A Show to Remember [Open]

[James Ackland]

The town was buzzing with the rumour of Wonders from Down Under being in town. From what everyone had seen from the television sets in their homes and what they have read from the newspaper that came every morning, the group was a travelling showcase of Pokémon of all shapes, sizes, and types; from what they have seen, the group always drew a crowd, and there was something in it for everyone all the time, no exceptions. The show was for the whole family, and everyone could learn to sit back and enjoy it.

There was Priscilla, Queen of the Ball. ‘She’ always mesmerised the women and girls in the crowd with all of her dance routines. Reef, Princess of the Waters always drew in a lot of younger girls who had the hopes and dreams of travelling on their own with her water techniques and tricks, giving them and their Pokémon the determination to learn tricks and techniques all on their own. Viper was always a crowd pleaser when it came to the teens in the group, for he—accompanied by his trainer—knew the ways of hypnotising others; unless they were Zangooses. Then he would have to unleash wrath upon them. Steve-O brought in most of the toddlers, for his small body and lovable features resembled those of a plush toy, and that was all the necessary bait for the younger children. James’s best two acts had to be the Feraligatr Wrestling and Kangaskhan Boxing acts. The former consisted of the Australian and Bruce, both wrestling until James won; the latter involved him and Jack fighting one another until the one is knocked out (most likely James).

Every single show was different, for Priscilla had a new dance; Reef had new tricks; Viper hypnotised different people; and the results from Bruce and Jack were always different in the end. Some say the shows are magical, while others say the shows were too dangerous for children’s eyes. For those who are against the show, there was only one incident that had gotten a ‘bad reputation’ for the lot, but it didn’t matter because in the end the trainer was fine. Not too much harm was caused to him, and he was out of bed within hours of coming to.

James knew how to draw people in from town to town, for the group never announced when and where they were arriving next. It was too much of a commitment to allow people to know when he was going to show up, because that would mean that he had to keep a deadline. He went where he wanted, and he left as he pleased. It was impossible for him to predict where he was going to go next, and how soon he would arrive to the next town.

“Ya know… This might be a fun trip after all.” James said casually to the Teddiursa that was hanging from his shoulder. He knew that Steve never liked going into his Pokéball. Heck, he had only been in the Pokéball once before forcing himself out of that blasted thing. James understood why though. The Teddiursa had never been in a ball before, and he was fairly sure that it had been spoiled by his mum beforehand.

James still had nightmares about those three days at times.

“Teddiursa…”¹ Steve groaned, clinging to the man. He never liked going to town, and he had a good reason to back it up. It was all the children that kept coming at him with their grubby little hands, trying to squeeze and play with him. It was the thing that made him want to throw away the Everstone and evolve into an Ursaring; the only issue with being an Ursaring is that he would never get free rides on James ever due to the size difference.

James looked at the bear and patted its head as he entered the centre of the town. “Ya know, if ya do this show for me, I’ll get ya that pound o’ meat ya were eyein’ in the store earlier~” James said, trying to bribe the bear.

Teddiursa thought about it for a moment before sticking its paw out. “Teddi?”² He asked, glaring at James.

“Promise.” James shook paws with the little critter and smiled. It was so easy bribing Steve; much easier than bribing the other Pokémon to perform.

-x-

James had let out all of his Pokémon so they would get the necessary leg stretch that they needed before the show. He knew that each and every one of them was going to need to warm up and get ready; especially Priscilla.

Steve had already gone out to scout the place for kids, being the iconic Teddiursa for the Wonders from Down Under crew. Everyone knew what to do for their warm ups, and how they needed to prepare. They were experts on the show now, and all they needed to do was get ready and know which routine was necessary to execute while performing.

“D’ya think this tropical flower fits today’s theme, or d’ya think the blossom does?” Reef asked, looking at the two flowers that were placed in front of her.

“Do whatever ya want. It’s your act, not ours.” A deep voice growled. The Lopunny from which the voice belonged to was working on his dance routine, and didn’t need any more distractions.

The Corsola frowned and turned to the Kangaskhan with the flowers, holding them out to her. “What d’ya think?” She asked.

“Definitely the tropical, hun.” Jack grinned, putting on her gloves. She gave Priscilla a squeeze of his shoulders and smiled at him. “And you. Ya gotta remember ta smile when ya’re on stage.” She reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah… Whatever.” Pris grumbled, working on his balancing for the dance. Damn it was hard. He didn’t understand how Kirlias did it so damn much.

