Tale 130: The Prince's Pokemon (Ash)

(real tale: The Three Princes and their Beasts)

"Once upon a time there were three princes, who had a stepsister." Ash begins. "One day, they all set out hunting together. While they were traveling through a deep forest, they discovered a great Mightyena with three babies. Just as they were going to shoot, the mama Mightyena pleaded for them not to shoot her, and she would give each of them one of her cubs in return. So the princes went on their way, and a little Poochyena followed each of them."

"Aw..." Misty smiles.

"Then they found a mama Entei with three cubs." Ash continues. "She too begged them not to shoot her, and she would give each of them a cub. This went on for a while, with the princes meeting a Ninetales, a Lopunny, a Pignite, and an Ursaring, till each prince had a full team of young Pokemon trotting along behind him."

"I bet they were on their toes keeping up with them all..." Brock grins.

"As the sun set, they came to a clearing in the forest, where three trees grew at each path of a three way fork in the road. The eldest prince--we'll call him Takuya--took an arrow," Ash pantomimes aiming a bow. "and shot it into the trunk of one of the trees. Turning to his brothers, he said..."

"Let each of us mark one of these trees before we travel on different paths." Brock fills in Prince Takuya's dialogue using a slightly high pitched version of himself. "If any one of us returns to this place, he must walk around the other trees. If he sees the mark in the tree has turned black, he will know that that brother is dead or has suffered misfortune, but if the mark glows, he will know that his brother has found fortune."

"So the other princes did as Prince Takuya had said, and when the three trees were marked by their arrows they turned to their stepsister and asked her with which of them she wanted to stay with." Ash continues. Then the brothers separated from each other, and each of them set out down a different road, followed by their Pokemon. The stepsister--we'll call her Aina--went with Prince Takuya, as that was the one she was closest with."

[What adventures did they get into?] a Meowth asks.

"After they had gone a little ways down the road they came into a forest, and in one of the deepest glades they suddenly found themselves near a castle in which there lived a gang of bandits." Ash replies. "Prince Takuya walked up to the door and knocked..." He knocks on a rock for effect. "No sooner had the door opened did Prince Takuya's Pokemon charged in and killed the bandits before the bandits could kill them."

He quickly interjects "Now, one of the bandits was only badly wounded, but he lay very still as if dead like the others."

Misty swallows hard as Ash continues "The next morning, Prince Takuya went out hunting. Before leaving he told Aina that she might go into any room in the house except into the cave where the dead bandits were. But his instructions went in one ear and out the other--after looking through all the other rooms, she went down to the cellar and opened the door. As soon as she looked in the bandit who had played dead sat up and said to her..."

"Don't be afraid. Do what I tell you, and I will be your friend." Brock fills in the bandit's dialogue in character as James. "If you marry me you will be much happier with me than with your brother. But you must first go into the kitchen and look in the cupboard. There you will find three bottles. In one of them there is a healing balm which you must put on my chin to heal the wound; then if I drink the potion in the second bottle it will make me well, and the third bottle's potion will make me stronger than I was before."

Brock continues in character "When your brother returns from the forest with his Pokemon, you must go to him and say, 'Brother, you are very strong. If I were to fasten your thumbs behind your back with a stout silk cord, could you wrench yourself free?' And when you see that he cannot do it, call me."

Some applause goes up at Brock's performance. "When Prince Takuya returned, Aina did as the bandit had told her, and fastened her brother's thumbs behind his back. But with one wrench he set himself free, and said to her..." Ash continues.

"Sister, that cord is not strong enough for me." Brock retorts as Prince Takuya.

"The next day, he returned to the forest with his Pokemon." Ash goes on. "and the bandit told her to bind his thumbs with a stronger cord. But again Prince Takuya freed himself, though not so easily as the first time, and he said to Aina..."

"Even that cord is not strong enough." Brock replies as Prince Takuya.

"On the third day, on his return from the forest he agreed to have his strength tested one more time." Ash continues. "So Aina took a very strong cord of silk, which she had prepared by the bandit's advice, and this time, though Prince Takuya pulled and tugged with all his might, he could not break the cord. So he called to her and said..."

"Sister, this time the cord is so strong I cannot break it. Come and unfasten it for me." Brock pleads as Prince Takuya.

"But instead of coming, Aina called to the bandit, who rushed into the room brandishing a dagger!" Ash announces, making the Pokemon gasp. But Prince Takuya said..."

"Wait for a moment." Brock instructs as Prince Takuya. "I would like before I die to sound three calls on my signaling whistle..." This gives Ash time to dig his whistle from his bag as Brock continues as Prince Takuya "One in this room, one on the stairs, and one in the courtyard."

"So the bandit consented, and the prince blew the whistle." Ash proceeds to play the Zelda whistle theme for effect. "At the first note, the Vulpix, which was asleep in the cage in the courtyard, awoke, and knew that her master needed help. So she woke the Poochyena by stroking his eyes with her tails. Then they woke the Entei, who heaved against the door of the cage with all his might, so that it fell in a gazillion pieces on the ground, freeing them all. They rushed through the court to their master's aid--the Vulpix gnawed the cord that bound Prince Takuya's thumbs behind his back, and the Entei flung himself on the bandit, killing him."

Some applause goes up as Ash continues "Prince Takuya set a huge bowl before Aina, and instructed her not to come out of the house until the bowl had been filled with her tears of remorse."

He continues. "He called his Pokemon together, and set out on his travels. For a while, Prince Takuya's travels were uneventful until he came to an inn in another land. Everyone in the inn seemed sad, so when he asked them what was wrong, they replied that the princess of the land--we'll call her Remina--was to be given as a sacrifice to a dreadful Hydreigon."

"Why should she die?" Brock declares as Prince Takuya. "I will save her myself!"

"So he set out to the plain where the Hydreigon was to meet Princess Remina." Ash goes on. "As he waited with his Pokemon,a great procession came along, accompanying Princess Remina. When the the procession reached the plain, all the people left her, and returned sadly to their houses. But Prince Takuya remained, and after a few tense moments, he saw movement in the water a long way off. As it came nearer, he knew what it was--the Hydreigon!"

Everyone is on the edge of their seats as Ash continues. "Then Prince Takuya told his Pokemon to attack, and as the Hydreigon approached the shore, the Vulpix drew her tails through the water and blinded the Hydreigon by scattering the water in his eyes. The Teddiursa and the Entei threw up more water with their paws, so that the Hydreigon was both blinded and confused. Then Prince Takuya rushed forward with his sword slew the Hydreigon!"

"HAH!!!" Brock stabs at the air with a stick, as if the Hydreigon is really there.

Everyone laughs as Ash concludes "When the king learned what had happened, he was amazed that someone managed to slay the Hydreigon, and offered Prince Takuya Princess Remina's hand in marriage as a reward. It wasn't long before Prince Takuya was married to Princess Remina and rewarded with half the kingdom to boot."

"Pika pika pikachu?" Pikachu asks.

"As for what happened to Prince Takuya's brothers, that is another story for another day!" Ash replies.