girl blackmail against you and your family, correct?" Professor Oak asked bluntly.
"A little bit crude a way of putting it, but in a proverbial nutshell, yes."
"I see. I will see about contacting some of my other colleagues about the potentiality of sponsoring your brother's friends. I can't make any guarantees, so keep that in mind," the professor ultimately said.
"All I ask is that you try. That should be more than enough," Lisa replied, before realizing something Professor Oak had said, "Wait, you said that you'll see about having one of your colleagues sponsor Lincoln's friends. Does that mean you are unable to do so yourself?"
"That's right. I'm already sponsoring four trainers, your brother included, and I can't exactly take any more," Professor Oak explained.
"I see. The way the system works never ceases to intrigue me," Lisa commented.
"I thought it would. So, on a completely unrelated note, how are things with you and your brother?"
"Things could be better. So far, he's forgiven myself, Lucy, and as of yesterday, Leni and our mother," Lisa replied.
"That's wonderful news! But why did you say that things could be better?" Professor Oak asked.
"Well, you see, somewhere in the middle of his call home yesterday, the rest of our family barged in, and Lynn had taunted Lincoln with the fact that we sold his furniture and were planning to go to the beach without him. All because she wanted Lincoln to feel like he was being punished while over Kanto instead of having the time of his life," Lisa explained.
"Oh dear. I take it he didn't take the news too well?" Professor Oak asked, knowing all about Lynn's arrogance.
"Not one little bit. He ran off in the middle of the call, leaving us to take some pretty volatile words from the Pewter and Cerulean City Gym Leaders, as well as the latter's family," Lisa replied.
"I see. Well, it's still a bit of good news that he's managed to forgive four of you in such a short amount of time," Professor Oak commented.
"We were quite surprised ourselves with how quickly Lincoln was able to forgive us as well," Lisa replied.
"I can imagine. Well, if that's all you wanted to talk to me about, then I'll go ahead and hang up," Professor Oak replied.
"Actually, there is one last thing I would like to ask of you, Professor," Lisa said.
"And that is?"
"When we were talking to Lincoln, he mentioned something about being able to view gym battles on TV. Is there a way for us over here in the states to see this first hand?" Lisa asked. Professor Oak was very surprised by the question, as he tapped his chin in a thinking manner.
"Hmm, it is possible, but I must ask why are you inquiring about this?"
"One, so that we can see what Pokemon Battles are like, as well as support Lincoln in his quest for the Pokemon League, two, so that I can observe how Pokemon behave in battle or in any other possible scenarios, and three, for the hopes that the rest of my sisters will reconsider what they said during your first progress report. Granted, Lincoln did send over six of his Pokemon, which helped disprove Lynn's accusations against the validity of your report, but I would like to see their reactions to how well Lincoln's doing first hand," Lisa explained.
"Well, that certainly would be quite the egg on their faces. Very well then, I'll look into finding something that can hook into the TV you have in your house and have it sent over as soon as possible."
"Excellent! It'll be well worth the wait when it arrives. So, when do you think the next time we can speak to you will be?" Lisa asked.
"Probably in a few days. I'm going to compiling data for Lincoln's second Progress Report. I just hope I'll be able to catch you early enough when I make the call."
"Well, if I may make a suggestion, you can always make a video recording and send it via email, if that's possible. Then, if any of us has questions, we can send you a video with our questions, then you can answer them with another recorded video."
"I see, so basically, you're suggesting we have a game of Videophone tag. That… actually could work out well for both sides," Professor Oak admitted, liking the sound of the idea.
"Excellent! We look forward to hearing your report. And thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions," Lisa said.
"You're most welcome. I hope to hear from you all soon," Professor Oak replied, as he hung up.
"Well, that worked out better than I hoped. Well, time to go get some breakfast," Lisa said, as she leaped down from her chair, and exited her bedroom. However, upon reaching the stairwell, she was met with a most peculiar sight. Lori looked to be having a nervous break down with her head still covered in the contents of the toilet, as she crawled over to the tub, and tried to rinse it off, Luna was covered all over in bee stings, and was currently being treated by their mother, who looked just as perplexed as Lisa was. At the bottom of the stairs, she saw Luan, Lynn, and Lana all piled up on the floor, looking like they had gotten hit by a semi-truck. She descended the staircase, and ventured to the kitchen, where she saw her father on the floor, covered in rotten eggs, and saw Lola's head still stuck in the doggy door.
"What in the world is going on here?" Rita asked, as she and Luna entered the kitchen.
"I honestly don't know, Mother Unit. I found everyone down here the way they are," Lisa replied.
"It has to be those animals that Stinkcoln sent over!" Lynn declared groggily, as she got up, "We haven't had bad luck this bad until they arrived! We're sending them back!"
"First of all, Junior, that's another two months of grounding, one for using that awful 'Stinkcoln' name, and the other for calling out bad luck, despite my rule against it! Secondly, if Lincoln's Pokemon were the source of this bad luck, then why didn't we experience anything for the entire day they were here yesterday?" Rita questioned.