The crowd started to draw in when the iconic Teddiursa came back, fur ruffled and messed up.

“A’right, we’re about ta begin… Ya ready for this?” James asked, getting up.

Each Pokémon got into their positions, and gave a cry.

“Then let’s go~” James grinned, letting his Pokémon take the stage in front. Every show started the same, but it always ended differently.

“Welcome… To Wonders from Down Under!” James called out before appearing in the puff of smoke. Hopefully this show would be as successful as any show.

With the crowd Steve brought in, he was confident that his hopes will come true.

---

1: Yeah right.
2: Promise?

[Atawhai Hoa]

Roaming the streets with her herd was nothing out of the oridinary for Atawhai. In fact, it was one of her favorite things to do on her days off. Just seeing people walking with their pokemon, made her day.

"Ma ma mareep.*" Tino Aroha said, pointing at the Teddiursa who was currently being petted to death by small children and even grown-ups. The poor thing looked so upset, wearing a fake smile. Feeling pity for the small, rather adorable pokemon, Atawhai decided to follow the Teddiursa and it's fans. Just to make sure it made it's way back to it's owner. Rongo and Hohepe rolled their beady little eyes at their owner, who 'secretly' loved cute things. Why else would she surround herself with cute sheep-pokemon and a big fluffy dog?

"Stoutland...**" Rongo barked in an annoyed tone. It wasn't that he was annoyed about following a Teddiursa aimlessly, but that he had to carry Kaihautu on his back while aimlessly following a Teddiursa.

Hiwarau happily strided next to Rongo and mimicked his cry. "It possibly can't be as bad as those Ninetails!" She added and then skipped over to Hohepe. Ever since that day, Hiwarau was a bubbly mess. But she was Atawhai's bubbly mess.

A big crowd came into view, gathered around a sort of stage. The little Teddiurse was nowhere to be found. Atawhai gave a little sigh and watched the show atop a little hill. It was a perfect view for both Atawhai and her small pokemon.

A bunch of different pokemon came out onto the stage and then, from a puff of smoke, appeared a man.

He was tall, muscular, and had one of the stupidest, happiest grins plastered of his face. They were going to meet somehow, Atawhai knew it.

*Hey, lookit that poor sap! Why isn't 'e runnin' for dear life?
**Here we go again...

[James Ackland]

In broad daylight, he knew that he couldn’t use as many effects as when they were performing at night, but they knew that they had to make do with what they had. In this weather and with the energy he accumulated, James knew that it was a good idea to let Jack be his first act. Usually, he would have let his Seviper or Lopunny be the first act to let get the crowd in the mood; but he knew that with this crowd, it would be best to start off with something a bit more aggressive.

“Ya have probably seen her b’fore, an’ ya now ya can experience her live~” James grinned, stepping back to take his tie off. He extended his hand out, and as if on cue, Priscilla handed James a pair of dark blue boxing gloves. Across from him, Steve was handing Jack his pair of red gloves. Things may have been strange for any newcomers, but for those who kept a close eye on the travelling group, they knew that the first act was about to commence, and it was probably one of the most painful for James (well, near painful, since it wasn’t as bad as wrestling with Bruce).

Steve stood between the two ‘opponents’, and he looked from side to side. “Teddi, te. Teddiursa. Teddi Teddi teddi, ursa!”¹ Steve said, looking between the two. He knew that these four matches were going to be brutal, and he was sure that by the end at least one of them was going to go down; but he also knew that it was just an act. None of them were going to really get hurt.

They just needed to sell it to the crowd.

Reef rung the bell and the first match started.

-x-

After four rounds, both opponents were tired beyond belief. The knock out seemed to belong to Jack though, for James collapsed soon after. The crowd seemed to be very energetic as Bruce hoisted James up on his shoulder and take him away back stage so he could rest.

“Kangas kang... Kangas kanga kang: Kangaskhan!”² Kangaskhan introduced the next act. The very pink Lopunny rounded the stage and hopped on, getting into position. When Steve turned on the music, the bunny-like Pokémon started to dance his dance. He counted the steps and followed the tempo; moving fast when the music picked up speed and slowing down when the music slowed down. Priscilla knew better than to just dance aimlessly; he had to have feeling and attempt to convey the emotions of the song to the audience. It helped greatly because Reef was dancing along with him and adding a little bit of water whenever necessary to make the piece stronger.

