AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings, readers! I know it's been a while, but here is chapter 34 of the continuing adventures of Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu as they continue their journey through the Hoenn region. I'm going to add a new twist to this story, namely Hillary, because I decided to base this part of the story on the Glass Workshop in the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald version games, but also on the Dragon Tales episode: "Pigment of Your Imagination." You may recall that Ord has a huge allergic reaction to dandelions, but in this story, specifically in this chapter, I'm going to make Hillary allergic to the volcanic ash that blows through the route just west of Fallarbor Town. It's got some funny parts, and this chapter may be shorter, but I hope you'll enjoy it just the same. As always, please feel free to read and review responsibly at your leisure.
TEASER: Tristan and Hillary visit a glass workshop, but Hillary is allergic to the volcanic ash that blows by there, and Taz wants to steal every Glass Flute in sight so he can make a fortune! How will Tristan and Hillary face him this time?
Chapter 34: ASH INTO GLASS
(Music Cue: Route 29 (as heard in "Forest Grumps"))
After welcoming Trapinch into their fold, our heroes continue their journey to Fallarbor Town, site of Hillary's next Second-Chance Pokémon Contest. But right now, the air they're breathing isn't very clean.
"Yech!" exclaimed Hillary. "What is this stuff?"
"I don't know," replied Tristan. "I don't like it either."
Pikachu and Togepi covered their mouths and noses in disgust.
Tristan checked out the present location on his PokéNav. "According to this, it's the place where volcanic ash from Mount Chimney falls. Also, this ash can be turned into furniture and glass flutes at a nearby workshop. Should one have a Soot Sack and collect the ash, they should also bring it to this workshop where it'll be converted."
"Hey, look, there's the workshop!" said Hillary as she pointed out.
Sure enough, there was a small building where the sign read: "GLASS WORKSHOP. BRING THE ASH AND WE'LL DO THE REST."
"Let's go check it out!" suggested Tristan. And he led Hillary, Pikachu, and Togepi to the building a short distance away.
"Wait, Tristan! You know what happens when I encounter volcanic ash like this, don't you?"
(Music Cue: Kanto Title Card)
(Music Cue: Lilycove City)
Tristan and Hillary arrived at the workshop and were met by the proprietor inside.
"Ah, welcome! My name is Cinder. I turn volcanic ash into glass flutes here."
"Nice to meet you, Cinder," replied Tristan. "My name's Tristan, and this is my partner, Pikachu."
Pikachu greeted Cinder warmly.
However, Hillary was struggling to keep it together. "My name's Hillary, and it's certainly a pleasure to...to...tah...ah...ACHOO!"
"Whoa, my goodness!" exclaimed Cinder.
"Excuse be."
"That sure was a loud sneeze," remarked Tristan.
"That's for sure. Ah...ah...ACHOO! Excuse be.
"Well, how come you're sneezing so much?"
"I've beed tryig to tell you...I'b allergic to volcadic ah...ah...ah...AAAAAH-CHOOOOOOOO! Oh, excuse be."
Pikachu couldn't help but giggle at Hillary speaking in a funny way.
"Vewwy fuddy, Pikachu," sniffled Hillary disdainfully.
"This volcanic ash can make almost anyone here sneeze," continued Cinder. "In fact, almost anyone who comes here has the same reaction you do."
"You mean like sneezing?" wondered Tristan.
"Exactly."
"Well, I'm not sneezing."
"Lucky you," grumbled Hillary disdainfully. "Could you had be a tissue, please?"
Tristan, happy to oblige, took out his box of tissues and gave them to Hillary, who instantly blew hew nose with them. He then turned back to Cinder. "We heard that we need a Soot Sack of some kind to collect the volcanic ash so it can be turned into glass, right?"
"That's right," answered Cinder. "Folks from all over the Hoenn region come here to get glass flutes. Come on, I'll show you." And he led them to the back of his workshop.
(Music Cue: Slowpoke Eyecatch)
Hillary sniffled as she tried keeping up. "I'll be right behide you as sood as I get...ah...ah...AAAAAAH-CHOOOOOOO! Oh, excuse be."
"This is my set of three glass flutes," explained Cinder. "I'll explain them to you." And he showed them the flutes, one at a time. "The first flute is the Blue Flute, which is the easiest flute for me to make because it requires the least amount of ash. This flute awakens sleeping Pokémon."
"Like a Poké Flute, right?" asked Tristan.
