There is a small kindergarten on Melemele Island. Inside the building’s auditorium, one of the kindergarten teachers, Mr. Davis, stood up on the stage. His class of young students sat in the front row of seats, curious about why their teacher would suddenly pull them out of their classroom for a “special surprise.”

Among those small children were a pair of twins, brash Ami and meek Aki. They had once found themselves working as Sophocles’s servants, which ended in unadulterated disaster. However, that was now just a growingly distant memory, barely present in the back of their minds.

Aki leaned towards his sister. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Why do you always ask me like I know everything?”

“I dunno. You know a lot more things than me.”

There was a pause between the two, until Aki pointed at another man walking towards the stage.

“Ami, why doesn’t that guy have a shirt?”

“...I dunno. He seems weird.”

The children grew more flustered as the unfamiliar man stepped on stage right beside their own teacher. Davis signaled for the class to quiet down, and began to speak in a loud, nasally voice.

“My dear students, we have a special guest today. Would you like to introduce yourself, sir?”

“No problem!” The man slammed his hands on his hips. “Professor Kukui, at your service!”

The group of children instantly cooed in awe, several of them leaping out of their seats. Kukui was faced with a barrage of questions being thrown at him in high-pitched voices.

“You’re the professor?! No way! Do you like Pokémon?”

“Do you know about all the Pokémon in the world?”

“What’s your favorite Pokémon?”

“Do you battle?”

“Have you been all over the whole wide world?”

Questions piled up, forcing Davis to signal for the children to quiet down once again. Once the chatter stopped, Davis cleared his throat and placed his hand on Kukui’s shoulder.

“Please children, save your questions for the professor until after the show has finished.”

“And we got quite the show for you indeed.” Kukui chimed in with an energetic smile. “See, I work at the Pokémon school not too far from here as a teacher. Just like Mr. Davis here, I teach my students about many wonderful things. My specialty just happens to be Pokémon, as it is a Pokémon school after all!”

The children’s eyes glimmered with excitement, practically holding their breaths to keep themselves from blurting out more questions. Kukui chuckled, adoring their youthful enthusiasm. 

“I have a wonderful class of eight, and I decided that I should teach them a little something about giving back to the community. So, I gave them a special assignment to put on a play for you all, right here at the local Kindergarten! They put a lot of effort into this, and I’m so proud of them all!”

Kukui raised a thumbs-up. The children looked back at him with confused faces, struggling to register everything the fast-talking Kukui had said. They did understand one thing, though; they were in for a show.

“Please, be kind and polite while watching the play,” Davis said. “No chit-chat, and make sure to pay attention. Now, enjoy the show, kiddos!”

He and Kukui stepped off the stage. The two sat in the second row, right behind the students. Kukui quickly pulled out his phone. He opened the camera app, and started to record the stage.

Davis raised his brow. “What are you doing?”

“Filming the play. For prosperity.” Kukui grinned.

“Oh…”

Davis shrugged off Kukui’s curious behavior and returned his attention to the stage. A blonde head poked out from behind the vibrant, red curtains. Lillie, despite wanting to retreat back behind stage, stepped out to face her kid audience.

“Uh… Good afternoon. I shall be your narrator today. Um…”

Lillie was already shaking uncontrollably. She carried a paper packet in her hands, opening it to the first page. She read straight off of the script, the perk of being the narrator. It was the only reason she volunteered to take up the role.

Lillie cleared her throat, and began to recite her lines the best she could.

“The world of Pokémon, a vast world filled with curious creatures. Alongside their trainers, Pokémon battle each other for glory in a friendly sport, aiming to be the very best that no one ever was! But, that begs the question! What do Pokémon do when they’re not battling? Well, they make friends of course! Who doesn’t like making good friends?”

Lillie wanted to cringe due to the cheesiness of her monologue, but she pressed onward. “Today, I will tell you the story of Pikachu and his friends: Chimchar, Rowlet, and Steenee. They want to make even more friends, brand new friends! But what happens when the new Pokémon on the block are really weird? Let’s find out…”

Lillie looked out into the crowd, stopping her speech. She stood still, waiting. Nothing happened.

