@Scytherwolf; @Soups;

Episode 45: Bibarel Gnaws Best!


"According to the guidebook, we should be getting to Solaceon Town in another day or so..." Brock mused.

He was about to say more when he noticed an incomplete bridge in the distance. "Uh oh...we may have to turn back..."

"Well, you can always ask the foreman--or forewoman--if it is safe to pass, or where an alternate route is." Dawn suggested.

She noticed Brock eying the forewoman, a green haired girl. "Remember you have Tarina here, so you need to set a good example for her."

"Okay..." Brock replied.

He approached the work area, where he caught the tail end of a conversation. "Isis, you've proven to be a very reliable worker so far. We hope you can come through for us despite the delay."

"You're being too nice to her!" a heavy-set man complained. "If this setback delays the bridge opening, what will people think? We'll lose business, and we won't get any more jobs!"

"One delay is not the end of the world..." Ash muttered.

"So long as there is a bridge to get them from point A to point B, who cares about who built it?" Dawn agreed.

About then, the green haired woman noticed the group. "Oh, were you needing to get across?"

"Forgive us for eavesdropping...Isis, was it?" Ash began. "We need to know if we can find a way across here."

"Or if we can solve what's causing your delay." Dawn smiled.

"I'm Ash..." Ash began. "...and these two are my companions Dawn..." Dawn waved hello. "...and Brock."

"How do you do?" Brock smiled before Dawn shot him a warning glance.

"Nice to meet you three." Isis smiled. "I suppose I can tell you about why our current job is delayed. See, we hired an expert stonecutter to help us build a new bridge for this area. Then he hurt his back some months ago. Then the head engineer took charge and put me in charge of stonecutting, but work has ground to a halt."

"Leave it to me!" Brock grinned. "I'll have the crew inspired in no time!"

[This sounds a lot like the story of the Absol that built a bridge...] Tarina mused.

"Say..." Brock smiled. "Tarina, you're a genius!"

He motioned to Ash and Dawn. "Come on...I have an idea."

---------

..."Your true name is Purmina!" Ash finally declares in character as the carpenter some time later.

Dawn feigns shock as Brock plays an upward glissando. "How...how did you know?"

"That is only for me to know, Lady Purmina." Ash smiles. Dawn dashes out of the stage area, over an interlude from Brock.

"And so, the Absol disappeared into the mists, humiliated that a human knew her true name." Brock narrates over his song. "Yet the bridge remained, forming a lovely arch over the roaring rapids. The bridge stood for many years afterwards. It can still be seen today, all thanks to a brave carpenter brave enough to guess an Absol's name."

He looks out over the enthralled Machokes and Machamps. "So ends the tale named 'The Absol that Built a Bridge'."

[Bravo!] a Machoke called as Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Tarina took a bow.

[Encore!] a Machamp agreed.

Even Isis smiled as she applauded. "While that was a great show, the Machokes and the Machamps are not the problem..."

"Then what is?" Dawn asked as she helped disassemble the makeshift stage.

"The Pokémon which cuts the stone." Isis replied. "If you would like, I can take you three to the quarry."

"Lead the way, then." Brock assured Isis.

---------

After climbing down a slope into the quarry, Isis pointed out a large beaver-like Pokemon dozing on a rock. "That is the Pokemon that cuts the stone."

"Bibarel, the beaver Pokemon." Ash's Pokedex began. "It makes its nest by damming streams with bark and mud. It is known as an industrious worker."

"If it's dozing like that, it's not working very hard." Dawn noted.

"That's nothing a Pokeflute wouldn't fix!" Ash smiled.

He held up a long deep brown recorder-like instrument with diamond inlays. "A couple of tunes should wake it up!"

He balked when Brock showed him a larger sideblown Pokeflute. "We may need a bigger instrument for a bigger Pokemon."

"The Pokeflute comes in bigger sizes besides what Ash has?" Dawn gasped.

