@Scytherwolf;

Okay, I know I said we'd confront Kamon this time, but we've been having a lot of events, so here's a breather interlude:

Interlude: The Perfect Story

"So, now that you've signed up for the Lore Stage, what kinds of stories are you planning to tell?" Ash asked as he stashed his Pokeflute case and two of the four whistles he'd packed back in his bag for the next night. The two had made camp not far from the town they had departed, and had just concluded a post dinner jam session. Only Brock still had his instrument out--a familiar yellow-brown acoustic guitar, where he was half-heartedly plucking out notes as he pondered Ash's question.

"Well...it really depends on what sorts of themes the Lore Stages will have, and how many I have the opportunity to compete in." Brock explained, mindlessly switching between an A minor chord and a C chord as he spoke. "Do they suit adventure tales? Trickster tales? Pour quoi tales? Funny tales? Something more obscure than those types?"

"If I had to guess, you'll probably be asked to tell a balanced variety of all of those." Misty explained as she put her fiddle case away for the night. "So the real question is, out of the millions of stories you know, which ones would be the best to use in competition."

Brock stopped his endless progression to ponder what Misty had said. "I know I obviously can't use stories that are not polished..." he smiled before starting a mostly improvised melody in A minor. "I also know that I can't tell things that would be too scary or inappropriate..."

[Then again, you don't really have inappropriate stories...] Tintri noted as he offered Ami one of the leftover marshmallows that had not been made into s'mores.

"That's true...you mainly tell for all ages anyway." Ash agreed.

"And you usually warn the audience before venturing into the dark side of folklore." Misty added, enamored in the intricate melody filled with trills, bent notes, and hammer-ons Brock was performing. "But that still leaves us with hundreds of stories to pick from."

"So what are some that audiences--and us--ask for again and again, off the top of your head?" Ash challenged.

"There's 'Sorin's Trap'...and 'The Buneary Herder'...'The Giant's Captive'...'The Three Valleys', although that one ventures into some scary territory..." Brock mused.

"I can think of some--'The Golden Starly' and its millions of variants, and its cousin, the Moltres story type." Ash suggested. "There's also 'The Three Powers' and all its variants, 'Princess Miranda's Rescue', all the Jack tales you know...'

"A grasswhistle would wow an audience in an outdoor venue." Misty suggested. "As would stage archery."

"I did bring my bow and some arrows, actually." Brock smiled. "Just in case we found some archery ranges or venues where I could do some stage archery, and another means of defense should our Pokemon fall in battle."

Ash, meanwhile, kept listing tales he had often heard Brock tell. "I really liked 'Brendan and the Giant'...'The Faithful Tauros'....

"You all have some great choices, and I may consider telling those." Brock interrupted Ash. "But a lot of those are quite long, and I don't know if there's a time limit on what we can tell--they didn't tell me this in the signups.

"Good idea--always good to have some short stories in case you do have a time limit." Misty suggested. "But if there IS no time limit, go nuts!"

"There may well be a time limit if there are a lot of people competing..." Ash interjected. "Since they need to have everybody tell..."

"True..." Brock mused as he finished his song, then put away his guitar for the night. "I'll probably stick to you guys' suggestions, but have some other stories on standby if they give me some really obscure or crazy theme to work with.

"That's a good idea." Misty smiled with a yawn. "Let's get to bed--we have a big day in the morning!"

TO BE CONTINUED...