“...Guys!” Lillie shouted. “Pull back the curtain!”

Lillie’s shout reached the ears of Pikachu and Akemi, who stood at the far side of the stage. They jumped, realizing they had missed their cue. The two Pokémon frantically pulled at curtain’s pulley, winding back the curtains to reveal the cheaply made set meant to resemble a sunny field.

The set was unremarkable to say the least. The grass and clear blue sky were constructed out of large slabs of cardboard. To add a bit of variety, there were a couple of misshapen cardboard bushes scattered across the stage. The prop that stole the show, however, wasn’t even a true prop. It was Lana, standing perfectly still in her tree costume. Clearly, a tree was the role she was born to play.

“...Why is that girl just standing there?” Aki asked his sister.

Ami huffed. “She’s a tree.”

“But… why?”

“I dunno.”

“Oh.”

The twins continued to watch as Lillie stepped to the sidelines. A couple other members of Kukui’s class shuffled on stage. First was Ash, who was dressed in a giant Pikachu costume. The costume was designed similarly to the one used for mascots at sport events, meaning that Ash was sweating to death and could hardly move.

“Hurry up, guys!” Ash shouted.

Behind him was Kiawe, who wore his own personal Chimchar onesie. His face was red with embarrassment. “Coming, Pikachu…”

“Don’t leave me behind,” Bob said as he followed Kiawe. Bob’s costume was much more simple, as he just wore a T-shirt with Rowlet’s face printed on the front.

“I’m so excited to play!” Mallow skipped onto the set, wearing a dress styled to resemble a Steenee. She also wore a headband that had a pair of long leaves attached, similar to Steenee’s. They flopped around like bunny ears.

“Those outfits are quite… uh…” Davis was at a loss for words.

“Inconsistent?” Kukui asked.

“... Yes. Everyone looks like they belong in different performances from one another,” Davis said.

Kukui laughed. “Yeah, I know. I left them to their own devices.”

The four main actors were on stage. Lillie could still be seen by the audience at the corner of the set, opening her packet to its second page. She continued her narration.

“Pikachu and friends were going to play all day in the peaceful meadows! But they still haven’t decided what they would like to play. Thankfully, Pikachu had an idea!”

Lillie turned her head to Ash. The boy was silent.

Kiawe folded his arms, growing a bit impatient. “Pikachu, do you have any ideas on what we should play today?”

Ash remained silent.

Lillie began to panic, as the play came to a sudden screeching halt. “Um…! Um!”

“Psst! Ash! Ash!” Lana the tree whispered. “It’s your line”

“I know! I just forgot what it was…” Ash admitted.

“Are you kidding?” Bob’s jaw went slack. “We literally just started!”

Kiawe shook his head in disappointment. “Just make something up.”

“Um! Okay! I do have an idea then! A really awesome idea! So awesome it’ll knock your socks right off your feet!” Ash flailed his arms up and down, or at least flailed them as much as his costume would allow.  “Let’s have… a dance party!”

“Um… that’s a great idea, I guess!” Mallow smiled and twirled. “Let’s dance, everyone!”

What followed was the most awkward display of dance possible, something that almost made the group miss Blaze’s dancing bootcamp. Ash practically had to spin in a circle, as any other attempt of dance would cause him to topple over like a turtle. Bob and Mallow actually put some effort into their dances, although it was rather difficult considering there was no music. Kiawe couldn’t bring himself to dance in such an odd scenario, so he just watched and clapped his hands.

The fact that everyone had already gone off-script made Lillie nervous, as it left her lost. “W-what do I do now? S-should I dance too…?”

Lillie dropped the script to the ground, and in her nervous state, began to dance. Unfortunately, Lillie was no professional, so her attempt at dancing was just dabbing over and over again like an outdated memelord.

“... That girl. She’s doing what is referred to as the ‘dabbing’, correct?” Davis turned to Kukui with a perplexed face.

“Uh, yeah?” Kukui said.

“I see, so this is what the cool kids do. Well, I want to see what it feels like.”

Right before Kukui’s eyes, Davis threw his arms up and dabbed. Kukui lowered his
phone for just a moment, his expression hardening and becoming dull.

