Pokémon The Three Guardians Among Lilies

[SparklingBlue]

(Rated E10+ for fantasy violence and frightening images)

Prologue: Arrival of the Three Guardians

Everyone in Kalos knew about Ash's and Serena's defeat of Team Flare, and then their respective paths as pop idols. Some argued that Serena was instrumental in igniting the love of Wakunese pop music--or W-pop--in Kalos.

So when Ash returned to Kalos alongside Misty and Brock as wildly popular trio Houryutora, many places in Kalos sold out of tickets within hours. In the midst of their first investigations into what Mega Evolution truly was, a group of friends known as Team MZ got their hands on some tickets.

Not knowing a word of Wakunese, Moni decided to ask one of her teammates, Naveen, what Houryutora meant.

The dark skinned boy with a love for sewing and geeky media--including W-pop--motioned for the group to gather around in the war room--which was typically used for pre-mission briefings. There, he would explain what Houryutora meant, and their roles as bodyguards as they traveled with them.

Once all of Team MZ was present, Naveen began his lecture. "In Wakunese folklore and mythology, three sacred beings stand tall among all others." he explained, showing Moni and the other members of Team MZ a beautiful Wakunese painting of a Moltres, a Gyarados, and a Raikou in a Triforce-esque pattern. "The Dragon represents Heaven..." he went on, pointing at the Gyarados. "The Raikou represents Earth..." He pointed out the Raikou. "...and the phoenix represents the fire of the human spirit."

"Okay, that makes sense so far..." Lida mused.

"While most people think that the Pokemon zodiac are the only Pokemon people are born under, in the Wakunese worldview, there are many more Pokemon people are said to be born under besides the zodiac Pokemon." Naveen went on before starting a muted video of Ash singing something. "Phoenix-born people are said to be very strong, courageous, and joyous, like Ash here."

He next changed the video to Misty singing something. "The dragon symbolizes life, growth, wisdom, and harmony. They know there is a time and place for everything, and carefully consider all their options before making a decision. Misty here might come across as powerful and aggressive, but just like the water she commands, she knows there is a time to attack, and a time to defend."

Naveen next changed the video to Brock singing something, accompanying himself on a sleek black acoustic guitar. "The Raikou symbolizes power, courage, and resolve. He is much a master of fine arts as much as martial arts. Your secrets and promises are safe with a Raikou-born--once they promise you something, they will keep it, no matter what."

He concluded "So when a phoenix born, a dragon-born, and a Raikou-born get together in a friendship, amazing things are said to happen. Their friendship will never fall apart, and last a lifetime. They laugh together, cry together, travel together, fight together--and in some Wakunese stories, have even died together."

"Wow...that powerful, huh..." Moni smiled.

"So that is why the act is named Houryutora." Naveen explained. "Ash is the phoenix--the 'hou'--Misty is the dragon--the 'ryu'--and Brock is the Raikou--or 'tora'."

He went on "Serena asked us to help serve as bodyguards for Houryutora on their tour, while also helping them out. I'm helping by making their stage outfits, Lida volunteered as one of the backup dancers, Urbaine is making the epic behind the scenes documentary and vlog on the tour...

"...and I'll help Urbaine edit his footage." Moni volunteered. "And provide pictures for the text posts that go with the videos."

"Okay then...the tour kicks off in Vaniville Town in a few days." Naveen explained. "We'll meet Serena there tomorrow morning to make our prep for the tour."

 

[SparklingBlue]

Episode 1: Kicking Off the Kalosian Tour

(what Misty and Brock cover)

The train ride to Vaniville was uneventful, for the most part. Urbaine had gotten instructions from Serena that we were to go to the Theatre Vanille to pitch in with our preparations. This included Lida getting fitted for backup dancer costumes, Naveen taking Ash's Misty's and Brock's measurements for their costumes (Serena had her own team, so she had her coords and backup dancers already present.) and Urbaine and me to set up for pictures and video--both behind the scenes moments and the actual show itself.