"The Pokeflute is actually its own family of instruments." Brock explained. "What Ash has, and the most common size you'll see, is the soprano Pokeflute, which is endblown. What I have is an alto Pokeflute, which can be either sideblown or endblown."

"Oh, now I remember!" Ash smiled. "When I was little, they let you play the alto if you had passed the mastery benchmark for the soprano, if you wanted. I passed the benchmark, but wasn't interested in learning a new way to blow. You also had to learn to read everything a fifth downward."

"Then let me show you guys what the alto Pokeflute sounds like..." Brock smiled before preparing to play.

With that, he started playing the mighty instrument. A warm resonant F# echoed through the quarry. The single note then transformed into a playful, mysterious melody. Ash, Dawn, Isis, and the Pokemon listened, spellbound by the big flute.

But the Bibarel yawned and changed positions on the rock as the last note faded. "Hm...Pokeflutes are supposed to wake Pokemon, not put them to sleep..." Brock mused.

"If you're curious, I was the one who taught the Bibarel to cut stone, before showing it to the expert stonecutter." Isis explained. "The expert stonecutter took it under his wing. In a few short months, the Bibarel mastered stonecutting. Since the expert stonecutter hurt himself, Bibarel has refused to cut stone."

"Okay, so motivation's not the problem..." Brock mused as he put the alto Pokeflute away. "I was once the leader of the Pewter Gym in Kanto. So I should know a thing or two about cutting rock."

He motioned to Ash. "Mind if I borrow Diddy, Tails, and Gaia for a second?"

"Sure!" Ash replied as Diddy, Tails, and Gaia romped to Brock's side.

[What about me? What can I do?] Tarina asked.

"You can help too, okay?" Brock assured Tarina before leading Diddy to a slab of rock. "Okay...can you heat this slab of rock for me?"

[Sure!] Diddy replied. [How hot do you need it?]

"Hot enough that it will crack when we cool it down." Brock explained before giving Tails his instructions. "When you see the heated rock about to turn white, cool it down with a Water Gun."

[Got it!] Tails replied.

"Gaia, Tarina, over here..." Brock motioned for the Budew and the Pichu to come to him. "Once the rock cracks, I want you guys to break it off and cut it into smooth blocks. Can you two work together to do that?"

[Leave it to us!] Gaia smiled. Tarina nodded in agreement.

---------

Isis sighed as she measured a block the group had cut. "You were close, but the blocks are the wrong size." Everyone groaned at this.

Dawn gasped as a giant digger approached the quarry. 'The head engineer from before!"

"Rhydon, cut the stone with Horn Drill!" the engineer commanded.

No one expected the Bibarel to slam into the Rhydon. Angered, the Rhydon whapped the Bibarel with its tail. The attack sent the Bibarel flying across the ground.

Tarina gasped as the Rhydon lifted a foot to crush the Bibarel. [I can't look!]

A smile formed on Isis' face when she heard the Rhydon roar in pain. "I see--the Bibarel's trying to defend the quarry!"

"Aggron, use Iron Head!" The head engineer first summoned a large steel reptilian Pokemon.

"Magmar, use Flamethrower!" He next summoned a red and yellow humanoid Pokemon.

"Metang, use Metal Claw!" He then summoned a metallic Pokemon with two arms.

"Go, Bibarel!" Ash cheered as the Bibarel dodged the Iron Head and Metal Claw.

He gasped as the Bibarel went flying from the Flamethrower. "Come on, everyone! We need to help the Bibarel fend off these bullies!"

He called "Tintri, use Iron Tail!"

[Take THIS!] Tintri squeaked as he whacked the Rhydon, sending it sliding backwards.

[HAAAAAHHHH!!!!] Diddy heaved a Flamethrower at the Metang.

[Time to cool down!] Tails taunted before heaving a Water Gun at the Magmar!

Imultaos, ame no hao bakezo.... Tarina's tiny voice rang over the noise, sending the Aggron into a leafy tornado from Gaia.