"You could say that," replied Cinder as he proceeded to the second flute. "This flute is a Yellow Flute, which snaps Pokémon out of their confusion from attacks like Supersonic or Confuse Ray. The third flute here is the Red Flute, which cures the Pokémon of infatuation, in case anyone is attracted."
"You must be proud of those three flutes," remarked Tristan.
"Yes, indeed. They're the first three flutes I ever made. I kept them myself as a reminder of how trash, or ash, can become valuable treasure. I can certainly make flutes for you if you're interested in getting ash for me. I'll even give you two Soot Sacks to collect the ash in. What do you say?"
"I'd be happy to," agreed Tristan. "What do you say, Pikachu? Wanna get dirty and scoop up some ash with me?"
Pikachu nodded excitedly.
"You can count me in, too," said Hillary as she arrived wearing something on her nose.
"Hillary, what have you got there?" wondered Tristan.
"It's just a clothespin," answered Hillary. "Volcanic ash makes me sneeze, so I decided to use this clothespin to plug my nose up. No ash, no sneeze."
"Great idea, sis," smiled Tristan. "I'm glad you're able to pick up ash with us."
"Yeah, let's go!" agreed Hillary as she, Tristan, Pikachu, and Togepi all headed out to collect ash.
(Music Cue: Team Rocket's Theme 2002 (as heard in "Poémon Heroes: Latios & Latias"))
However, a short distance away, they were being watched by a pair of sinister eyes belonging to their old nemesis, Taz, who was readying yet another fiendish plan. "So, glass flutes, eh? What fine treasures these things are. They'll fetch a pretty penny on the Poké Market...as long as no ash doesn't get in my face." And he, too, felt the urge to sneeze, but before he had to do so, he took out a mask and covered his mouth and nose with it. Sure enough, he was now able to resist any ash that came into his system. "And now, it's time to collect that ash and turn it into cold-heart cash!" And he whisked away to carry out his plan.
(Music Cue: Oldale Town)
Tristan, Hillary, Pikachu, and Togepi were all hard at work collecting as much volcanic ash as they could get and worked together to place it in the two Soot Sacks. It was a tough job, for the ash was so light that it was easy to lose. Undaunted, they kept going at it until the two Soot Sacks were filled. Of course, you can imagine how heavy the bags were when they were filled up.
"Boy, this is hard work," grunted Tristan. "We're gonna get a bunch of special Flutes with this much ash."
"Yeah," agreed Hillary. "I think this will keep Cinder very busy for a while."
And they carefully carried the sacks back to the workshop, much to Cinder's delight.
"Wow, look at all the ash you guys collected!" remarked Cinder. "I know this may seem like a big favor, but would you be willing to stay for a bit inside the workshop and have some refreshments? The air will be purified inside so you won't have to worry about covering up your nose."
"Gladly!" agreed Hillary. "No worries about sneezing, and no worrying about this for a while." And she took the clothespin off her nose.
"I can cook some lunch while we wait," added Tristan.
"Excellent," smiled Cinder. "Then it's settled."
And everyone went to the kitchen to wash up and have lunch while Cinder set to work converting the collected volcanic ash into special Flutes.
Two hours later, everyone was enjoying a nice lunch.
"Mmm, delicious as always, Tristan," smiled Hillary. "Isn't it, Togepi?"
Togepi trilled in agreement.
"I'm so glad to hear it, sis," replied Tristan. "Even Pikachu seems happy."
And it was, for it was enjoying itself as it ate.
Inside the shop, Cinder was just finishing up the last glass flute. "There. Perfect. Tristan and Hillary will be so happy to see the collection of Flutes I made."
Suddenly, a large smash was heard.
(Music Cue: Enter Mewtwo)
Cinder immediately went up to investigate. Then he saw a huge hose. "What's that thing?" he wondered. Suddenly, it began to make a loud noise that sounded like a vacuum, which is just what it was, for it started sucking up every glass flute that he had made in the last couple of hours. "Hey, you! Stop that! You're stealing my Flute collection!"
Tristan, Hillary, Pikachu, and Togepi, who had heard the noise from the kitchen, rushed to the scene.
"What's going on, Cinder?" asked Hillary.
"Look!" gasped Tristan. "The Flutes are being sucked in!"
Suddenly, loud cackling could be heard from up above.
Everyone looked up and saw Taz in his Electabuzz-shaped balloon with the vacuum hose attached.