When they were done, Viper came up and had managed to hypnotise Steve into thinking he was actually James, before going to scour the crowd to find a victim to hypnotise. The Seviper knew that he had to choose someone that wanted to go up, for it was supposed to be a good experience for the audience too. “Se… Seviper! Seviper~?”³ The Seviper asked the audience. Almost every little boy wanted to come up, but Viper saw in the parents’ eyes that they didn’t want their child to be up with a poisonous snake, so he continued to scour the crowd to look for his next hypnotising victim.

---

1: Okay, remember. I want a clean match. This is four rounds, so don't kill each other!
2: That was tiring. And now I present: Priscilla, Queen of the Ball!
3: Alright… Who wants to come up! Anyone?

[Atawhai Hoa]

Fighting... against a Kangaskhan? What was he going to do next? Jump off a cliff with no bungy cord? Hohepe watched boredly, and shifted his gaze to his owner. He knew it wasn't real, but apparently Atawhai did. Her eyes were big and starry, almost like how Tino Aroha's is most of the time.

As the male lopunny came out and began to dance, Kaihautu lifted his head and watched the graceful Lopunny dance across the stage. Every move made the usually lazy pokemon skip a heartbeat. Maybe... he was in love? He shook the obscure thought out of his head and countinued to watch the Lopunny dance.
"Maaaareep... maa maareep.*" Kaihautu bleated in a rather rude tone while pointing at the Seviper and looking at Atawhai. Atawhai glared at Kaihautu "What? Y'don't think I have the guts to go up?" The Mareep only replied with a small snort.

Atawhai abruptly got up, and walked into the crowd before her. "I'll go." She said with a charming smile.

"Mareep ma maa reep.**" Hiwauru sighed and leaned on Hohepe.


*Owner can't go near that without fainting.
**Hook, line and sinker. Nice, Kaihautu.

[James Ackland]

Upon hearing the voice, the Seviper’s eyes gleamed with excitement. This would be nice, for it was one of the few times that a girl was willing to go up on stage with him. Don’t get him wrong, he had seen people from every gender, sex, and age come on stage with him; however, it was rare to have a young teenage girl hop on stage willingly with him. Well, if she really wanted to come up, then so be it. He wasn’t going to push away a willing patron.

“Viper!”¹ The snake Pokémon grinned, doing his best to lead the young lady up on stage. Once he managed to get centre stage, he turned to her and looked the blonde in the eyes. “Se seviper~!”² He asked. Viper sounded a lot more excited than he should have been, but he knew what he was going to do with her already. The only issue was that he needed her consent before starting anything. Viper knew that James didn’t need to get in any more trouble. It would just give him a headache if anyone saw a flaw in the show—especially if an injury was involved (even worse of the injury was inflicted on an audience member). James had taught Viper the right procedures and taught him how to play it safe onstage.

As if on cue, the Lopunny that was once dancing in the act before ran on stage with a piece of paper and a pen, holding it to the brave girl onstage. James made sure that it happened every show—a weaver form that outlined if anything happened to the audience, it wouldn’t be on the Wonders from Down Under team’s head for they were not liable for anything.

“Se~?”³ The Seviper taunted, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards to make his excitement more evident. He knew that he couldn’t do anything to her unless she signed that form, but once she did it was fair game for him.

---

1: Alright!
2: Give her a round of applause~!
3: Ready?

[Atawhai Hoa]

When the crowd started to applaud, Atawhai couldn't help but blush and fidget. She wasn't used to this kind of attention, it was overwhelming... but she didn't feel embarassed. It was a nice feeling. Though she loved working with wild pokemon, she wouldn't mind an applause for her work.

"She's totally milking this." Hohepe said with a straight face. Well, straight for someone who had a tiny mareep bleating happily on top of their head.
"Go, mama! Go, go! Pwevail! Maaa!" Tino Arohai cheered, clapping.

"Thank you, handsome Lopunny." Atawhai smiled at the Lopunny. She'd been around pokemon enough to see differences in others don't see. The Lopunny didn't seem to be as enthusiastic and bouncy as most female Lopunny she had encountered before. She signed the paper after a quick skim.