Watching Serena hurry to embrace Ash in a joyous Ursaring hug as soon as we arrived caught us both off guard, so her waves of blonde mingling with Ash's mop of black hair and his lucky cap was immediately immortalized in a photo. I had to caption it "Two heroes, together again."

Urbaine, meanwhile, was preoccupied with setting up his video gear as I got shots of Misty talking with who I assumed was their manager. A small flash of sun made her orange hair appear to sparkle for a moment as she returned to her dressing room. After saying his goodbyes to Serena, I spotted Ash making a beeline for a dressing room, presumably to change into his coord for rehearsal.

"Moni--want to help me film this first vlog of the tour?" Urbaine asked, admiring his video set up near a rehearsal area. "Lida's going to be practicing over there in a minute."

"Sure!" I hurried over to the rehearsal area, stopping to take a picture or two of Brock, now in a sparkling green and gold coord with leaf decor, tuning a gold-orange Paldean guitar...

---------

"Hi, this is Le Voyageur, Urbaine, reporting live from somewhere in Vaniville Town." Urbaine announced to the camera some time later. "Famed W-pop group Houryutora..."

"You said it right..." Ash assured Urbaine out of the camera's view.

Urbaine acknowledged Ash with a nod, then continued his intro to his vlog. "Famed W-pop group Houryutora is kicking off a Kalosian tour here, and so I have an all access pass to what's going on behind the scenes--such as 'What DOES a W-pop dance practice look like?' Especially if one of your friends is going to be participating in the tour?"

"Hi!" Lida, now in a sparkly blue costume similar to what Misty was wearing, waved to the camera, then continued walking through a dance with Misty.

"What's the name of this song we're practicing?" Urbaine asked as he approached Misty just as she and Lida finished going over the dance.

"This is a cover of a song by project group Mews--'Mermaid Festa vol. 1'." Misty explained. "There are other volumes, but we picked this one to cover because of its summery and festive beat."

"I see--what exactly do you mean by a project group?" Urbaine asked.

"A project group refers to a large group of idols--usually specifically for a TV show or anime, or formed as the result of an idolmaking reality show." Brock explained as he stepped into the frame, Paldean guitar in hand. "They usually disband after the show or anime they were made for ends, but some continue their activities well into the future."

"The Raikou amazes with his wisdom!" Urbaine smiled. "But now, let's return to the dragon teaching Lida!"

"...I'm going to be singing in Wakunese instead of English, so is that okay?" Misty asked Lida as they prepared to do the dance with some semblance of music.

"It'd be cool to learn the meaning of the words later, but I think I can follow your lead and the other dancers." Lida replied.

"Are we ready for Lida's first try with music?" Brock asked as he arrived with his guitar.

"When you're ready!" Lida called as she struck her starting pose.

With that, Brock and Misty kicked off the Paldean infused song. No, tomenaide anata kara atsuku nare...

Lida looked like a natural as she did the dance alongside Misty's own singing and dancing and Brock's Paldean guitar, despite probably only having a few hours to learn it. Then again, she has a knack for naturally picking up dance routines with very little time to practice. Urbaine's camera caught every step, jump, and spin, doing a way better job capturing Lida's and Misty's skill than a still camera ever could.

By the time I met back up with Naveen and Urbaine for the show that night, I was excited to see how Lida would do alongside several other backup dancers and Misty with full music.

We didn't have to wait too long for the cover of "Mermaid Festa vol. 1". Brock's opening riff revealed Lida and the other dancers on a riser behind a set that evoked that iconic Wakunese wave painting. No, tomenaide anata kara atsuku nare... Misty sang from her position in the middle of the top riser, spurring us to clap along with the audience as the Paldean infused music kicked in...

 

[SparklingBlue]

Episode 2: On the Road in Kalos


"So what happens when a concert is done?" Moni asked as Houryutora's human and Pokemon crew packed up in preparation for their next stop. "Wouldn't it take hours to pack everything up?"