"I'm gonna make a bundle with these things," he said.
"Give back the Flutes, Taz!" demanded Tristan.
"Yeah, Cinder worked so hard to make them from the volcanic ash we collected!" added Hillary. "Speaking of..." And she took out her clothespin and put it on her nose again to prevent any of the ash from getting in.
"Oh, I see," smirked Taz. "Pardon me for being so rude. What I meant to do is this." And he pushed another button.
(Music Cue: Team Rocket Appears (as heard in "As Clear as Crystal"))
An instant later, Taz's vacuum was thrown into reverse and began blowing out tons of volcanic ash, which enveloped everyone, causing them to gasp and cough.
"Careful!" warned Cinder. "This much volcanic ash is dangerous!"
"Quick, Mudkip, use your Water Gun attack to wash the ash away!" commanded Tristan as he threw a Poké Ball.
Mudkip emerged from the white light that shot out of it and unleashed a powerful blast of water from its mouth at the incoming ash, blowing it away before any more could endanger anyone else.
"Phew! That was a close one. Great thinking, Tristan," smiled Hillary.
"Yeah, great thinking, indeed...not," retorted Taz as he pushed another button.
The vacuum switched back to intake and it began sucking up the collection of Glass Flutes that Cinder made. There was worse to come, for the first three flutes Cinder ever made were getting sucked in as well.
"Oh, no! My precious flutes!" cried Cinder.
"Correction, MY precious flutes," smirked Taz.
"All right, that's enough," grumbled Hillary as she took out a Poké Ball. "All right, Cyndaquil, use your Flamethrower on that giant vacuum!"
"Wait!" interrupted Tristan. "If you hit Taz with a Flamethrower, the flutes will be burnt to a crisp!"
Hillary groaned, for she knew Tristan was right.
"Ha-ha!" taunted Taz in a singsong voice as he stuck out his tongue. "You can't boin me! Nyah, nyah-nyah-nyah, nah! Now that I got my Flutes, it's time to capture all your Pokémon!" And he pressed another button.
Sure enough, the power was turned up on the vacuum, and with that much power, Hillary lost her grip on Togepi.
"Togepi!" cried Hillary as she jumped up to try and save it, but she, too, began to drift upward.
"Grab her!" shouted Tristan as he, Pikachu, and Cinder seized Hillary by the legs.
However, Tristan and Pikachu were also beginning to get pulled by the vacuum's power and slowly started drifting upward too.
"Well, I'm having a blast with this," chuckled Taz gleefully. "But no amount of physical strength is gonna stop me from attaining my ultimate victory, right!" And he turned up the vacuum's suction to full power.
Indeed, the vacuum was powerful, and unfortunately, as a result of the increased suction power, Cinder lost his grip on Tristan's legs, and as a result, Tristan, Hillary, Pikachu, and Togepi found themselves inside the vacuum's hose.
"Tristan! Hillary!" cried Cinder.
"Well, look at that...all cleaned up," smirked Taz as he turned off the vacuum.
Inside the vacuum, Tristan and Hillary gasped and coughed through the ash and dust as they struggled to get comfortable through the mess of Glass Flutes.
"Are you okay, sis?" asked Tristan.
"Not exactly, " replied Hillary. "In case you haven't noticed, we're trapped in a plastic vacuum bag with a lot of volcanic ash in it...along with a bunch of Glass Flutes."
"Plastic? Of course! Quick, Hillary, send out your Ralts! We're busting outta here."
"Uh, okay. Come on out, Ralts!" shouted Hillary as she took out her Poké Ball, which opened in a flash.
Ralts emerged from the white light that shot out of it.
"Now for part two." And Tristan snatched Hillary's clothespin off her nose, much to her alarm.
"Tristan, no! What are you doing? You know I'm allergic to...ah...ah...AAAH...AAAAAAAAAAAAA-CHOOOOOOOO! ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!" The force of Hillary's hard repeated sneezing caused the plastic bag to begin shaking violently.
"That's it, Hillary, keep it up!" smiled Tristan.
Hillary, unable to resist, kept sneezing hard while Taz felt the shaking in his balloon just above them.
"Hey, in there, just settle down!" barked Taz.
"But there was no way to stop Hillary from sneezing hard, and seconds later, the plastic bag began to rip apart. When Hillary was about to have her biggest sneeze yet...