What was the worst that could happen?

[James Ackland]

When she signed it, Priscilla looked over the paper carefully. She signed in the right place, and it looked legit, and so he nodded to Viper; giving him the cue to start the act. The last time they didn’t check things over, it had gone out to be a complete mess and they knew that they didn’t want to have a repeat of that ever again.

Viper’s grin grew thrice its original size when he noticed Priscilla’s nod. Excellent; it was about to begin.

The Seviper slithered itself over to the girl, a mischievous look in its eyes. “Seeee…. Seviperr… Seviper~”¹ He said, moving side to side. He stared at her intently, doing his chant to hypnotise the girl. His voice was soothing and suave, like he was trying to get her to join his side, and to let her forget all of her worries; to get her to be under his spell.

-x-

“… I’ll bet you tonight’s supper that Viper won’t be able to get her under his spell.” Steve said, grooming himself. He had been able to get away from most of the kids and was now contentedly being held by Priscilla. “And I ain’t gonna skip out on ya about it, how ‘bout it?” He grinned, looking up to the Lopunny.

Priscilla snorted at the Teddiursa, nodding. “Deal. And how about a side bet? You stop calling me a girl if he doesn’t get her hypnotised?” The Lopunny said. He had the better chances of winning after all, since he was the one who saw the person they were betting on. She didn’t seem the type.

Jack rolled her eyes and continued to help Reef dress for her act. She couldn’t believe that Priscilla was playing into Steve’s acts again. She was going to have to set him straight later after the show, that was for sure.

[Atawhai Hoa]

Atawhai looked into those endless looking eyes. They were pretty, but not hypnotising at all. She had grown immune to any sort of hypnosis after coming across psychic pokemon in the forest every now and then.

But... she wanted to have some fun, at the very least.

She emptied her mind of inhibitions, worries, paperwork, and anything that clogged up her mind. With her thoughts clearing up, she stared hard at the Pokemon in front of her. Slowly, she started to feel a bit light headed, and her eyes droop. Finally, she could join in the fun everyone was having.

---
"Sooo...what's going on again?" Tino Aroha asked the (very upset) Ampharos she was sitting on top of. Tino was a young Mareep, she didn't quite get the grasp of things the first time. Hohepe understood that. Not getting the grasp of it the tenth time... well, that was just plain dumb.

Rongo saw Hohepe's anger forming on his face and let out a heavy sigh. "Tino, Atawhai is playing a game with that Seviper, okay?" He said in a very relaxed tone. The Stoutland looked at Hohepe again, who was starting to calm down a bit. Sometimes, Rongo felt like the mother of this herd.

[James Ackland]

Viper continued to stare that the girl in the eyes. Once she seemed to fall down into drowsiness, he swerved over and started to circle her. There were so many ideas that he had to do with her. He really couldn’t pick just one thing, and he knew that he could only do one trick on the audience member or else he would cut into Reef’s show and eventually the Feraligatr wrestling too.

After a moment, he looked at her and started on his little tune. “Seviper, se seevipe~ Seviiiperrr~”¹ After a few verses and circles around the girl, he stopped in front of her. “Se viiiper~”² He purred, stepping closer to her. This was going to be a fun one, he was sure of it! He had always wanted to see a human do this, but everyone he tried it on in the past were much too large or they seemed like they couldn’t hold their own. Now though, she seemed to be just right.

“SEVIPER~!”³ He called, waiting for the his companion to come out from the back.

-x-

Steve was just sitting and watching the show. When was it going to end? It wasn’t like they were going to have Viper do every single act that he had ever done in this one show, right? So then there shouldn’t be any waiting at all!

When he heard his name called from the stage though, the little Teddiursa was wary. He stuck his head out and looked at the crowd, the unfortunate soul that was chosen for Viper’s act, and the Seviper himself. “Come out here Steve-O. I gotta twit that ya can fight with~” Viper grinned, beckoning Steve with his tail

The Teddiursa came out and looked at the girl, then back at Viper. “Ya gotta be kidding! Ya hypnotised her?” Steve asked in a hushed tone so only the Seviper could hear. He was excited, since he knew that he would be able to win the bet now that she was hypnotised.