"Nope." Ash replied. "Between Fighting type Pokemon and Psychic type Pokemon, we have everything packed up in minutes. The three of us go on ahead to the next stop, and the Psychic types warp all our gear to the next stop. What we can carry--essentials, tolietries, keepsakes from home, and so on--we carry ourselves."

A familiar red, blue, and green bus got Misty's attention. "And there's the bus!"

"Serena and her crew are already in Clairbleu Town, our next stop, setting up." Brock explained. "All we have to do is meet her there."

As the bus pulled away from Vaniville Town, Misty decided to strike up a conversation with Team MZ. "So, what is it you're doing when you guys say you're investigating Mega Evolution?"

"Actually, we're investigating several things, but they all tie back to Mega Evolution." Naveen explained. "A, we're trying to understand it better based on what Prof. Sycamore has discovered about it, and how Ash and Serena have interacted with it..."

"Did he ever discover stuff about it!" Lida smiled. "We haven't even made a dent in reading all his papers!"

"B, we've heard rumors Team Flare has been working underground to try and harness the power of Mega Evolution, and make a triumphant return." Moni explained. "But most of what we've found on that front is rumor so far."

"...and C, we've heard rumors that Pokemon capable of it can undergo the transformation without a Heart Song if under high amounts of stress." Urbaine explained. "This has led to the number of Pokemon that can Mega Evolve making a dramatic jump in number. The downside of this being that without a human conveying a positive emotion to them via the Heart Song, the process of Mega Evolution is actually painful."

"So our feelings of joy, bravery, resolve, and so on dulls the pain of the process?" Ash wondered. He hadn't thought of Mega Evolution as painful before.

"From what we understand, the power of a human's positive emotion, conveyed through song, resonates with the positive emotion in a Pokemon's heart, making the induction of Mega Evolution painless--this is how Mega Evolution is supposed to work." Naveen explained. "But when the emotion in a Pokemon's heart is negative, that negativity needs to be canceled out by the Heart Song for an easy induction. Without a human's Heart Song to balance emotions like anger, sadness, or fear, Mega Evolution is painful, and often causes the poor Pokemon to go wild. Prof. Sycamore called this phenomenon Rogue Mega Evolution."

"That actually makes sense!" Misty smiled.

A thought occurred to her. "Starmie...has Starmie had a Mega Evolution discovered?"

"Yes!" Urbaine proudly showed Misty a picture of a glittering silver white Starmie with a ring of colorful gems around its red core. "This one was induced safely--I asked its trainer if she could induce it."

"Wow!" Misty gasped, starry eyed over the picture. "I can't wait to see Pearl looking like that!"

"What about Pikachu?" Now Ash was curious. "Could Tintri potentially Mega Evolve?"

"Well..." Neveen thought for a moment, watching Ash pet his faithful Pikachu all the while. "According to Prof. Sycamore's research, Pikachu can't Mega Evolve, but Raichu can--two different forms. You'd have to somehow find a way to temporarily evolve to Raichu, then induce it."

"Prof. Sycamore did say that such a phenomenon--he called it 'warp evolution'--would only be possible between a trainer and Pokemon that had a very deep bond. So Ash and his Pikachu Tintri would make the perfect test subjects for his theory." Moni agreed.

"Well, whatever help you need in your investigations, we'll do what we can as we tour Kalos." Brock offered."

"We'd be honored to have the Phoenix, Dragon, and Raikou join Team MZ as honorary members." Urbain smiled. "I've heard you guys have traveled around the world as trainers before you hung up your trainer hats, so you must have a ton of stories you can tell that could help us out!"

"I'll be happy to share what I can remember of my trip around Kalos with Serena in tow..." Ash smiled before noticing a road sign that said "Clairbleu Town--2 miles". "But for now, we need to focus on our music!"