Tale 65: The Wiley Dragonslayer (Ash)

(real tale: Stan Bolovan)

"There was once a man whose wife was always depressed." Ash begins. "Try as the man--we'll call him Shan--might, his wife didn't want to tell him what was wrong. When Shan finally got an answer out of her, she said she wanted a child. "So Shan went to the closest shrine of Arceus, and asked for children. When he got home, he was shocked to find a hundred children--fifty boys, and fifty girls."

[Oh my...] Mai gasps as she pictures the chaos.

"Try as Shan's wife might, she couldn't keep up with them all." Ash continues. "There was also the question as to how to feed them."

"You'd need enough food to feed Cerulean for a year just to feed a hundred and two." Misty muses.

"So Shan went out into the world, and walked until he came upon a trainer in tears." Ash goes on. "When Shan asked what the matter was, the trainer told him that a Salamence killed some of his Pokemon every night, and he was powerless to stop it. Shan was offered a hundred gold pieces if he could get rid the Salamence, which Shan accepted."

"Shan had no clue how to wield a sword, I bet..." Brock speculates as to how Shan will defeat the Salamence.

"No, but he had a razor sharp wit." Ash assures Brock. "That night, when the Salamance came, Shan challenged it to produce milk from a rock. Beforehand, Shan had taken a piece of cheese similar in size to a rock, and crushed it, making the cheese melt, fooling the Salamence into thinking it was milk."

"How clever!" Melody smiles.

"Try as the Salamence might, he couldn't make his rock produce milk." Ash continues. Then Shan challenged him to ignite his finger on fire--in reality, Shan just lit a match, but in the darkness, the match resembled a human finger. Needless to say, the Salamence had no luck, and burned his own finger."

"Then what did Shan challenge the Salamence to do?" Brock is interested now.

"He told the Salamence to capture the moon--but he actually showed the Salamence the moon reflected in a mirror." Ash explains. "But try as the Salamence might, he couldn't even reach the moon, much less catch it."

Everyone laughs. "The Salamence was about to kill Shan, but Shan warned him about the hundred children at home, and how they would all avenge him if he died. Just then, all the children came dashing up the hill--the Salamence was so scared, he dashed away--and as far as I know, he's still on the run from those hundred kids!"

[I'd hate to have a hundred humans chasing me!] Mai laughs as the others applaud...