Dawn grinned when she saw the trapped Aggron. "Kori, use Bubblebeam!"

Ash gasped as the head engineer jumped into the digger. "He's gonna crush us!" he screamed as the digger sped towards the quarry wall.

"What the..." Dawn gasped as a large rock appeared and knocked the digger over.

"Who did that?" the engineer demanded as he climbed from the ruined digger. "Who ruined my plan to crush these meddling kids?"

An older man peeked over the quarry edge with his own Machamp. "I did--you have a lot of explaining to do." he warned.

"But, I thought--!" Isis gasped.

"I never hurt my back in the first place." the expert stonecutter explained. "The only thing that needed healing was the blueprints. Somebody destroyed the originals and drew some of their own, and they were not up to regional code!"

"Sir, I did it so the project would be finished on time, and my reputation would be saved!" the engineer protested.

"You call THIS quality work?" The expert stonecutter removed the support from the bridge, causing it to crumble to dust.

Isis and the group approached the engineer. "You will never work as an engineer alongside stonecutters again, if you're going to do sub par work!"

"Leave this site immediately, or else!" the expert stonecutter agreed.

The group cheered as the head engineer ran off, followed by his Pokémon. "Thank you all for your help and talents." Isis smiled. "Although, how are we going get the project finished on time without a blueprint?"

"Don't worry--I already made a new blueprint for the bridge." the expert stonecutter smiled as he revealed a new blueprint. "These three are more than welcome to help out, even if its just motivating the crew."

[Come on!] Tarina called to the other Pokemon. [Let's get to work building the bridge!]

---------

The sound of a bansi playing a festive melody in time to a frame drum and the group working rang across the site. Everybody, everybody, come out here! Tarina sang to rally the Machokes and Machamps. Everybody, everybody, come follow me!

Everybody, everybody, come out here!
Everybody, everybody, come follow me!

Their eyes have met, and a battle has begun! Tarina sang as she handed off five small stones to a Machoke.
Two teams of Pokemon fight here today!
They fight intensely! They fight intensely!
I don't know which one's gonna win! At this line, Diddy heated up another block of stone.

A brave trainer, a cap upon his head... Tarina kept singing as she delivered another block to a Machoke to put in place.
He tells the Pokemon to move away!
They move so smoothly! They move so smoothly!
One will live to fight another day!

Even if I never saw them fight before,
I believe the trainer with the hat will win! Tarina winked at Ash as she received more blocks from Gaia.
He keeps his wits about him, and when it's over he will win a badge! Oh, yeah yeah!

She romped to the overlook where Ash and Brock were performing from, exhorting the others to keep working. Glitter glitter, glitter in the sunshine now!
It will shine down on us forever!

Glitter glitter, glitter in the sunshine now!
We will be shining as we dance through it all!

---------

Later that evening, the group met the expert stonecutter and Isis at the top of a hill. "Thank you all for your hard work!" Isis smiled as she admired the now completed bridge. "Your Pichu's little song really inspired the crew. They finished the bridge before nightfall!"

"As thanks for all you've done today, take these." the stonecutter offered the group some red headbands. "They're a gift from me."

He knelt down to Tarina's eye level. "And thank you, little one, for that enthusiastic ondo. You and your master have real talent."

[Care to show off some kung fu, Brock?] Tails grinned as Brock tied on his own headband.

"I do in fact, know some kung fu..." Brock replied. "Catching Raikou By the Tail!" he announced as he jump kicked the air. "Three Beasts Guard the Road!" He shielded Tarina and the Pokemon from an imagined attack.

"Have you taken lessons, Mr. Kung Fu Master?" Dawn smiled as Brock continued showing off moves.

"Yeah--I'm up to blue belt." Brock replied between showing off some kicks. "That's when my dojo teaches you archery martial arts."

"Cool!" Ash smiled as Brock continued showing off what moves he knew against the setting sun...

To Be Continued...