Interlude: A Flight at the Museum, (part 1)

The next morning, Ash discovered two tickets lying on the kitchen table. "What are these?" he asked Brock, who was helping his mother prepare pancakes for the children.

"Tickets to the Pewter Museum for you and your companion." Brock replied as he flipped over the pancakes currently cooking in the skillet. "It's best known for combining education and entertainment under one roof."

He added "It's all well and good to be a powerful trainer, but also remember that knowledge is a kind of power too."

"We'll go check it out, if you need time to train your team." Ash replied as he took the tickets.

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"Wow..." Misty gasped as she and Ash arrived in the museum foyer. "This place is huge!"

After exchanging his ticket for a map of the museum, Ash took a moment to familiarize himself with the different areas of the museum. "Let's see...the nature wing is to the left, and the art wing is to the right..."

He glanced over at Misty. "What do you want to see first? Nature or paintings?"

"The paintings!" Misty grinned before running on ahead of Ash into the art wing, oohing and ahhing over the various paintings and sculptures depicting people, Pokemon, and abstract scenes. Ash, meanwhile, stood and admired the painting before him, depicting a dinosaur like creature and a whale like creature battling as a green dragon Pokemon soared over the scene.

[Are those even Pokemon?] Tintri asked as he tried to climb on Ash's shoulder to get a look at the painting.

"If you'd like more information about a piece in our collection, scan the Poke Ball icon by its nameplate with your PokeNav or Pokedex." a museum employee explained as she passed by.

Piqued, Ash scanned the black and white Poke Ball by the nameplate. "The painting displayed here depicts one of the oldest legends in the Houen region--the legend of Groudon, Kyorge, and Rayquaza." he read to the Pokemon. "This is also one of the earliest interpretations of the story by a Kanto artist, but ancient cave paintings in Houen also depict the story."

[Fascinating...] Wings commented from a pocket in Ash's bag.

A majestic sculpture depicting a blue and white bird with a flowing tail got his attention, so he scanned the Poke Ball symbol with his Pokedex:

"Articuno, the freeze Pokemon. The magnificent, seemingly translucent wings of this legendary bird Pokemon are said to be made of ice."

"Wow..." Ash gasped--the sculpture and the image on his Pokedex looked nearly identical.

"Supposedly, Articuno is said to reside deep in the Seafoam Island caves, but no one's been brave enough to venture that far to find out." Misty replied. "Let's move on--I'm sure there's lots more to see!"

The paintings and sculptures gave way to dancer costumes, and exotic instruments from all over the world. "Oh...so this is the music and dance wing..." Misty mused. "I wonder if any of the instruments in here are playable..."

[What kind of a piano is THAT?] Tintri gasped, amazed at a piano-like device with hundreds of switches, knobs, and dials.

"Actually, this is an example of a analog synthesizer, the forerunner of today's digital pianos." a museum employee smiled. "You probably have heard one of these before if you've seen the Lights of Fantasy Parade at Worlds of Fantasy, Worlds of Wonder, or Worlds of Adventure--the music was initially performed on these and others like it."

"Cool!" Ash gasped.

"This one is playable, so feel free to attempt creating a new masterpiece on it." the employee offered, showing Ash to the synth's stool.

After studying the diagram explaining what each of the switches, knobs, and dials did and that anything he created would be saved on a souvenir CD, Ash set a few of them to his liking, then started the first song from piano lessons that came to mind--the Canon in D.

"What in the..." Misty gasped as the spacey rendition of the beloved classical melody drifted into the room. Her confused look turned to awe when she realized Ash was the one playing the song.

She wanted to tell him he sounded wonderful, but as more and more people came to listen, she decided her compliment could wait until after Ash had finished.

Ash, meanwhile, focused on his remix of the timeless melody, aware that a growing crowd was coming to listen. This thing is actually easier than it looks to play...I'll definitely add a few more songs to this for my own souvenir album!

When the last ethereal D chord faded away, the wing thundered with applause. "Bravo!" Misty raved. "Not bad for someone that never had a lesson!"

Ash was about to respond when he saw a bright flash from his bag, and a Butterfree fluttered before him. "Wings....you liked that enough to evolve?"

[Of course--I imagined myself flying in the stars, and wished to fly.] Wings explained. [Not to mention I'll help you fly too...fly all the way to the League!]

As Wings flitted by Ash's side, Ash's audience clamored to hear more beloved melodies on the synth. "One at a time, please!" Ash called. "Plus I can't guarantee I'll know your request...."

With that he started another classical melody he remembered, complete with synth whistles. Misty's eyes sparkled over the remix of "Clair de Lune" Ash was creating. We may not make it through the rest of the museum, but that's okay....I could stay in here and listen to Ash play the synth for hours!