Tale 49: The Nine Princesses and the Leppa Berries (Misty)

(real tale: The Nine Pea-hens and the Golden Apples)


"One of the most prevalent tales in the world is 'The Golden Starly'" Misty explains to the Meowths. "The tale from Shinou is the most common version, but there are also versions in the other regions as well."

"I've told one Kanto variant already." Brock adds.

"I learned this version when I went to see Ash on his Houen adventure." Misty continues.

"I remember that!" Ash interrupts. "May told it to you while we traveled to the Mirage Kingdom."

"Anyway, the tale goes like this..." With that, Misty begins "A king in a certain land had a magical Leppa tree, where every day, it would bear Berries that shone like crystal."

[Pretty!] a Meowth comments.

"But by the time morning came, the Berries would be gone, and no one had a clue as to who or what took them." Misty continues. "So one day, the king commanded his eldest son to watch over the Leppa tree. At first, the eldest son did well watching over the tree, but it wasn't long before he fell asleep, and all the Berries were gone."

"How odd..." Melody muses.

"The king then commanded his middle son to watch over the tree, and the same thing happened--he would watch for a while, then fall asleep around midnight, only for the Berries to be gone." Misty goes on. "Finally, the king commanded the youngest son--let's call him Kenji--to watch over the tree. "Kenji agreed, and dozed for a little while, until around midnight, he woke up to discover a flock of Swellows landing on the tree. While eight of them landed on the branches, the ninth landed before him, and transformed into a princess."

[Amazing!] Mai is impressed.

"The princess introduced herself as Pearl, and asked Kenji if she and her sisters could take some of the Berries." Misty continues. "Kenji agreed, and ask that he leave some for him. They talked for a while, and it wasn't too long before Kenji fell madly in love with Pearl."

"And they all lived happily ever after--the end!" Ash interrupts.

"I'm not done yet!" Misty snaps, making everyone laugh. "When it was time for her and her sisters to leave, Princess Pearl left Kenji two crystal berries--one for him, and one for his father the king. The king was pleased at Kenji's cleverness, and allowed him to look after the tree every night. This wore on for a while, until Kenji's brothers started growing jealous of him."

"Oh no..." Melody swallows hard.

"Kenji's brothers went to an evil witch and asked her to somehow curse Kenji." Misty intones. "The witch agreed, and when the flock of Swellows arrived that night, she cast a lightning spell, which frightened all the Swellows away."

[That isn't very nice!] Korra is appalled at this.

"Luckily, Kenji found the witch hiding in the dungeon, and ordered the guard to kill her." Misty assures her audience. "That wasn't enough to lure the Swellows back--by the time a week went by with no sign of the Swellows to be had, Kenji took it upon himself to find them and his beloved Princess Pearl."

[Oh boy! A quest!] a Meowth smiles.

"Kenji traveled a long way, until he came to another land. He told the guard why he had come, and the guard said he would relay the message to the queen." Misty continues. "Imagine Kenji's surprise when he found that Pearl was the queen!"

"I bet he was shocked!" Ash replies.

"Not only that, he was ecstatic to see his beloved Pearl." Misty assures Ash. "He spent three years living in Queen Pearl's palace, forgetting all about his father and his brothers. Then one day, a terrifying Salamence captured Pearl while she was out exploring the nearby forest."

"En garde!" Ash challenges an imagined Salamence, using a stick as a sword.

Everyone laughs. "When Kenji heard what had happened, he vowed he would do whatever it took to save Queen Pearl." Misty continues as she tries oh-so-hard not to laugh at Ash's dramatic pose. "As he searched for the Salamence's cave, he saw a Goldeen struggling to return to a pond. He helped it in the water, and the Goldeen gave him a sapphire as thanks."

Mai gasps. [A magic jewel!]

"Then he found an Arcanine struggling in a net, and cut it free." Misty continues. "The Arcanine was thankful to be set free, and gave Kenji a ruby as thanks. Then he found a Mightyena caught in a trap, and set it free. The Mightyena was thankful to be free, and gave Kenji an emerald as thanks."

"So the Goldeen grants water, Arcanine grants fire, and Mightyena grants....earth?" Melody ponders what powers the three magic jewels have.

"Finally, Kenji made it to the Salamence's lair, where he found Queen Pearl and a few Ponytas." Misty explains. "They hoped to get away without the Salamence knowing, but it wasn't long before the Salamence was hot on their trail. Queen Pearl pointed out a river in the distance, so as they leapt from their Ponytas, Kenji invoked the sapphire's magic." She then sings Rou iitsa ron selga vichii...

[What did the sapphire do?] Korra is interested.

"It gave Kenji and Queen Pearl the ability to breathe underwater." Misty replied. "The Salamence decided they were a lost cause when he got to the river, not knowing they were hiding underwater. That bought Kenji and Queen Pearl time to continue on, but when they reached a tunnel in the mountains, the Salamence was right behind them! So Kenji invoked the ruby's magic..." She then sings Jao wiisha nes chiel com yutuul...

[And then?] Even Mai is excited.

"The ruby glowed with the light of a thousand fires, allowing Kenji and Queen Pearl to safely make it through the cave." Misty explained. "But the cave wasn't enough to shake the Salamence from their trail--no matter how fast they went, the Salamence went faster still. Kenji finally invoked the emerald's magic..." She then sings Karuto, iichiida shou...

Everyone holds their breaths to see if Kenji and Queen Pearl survive. "The emerald sped up Kenji's and Queen Pearl's mounts enough to outrun even Rayquaza. In fact, the Salamence crashed into a rock, killing him on impact." Misty concludes. "Kenji and Queen Pearl safely made it home to her kingdom, and they ruled there for many years. But Kenji kept the magic jewels with him, just in case he needed their power again."

Brock leads the applause. "You're getting better and better at storytelling with every tale you tell." he tells Misty.

[I'm not surprised, seeing how you are her teacher.] Mai smiles.