ale 4: The Giant's Captive (Brock)


"This next tale was the very first story I ever taught Ash--a Houen story called 'The Giant's Captive'" Brock explains as he plays a calm melody on his guitar to focus his thoughts.

He begins his tale as the last chord of his song fades away. "Once a fisherman and his son--let's call him Jiro--were at sea, when a terrifying giant appeared from the water and snatched Jiro from the boat. All Jiro's father could do was watch as his son was spirited away to the giant's lair." He plays a tense riff for effect, making murmurs waft through the small crowd. "The giant took Jiro to a pitch black room and locked him inside, telling him to not light a fire under any circumstances."

The audience listens to the guitar's mournful melody as Brock goes on. "Jiro huddled under a blanket, but the biting wind made him shiver, and on top of that, kept hearing ghostly noises. But with no fire, he couldn't tell if they were other prisoners or ghosts. On the third night, Jiro decided he was going to defy the giant's instructions and build a fire." He then stopped his song to interject "But with what?" Nervous giggles wafted through the crowd.

Giggles became uproarious laughter as Brock segued into the Mission Impossible theme. "So that night, Jiro snuck out of the cave, took one of the boats moored to the shore, and sailed back to his father's house. Once there, he requested some matches, flint, and tinder. As he hid the items in his son's clothing, Jiro's father told Jiro that if he was planning to escape the giant's lair, his wits would be the most valuable thing he could have." He stops the song to interject "Thankfully, the giant had no idea Jiro had gone and returned."

After playing a tense interlude, Brock went on. "Jiro lit his fire, and found out the source of the crying he had heard--a princess!" The girls whisper their predictions as he continues. "She had not seen any light in some time, so she yelped in surprise when she saw the firelight. However, that surprised yelp was enough to wake the giant, and it chased after Jiro!" Gasps went up at this as the guitar played a frantic melody.

Sighs of relief go up as the song calms down, but all eyes are on Brock as he continues. "Jiro finally lost the giant and took shelter in an alcove somewhere on the island. As he caught his breath, Arceus appeared to him and said..." In a low and deep male voice, he intoned "Long has the giant caused suffering in the land, but if you were to slay him now, he would still live, as his soul is not in his body."

As himself, he interjects "Jiro asked Arceus how he could shatter the giant's soul, and Arceus replied..." In his "Arceus" voice again, Brock assured the audience "On the other side of the ocean in a palace courtyard stands a post. Hit this post with your finger, and a sword will fall down from the sky. With this sword, kill an Ekans in the forest, and a Buneary will appear and race away. Catch that Buneary and cut off its head, and a Pidove will appear. If you can catch the Pidove when it flies to heaven, an egg will fall, and in that egg is the giant's soul."

As himself, he intones "Just as Arceus left Jiro, the giant discovered him!"

"Oh no!" Serena gasps, but giggles with embarrassment as Ash assures her all will be well.

"Jiro was taken to a high mountain peak, where he was left to die." Brock continues. It pained him to tell this part, but at the same time, his favorite part of the story was coming up. "Jiro spent two days shivering in the cold before working up the courage to climb down. The mountain path led to a forest, where he found four mages arguing over how best to divide the meat of a Stantler they had killed. Jiro skillfully cut the Stantler into four even portions. The mages each gave Jiro a mystical gem as a reward for helping them. The fire mage gave Jiro a ruby that would grant him Entei's strength and power. The wind mage gave Jiro an amethyst that would allow him to soar like the twin Eons. The water mage gave Jiro a sapphire that would allow him to swim like Kyorge. The earth mage gave Jiro an emerald that would allow him to dig as masterfully as Celebi."

"Wow..." Serena replied, but Brock just smiled, pleased that the small audience was enjoying his tale.

"Just then, the giant found Jiro again, but this time, Jiro was prepared--he held the ruby high and called..." He paused to play a D chord before he sang Jao wiisha nes chiel com yutuul...

"That never gets old..." Misty grins.

"Sure enough, Jiro glowed red with the power of Entei's fire, and managed to throw the giant to the ground." Brock continues. "While this didn't kill the giant by any means, it did buy Jiro enough time to get to the shore minutes before the spell wore off." He plays a "running" melody before continuing "Knowing the giant could find him at any moment, Jiro held the sapphire high and called..." Brock paused to play another D chord before singing another gibberish phrase. Rou iitsa von selga vichi....

The sung phrase echoes through the forest, riveting the audience. "Jiro glowed blue with the power of water, and easily swam to the palace courtyard with Kyorge's speed and grace. He easily found the post and touched his finger to it, and just as Arceus had said, a beautiful sword fell from the sky and landed at his feet." Brock continues. "Jiro wasted no time in killing an Ekans, and just as Arceus had said, a Buneary darted from the brush. Jiro knew that a human had no chance of catching up to a Buneary naturally, so he found his amethyst and sang..." He plays another D chord and sings another gibberish phrase, this one in a minor key. Karuto, iichiida shou...

A wind guest made the trees rustle as if on cue as Brock intoned "Jiro glowed with the purple energy of the wind, which gave him enough speed to catch up to the Buneary and cut off its head." He waits for the wind to die down before continuing "No sooner had he done this, did a Pidove appear and fly to the heavens...just as the spell wore off. So he evoked the amethyst again-- Karuto, ichiida shou....

"Aw, no wind..." Misty sighs when the wind does not respond to Brock's voice.

"This time, Jiro was able to soar through the sky, much like Latios and Latias. He caught up to the Pidove and caught it, causing an egg to fall from the sky. After he landed and the wind magic had worn off, he took the emerald and invoked the earth magic within." Brock then sings another gibberish phrase in D minor. Imultaos, ame no hao bakezo...

"Once Jiro had dug through the earth and located the egg, he returned to the island and smashed it on the rocks, killing the giant!" Cheers went up at this.

"The princess was elated that someone had finally set her free." Brock concludes over a triumphant interlude. "They returned to Jiro's homeland, where they fell in love and married not long after their adventure. But Jiro kept the four magic gems with him, just in case he needed their power again."

"Bravo!" Serena's applause is the most enthusiastic.


(real tale: The Giant and Pastaris)