"Here comes the big one!" shouted Tristan as he, and the Pokémon covered their ears.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
(Music Cue: Advance Adventure (Guitar & Orchestra (as heard in "Let Bagons Be Bagons"))
The force of Hillary's biggest sneeze was so powerful that the plastic bag ripped into pieces, causing everyone and everything to fall out toward the ground.
"No! My prizes!" exclaimed Taz.
Ralts, sensing the danger, used Confusion to help everyone and all the Glass Flutes land safely on the ground and in Cinder's hands.
"Gesundheit," said Tristan.
"And all the Glass Flutes are safe and sound, too," added Cinder, "including my very first three I ever made."
"Dice job, Ralts," sniffled Hillary.
Ralts gave a happy reply.
"Hey, youse guys! You ruined my vacuum! Now you'll pay! Take 'em out, Electabuzz!" shouted Taz as he threw his Poké Ball.
Electabuzz emerged from the white light that shot out of it.
"Okay, Electabuzz, ThunderPunch, now!" commanded Taz.
Electabuzz made an electrified fist and proceeded to attack.
"Quick Attack, Pikachu, now!" ordered Tristan.
Wasting no time, Pikachu sped toward Electabuzz as a white line streaked behind it, not only dodging ThunderPunch, but also scoring a direct hit, sending Electabuzz flying into Taz's balloon, causing it to pop.
Taz screamed in horror as the balloon spiraled toward the ground below.
CRASH!
When the ensuing dust cleared, Taz crawled out of the debris of the his rumpled balloon as Tristan, the Pokémon, and Cinder confronted him.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself for putting these kids in danger like that!" scolded Cinder.
"I'm in Team Rocket, pal!" retorted Taz. "Which means, I ain't got no shame!" It was then that he noticed his mask wasn't on his face anymore. "Oh, no! What happened to my mask? I can't protect myself from this volcanic ash that's in the air!"
"Yoo-hoo!" called Hillary as she waved something in her hand. "Looking for this?"
"Hey, that's my mask!" complained Taz. "Give it back to me! I-uh...ah...ah...aaahh...AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOO!"
Taz's sneeze was so funny that everyone had to laugh.
(Music Cue: Bellsprout Eyecatch)
Taz felt more stuffed up than angry at being laughed at, and kept sneezing. "Hey! Stop laughing at be!" Knowing that he had no further protection, nor a way to recapture the Glass Flutes, he slowly retreated into the distance in defeat.
(Music Cue: Opening Selection B 2002-2005 (full version))
"The winner...and champion...is us!" declared Tristan excitedly as all the Pokémon cheered to celebrate their victory.
"Yeah," sniffled Hillary as the last of her allergies seemingly cleared up. "And I think we won by a nose."
That evening, Cinder counted that Glass Flutes, and sure enough, they were all accounted for. "I owe you my sincere thanks for helping me get my Flutes back. As a token of my appreciation, please take a Red, Yellow, and Blue Flute as a way of saying thank you for helping."
"This is so awesome! Thanks so much!" said Tristan as he happily accepted the gift.
"We're very much obliged," added Hillary as she took hers. "Before we go, could you show us the way to Fallarbor Town? There's a Second-Chance Pokémon Contest I've been wanting to enter."
"Sure, no problem," answered Cinder. "It's just down the hill and west of here. Keep going that way, and you should reach it in about an hour."
"That means we should get there by the time the sun goes down tonight, right?" added Tristan. "Isn't this great, Hillary? We'll get there, then you can get registered for the Contest, have a nice dinner, and have a great night's sleep."
"You bet!" agreed Hillary. "I can hardly wait to get there!"
Togepi trilled in agreement.
Just then, Pikachu came up to Tristan and Hillary with a pile of volcanic ash in its hands.
"No, Pikachu, that's volcanic ash!" warned Cinder.
But it was too late, for Hillary felt the urge coming in her nose again. "Ah...ah...aahhh...aaaahhh...AAAAHHHH..."
"Sneeze alert! Take cover!" cried Tristan as he, Pikachu, Cinder, and Togepi all dashed away from Hillary as fast as they could.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" And Hillary's big sneeze blew a whole pile of volcanic ash in almost every direction.
After visiting the Glass Workshop, our heroes can look forward to getting to Fallarbor Town, now that it's just a hop, skip, and a jump away. So they can look forward to the many adventures that lie ahead...as soon as Hillary's allergies clear up, that is. Gesundheit, Hillary!
TO BE CONTINUED...