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Episode 6: The Songs that Echo Across Time

[Dialga, please don't do this!] Palkia pleaded as he warped away from a Hyper Beam. [You are not the one to pass judgement on the world--only Arceus can do that!]

[That may be true, but eventually time will run out on the humans.] Dialga shot back. [Need I remind you that while Arceus has the final say on things, he can give another the authority to judge in extreme circumstances?]

[Yes, but that order must come from Arceus himself.] Palkia explained. [I have heard no such order from Arceus giving you the authority to judge the humans!]

He used a claw to draw a large pink oval, creating a shining pink light in the real world. [But if you are so bent on destroying the humans, I will find a human that is pure. This way, I hope you understand that your logic is flawed. Not every human is inherently evil.]

Dialga growled as Palkia jumped into the portal. [Very well...if you succeed in finding even a single pure human, I will give the humans some more time.]

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"Wow..." the group gasped as they approached the huge stone monument.

"I wonder who made this..." Dawn mused as she admired a scene of a boy in royal attire following a majestic fox-like Pokemon that was carved in the stone.

"The guidebook doesn't say, but whoever did build this place went above and beyond the call to create something the town could be proud of." Brock replied as he admired a scene of a Pikachu playing a guitar while riding on a Pidgeot's back carved in another part of the stone.

Ash looked up above him to see moving gears hanging from the ceiling. "Is this place a monument, or a clock tower?"

"It's both." Brock replied as he and Dawn followed Ash around the large pillar that made up the center of the tower. "It keeps time for the town, and memorializes the first time it played the Oración many years ago."

Dawn noticed an indentation in the wall that resembled a door. "This must be Tonio's office."

She gently knocked at the door. "Tonio? We're here, as we agreed."

Ash gasped when he saw Alice greet the group at the door. "Alice? What are you doing here?" he asked as the group made their way inside the cluttered office.

"I came to give Tonio some almuerzo, but found him at his desk, taking a siesta." Alice explained as she stepped over some stray office chairs and boxes to reach Tonio's desk.

"I know siesta is "nap", but what is almuerzo?" Ash asked Brock as he shoved aside some rolled up maps to attempt following Alice.

"Almuerzo is 'lunch'." Brock explained as he watched Alice approach Tonio, who was dozing at a desk.

"Tonio, despierta. Our friends are here." Alice coaxed as she set down a plate of tapas and nudged Tonio awake.

"Mm..." Tonio stirred as he sat up in the chair and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "I guess I was so tired from trying to figure out this latest disturbance, I fell asleep."

He wheeled over to a box, where a familiar picture lay. "Alice, do you remember when this was taken?"

"Like yesterday." Alice replied. "I wanted to help abuela and Godey so much, so abuela let me look after that Vulpix."

Ash noticed what looked like music notes on the back of the picture. "Wait a second...these are the notes to the Oración!"

He smiled. "I have in fact been practicing your transcription." he assured Alice. "But why write down the notes on the back of a photograph?"

"We were not in a place where we could find paper, so abuela transcribed the melody on the back of the picture for later, when we could write it down on a piece of paper." Alice explained. "We did write it down later that day."

The Pokémon, meanwhile, dug through one of the boxes scattered throughout the room. [Huh--why would you want to keep sawblades around?] Diddy asked as he heaved aside a metallic disc.

Ash dove to catch the disc, only to find it had clumps of notches all around it. "This isn't a sawblade, this is a music disc, for a specific type of music box."

[Like those dinky dancing ballerinas in a girl's jewelry box?] Tails asked.

"Somewhat." Brock explained. "Before record players were popular, people listened to music with large music boxes. Some of them were large enough to fit in a room."

[Like the one Grandma has?] Tarina asked.

Brock nodded. "Just like the one Grandma has."

"The music machine is a cabinet sized music box on a much larger scale." Tonio explained. "When the tower was first built, it was able to play many popular songs of the time, allowing a place as remote as Alamos to hear the latest hit tunes."

"Sounds cool--can we go see it?" Dawn asked.

Tonio got up from his desk. "I don't see why not--it is a bit of a walk, though." he cautioned as he opened a box full of discs and selected a few.

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The group emerged at the top some moments later, heaving with exhaustion as they looked out over the city. "Here we are--I told you it was a bit of a walk." Tonio smiled.

He made a grand gesture to a large cabinet-like device built into the tower itself. "Here is the music machine. I brought up a few different discs to show you its power and versatility. So is there a specific song you want to hear first?"

Dawn examined the pile of silvery discs. "I don't know very many of these songs..."

Brock gasped with excitement when he recognized the song name on one disc. "I know this song! 'The Blue Bells of Kanto'!"

He explained to Dawn "It's a very common march that bands and solo performers play often back home."

"I see..." Dawn mused as Brock gave Tonio the disc. "Have you ever played it?"

Brock nodded. "I've played it on both trombone and euphonium--both in the school band a long time ago."

"I remember Pallet's band did it as a trumpet solo once..." Ash mused as Tonio hit the start button on the machine.

Dawn's eyes sparkled as the majestic melody rang over the town. "It's beautiful...even better than a top band or soloist playing."

Stormy, meanwhile, looked through the pile of discs for a moment. [None of these sound like anything we know...]

[Not even the pizza making song?] Tails grinned as he surfaced with a disc labeled "Funiculi, Funicula".

[Oh yeah--that's the song they always sing when someone's making pizza in a movie or a TV show.] Kori remembered.

Stormy darted up to Tonio with the disc. [I wanna hear the pizza making song next!]

"'Funiculi, Funicula'--nice choice." Tonio smiled as he inserted the disc.

As the festive Italian melody rang over the town square, the townsfolk eagerly danced along. But none of them seemed to notice the magenta portal forming in the sky on the outskirts of the town...

To Be Continued...