"It must've manifested overnight. That's the only explanation I can think of!" Lynn proclaimed.
"Hate to break it to you, but Mom has a point. If they were 'that', then we would've experienced 'that' immediately upon their arrival. There has to be something else afoot," Luan replied, as she and Lana got up, the former still holding her tooth.
"Are you alright, Luan?" Rita asked.
"I got beaned in the face by the attic ladder, and broke my tooth. It's the honest tooth," Luan replied with a giggle, "But seriously, it hurts like hell," she said, showing her broken tooth.
"Oh boy. I'll have to schedule an emergency appointment with the dentist to have it fixed," Rita commented.
Meanwhile, at the Santiago Household,
Ronnie Anne was sitting on the couch with her family, watching TV, though in the case of the others, they were making sure they don't do anything to potentially tick off Ronnie Anne, especially with how bad her mood was the day prior from returning from the Loud House.
Flashback, one day ago, after Ronnie Anne and company left the Loud House,
"C'mon Carlota, I always watch my favorite cartoons this time of day!" Carlino complained, trying to wrestle the TV remote away.
"Yeah? Well too bad! There's a special on the fashion and makeup channel that I can't afford to miss!" Carlota retorted, trying to wrestle the remote back herself.
"Alright! If the two of you can't agree on what to watch, then I'll pick something for us to watch!" Bobby said, ultimately snatching the remote away from them. They were about to deliver their own retort, when the door was slammed open, and an extremely livid Ronnie Anne stormed past them, and into her room, slamming the door shut.
"Whoa, what's gotten into her?" C.J asked.
"I don't know, but we should let her cool off before asking her. When she's like this, it'll just make things worse," Bobby replied, unnerved by how angry his little sister was.
Present day,
Bobby could see that Ronnie Anne looked a bit more relaxed, and decided to take a chance, "So, Nie-Nie, did something happen yesterday to make you so angry?"
"Yeah. Something did happen," Ronnie Anne replied a little bitterly, but retained her composure.
"Would… you like to talk about it, mija?" her mother, Maria, asked. Ronnie Anne sighed.
"Ok, but first, I need to do a few things, first with making a confession," Ronnie Anne replied.
"Is this going to be about how you walked in on my rat breeding experiment?" Carlino asked.
"No, it… wait, what?" Ronnie Anne asked, looking at her little cousin weirdly, as were the rest of the family.
"Uh… nothing! Just kidding around! So, about that confession?" Carlino asked, trying to change the subject, sweating profusely.
"Right. First of all, despite what you guys may think of me and Lincoln, I want to say that there is no romance between us," Ronnie Anne stated.
"Mija, we already know that, given the fact your brother is dating Lincoln's sister," Hector replied.
"Yeah, we were only kidding around with that," Carlota added.
"Right, but the thing is, even if it could work out, we couldn't be a couple. I'm… a lesbian," Ronnie Anne finally said.
"Ok," Maria replied. Ronnie Anne looked around to see her family looked rather indifferent about it.
"Wait, that's it? Ok?! None of you are going to say that same sex relationships aren't real?" she asked. Now, her family were surprised.
"What nimrod told you that same sex relationships aren't real?" Bobby asked. Ronnie Anne only laughed boisterously, "What, what'd I say?!"
"Well, if… you must know… the nimrod who told me that just happens to be your girlfriend, Bobby," Ronnie Anne replied. Bobby was shocked.
"Wait, Lori would never say something like that!" Bobby immediately countered.
"Well, when I was visiting Lisa yesterday to talk to Lincoln over that Video Phone thing, Lori and the others burst in while we were talking, and she laughed at me when I told her that I like girls, saying that a relationship like that doesn't exist in real life, and that her relationship with you depends on me and Lincoln being an item," Ronnie Anne replied.
"What?! Now that's something I know Lori would never do, right?" Bobby declared, only to see the somber look on his sister's face, which only confirmed what she said to be true.
"What's more, Lori spout off a bunch of sexist notions, like how Lincoln's always going to be the bad guy in a fight between him and a girl, and that he's shallow for hanging out with a girl with a huge… *ahem*, bosom," Ronnie Anne said, remembering there were small children in the room.
"That's horrible! Is Lori really that kind of a girl, Bobby?" Frieda asked.
"I-I don't know… the Lori I'm dating and the Lori Nie-Nie is describing sound like two totally different people," Bobby replied.
"And all of that was just the tip of the iceberg," Ronnie Anne then stated.
"What do you mean?" Maria asked.
"Well, it's like this," Ronnie Anne said. The scene then cut to above the Santiago Household.
"WHAT?!" the echoing yell from Ronnie Anne's family was so loud, it caused nearby birds to fly off.
The Next Chapter will have Lincoln and company encountering Damian and his Charmander. For this story, I was thinking of making Charmander female, since most of the Charizard we've ever seen in the anime have been depicted as male. Let me know what you guys think in the comments