The Seviper didn’t reply though. He just gave the Teddiursa a little push and smiled. “Have fun~” The Seviper grinned, slinking back into the shadows to leave the Teddiursa alone on stage.

Steve was going to have to kill Viper; that was a fact.

---

1: Trust me, don’t be afraaaid~ Just clooooose your eyes~
2: You’re a Ursaring~
3: COME OUT STEVE~!

[Atawhai Hoa]

The blood that flowed through Atawhai's veins wasn't human anymore. She was a big, powerful Ursaring.

Or so she thought.

Atawhai growled at the Seviper in front of of her as he beckoned one of his co-stars. It was most likely going to be something stupid and thick-skulled. She was sure of it. Something like a Geodude.

She was wrong.

Out came a small Teddiursa that went by the name 'Steve-O'. It was so cute, and small, and... and it was just adorable. Sure, she was hypnotised, but it didn't mean she wasn't completely gone. You know how all girls love cute things.

So, Atawhai wanted a hug. She ran towards the small pokemon with her arms stretching towards it, squealing a mix of kiwi slang and 'Ursaring'.
---
"What's she doing nooow?" Kaihautu asked boredly. He wanted to see his muse, not the blond ranger chase around some small pokemon. He boredly over looked at Hohepe, and Tino Aroha... and immeadiately regretted it. The small Mareep was watching with such a hating expression. Tino was upset, he could understand that much... but why?

If he'd ask the Ampharos next to him, it'd be a different story. It was very obvious to Hohepe that Tino Aroha was jealous of the Teddiursa. He seemed to be the only thing Atawhai cared about. Of course, Hohepe knew it was all fun and games.

Tino Aroha didn't.

[James Ackland]

Steve was glad for a moment before the girl started after him. That didn’t fly with him. Remembering what James had taught him, he could only run since he wasn’t allowed to harm any audience member. When he ran out of room to run onstage he made a mad dash to the other side of the stage, avoiding the other at all cost. He didn’t want to be hugged anymore damnit! He was at his limits, and he was not responsible for anything that may or may not happen during that hug!

“TEDDI TEDDIURSA! TEDDI TED TEDDI!”¹ Steve cursed, still running. That was a promise too, because he wasn’t going to forget about this. Stupid Seviper, having to do well in the show and then give him this cruel and unusual punishment!

“Seviper~”² Viper was laughing as he watched the Teddiursa struggle to stay away from the other’s grasp. This was enough entertainment for the Seviper for years, he was sure of it. When he noticed two other figures coming up on stage though, he stopped laughing to see what was going to unfold.

Priscilla had leapt on stage again with Reef, and the two seemed like they were going on a rescue mission to save the Teddiursa. The Corsola positioned herself so that she was ready to spritz the audience member with water to snap her out of the hypnosis. She was ready, a look of concentration and determination on her face. She wanted to have her turn after all, and the Seviper was taking far too long with his act.

The Lopunny grabbed the Teddiursa and looked at him. “Lo Lopunny… Lopun!”³ The other said, shaking his head as he continued to run away from the girl as he carried the Teddiursa. He looked to the Seviper and locked eyes with him, tossing the bear above the girl’s head so that his partner could catch the bear.

“TEEEEEDDDDDIIIII!!”⁴ Steve cried, wanting to kill them both now.

---

1: SCREW YOU VIPER! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!
2: Have fun, mate~
3: I swear to God... You owe me big!
4: I HAAAAATE YOUUU!!

[Atawhai Hoa]

"Ursaring?" Atawhai said with a confused look on her face. She plopped herself down on the floor and just watched this slapstick unfold. Needless to say, she found it to be hilarious. It was so much like a circus act, all the tossing and it being so fast-pace. Her little giggles were once a rarity, but there were plenty at the moment.

The man's street show was a good time, if only she would get to remember it.
---
"Am I the only one worried that mamaa will forget about us!?" Tino Aroha bleated in a very upset tone. The rest of the herd stayed quiet and watched the show intently, especially Kaihautu. Tino let out a small snort, and made a run towards the stage. She shot a glare at the Teddiursa and made her way to Atawhai.

"Tino! Come bac--" Hohepe yelled at the small pokemon, but was stopped by Rongo. "She needs to learn, Hohepe." The loyal dog said sternly. Hohepe hesitated and then gave a quick nod. Rongo was the oldest.