“Huh.” Davis returned to his normal sitting position. “Didn’t feel very special. Did I do it wrong?”

Kukui placed a firm hand on Davis’s shoulder. “Please, NEVER do that again.”

With that, Kukui resumed his recording of the play while Davis reflected on his own life choices. Several of the children watched with blank looks as the musicless dancing continued.  A few of them laughed at the class’s silliness. A couple of them gasped in confusion when the previously motionless tree began to sidestep her way towards the narrator.

“Um… Ami?” Aki pulled at Ami’s sleeve.

“Yeah?”

“What am I watching right now…?”

“Aki, sweet Aki. We’re watching a mess.”

“... Is the tree supposed to be alive?”

“I doubt it.”

The young children were mostly entertained, but Lana understood she had to keep things moving forward before they would lose the childrens’ attention. Little kids weren’t known for having long attention spans, after all.

Lana stood beside Lillie, whispering to her. “Hey, give Saki her cue.”

“W-what? But we’d be skipping over so many lines—”

“You mean the lines Ash forgot? Lillie, we got to keep the ball rolling.”

“B-but—”

“Lillie, please. Cue Saki.”

“Okay, okay! But you need to go back to your post…”

“On it.”

Lana scooted her way back to her previous position, freezing back into a motionless,
tree-like stance. Lillie flipped past a couple pages in her packet, and ended the dance party with her shrill shouts.

“Pikachu and friends had a lot of fun playing! But! They weren’t alone! Two sneaky little eyes watched the group, silently!” Lillie gestured towards one of the cardboard bushes. “Spying is really rude, you know. However, this aloof Pokémon didn’t care about being rude.”

From behind the cardboard bush, Saki hopped up onto her feet, revealing herself. She was wearing a Mimikyu hoodie, the large hood covering her eyes with a shadow.

“Wow wee…”

She was only two words in, and Saki already felt sick having to recite such a corny script.

“I can’t believe these lameos haven’t noticed me yet. They must be really stupid.”

As soon as Saki said those words, the other four immediately turned their heads in her direction. In retaliation, Saki dived back behind the bush, concealing herself all over again.

Bob scratched his cheek. “Who was that? Was that a Pikachu spying on us?”

“I’m a Mimikyu, you racist!” Saki shouted.

“Oh!” Bob stumbled back. “Uh… oops…”

“Rowlet is my friend!” Ash shouted. “Identify yourself!”

Saki stood back up, crossing her arms. She closed her eyes, trying to remember what she was supposed to say. She had only read through the script once, and it physically pained her to a point she couldn’t imagine reading it a second time. She thought she’d manage to remember her own lines, but she didn’t. So, she was forced to do improv. In her mind, at least it was more fun than spouting out G-rated nonsense.

She slammed her hands on her hips. “I’m Mimikyu, and y’all are on my home turf! Buzz off, or I’ll have to call back up!”

Kiawe blinked. “Wait, you’re what now?”

“Oh… oh no!” Mallow played along. “Mimikyu won’t share the peaceful meadows with us! We’ve got to do something!”

“Don’t bother, because I have the toughest Pokémon ever on my side.” Saki huffed and turned her head to the side. “Trubbish! Trubbish! It’s your time to shine!”

Heeding Saki’s call, Sophocles begrudgingly stepped onto the stage. His costume was a literal trash bag with holes cut out for his arms and legs. The face of Trubbish was painted on the front of the trash bag… completing the look. Sophocles hated it, having the urge to leap off the stage and run out the door.

“Ami! Ami! Is that…?”

“No way…”

Aki and Ami’s jaws dropped, seeing Sophocles in such attire. The two looked at each other with wide eyes. Aki instinctively hid his face in his shirt, while Ami broke out into hysterical laughter. The other children began to laugh at poor Sophocles’s outfit as well.

“Ugh… this is the absolute worst.” Sophocle’s hands clenched into fists as he turned to look out into the audience. He noticed Ami and Aki right away, and remembered the Skitty turd that was left on his pillow. He let out a loud gasp.

“You two! You owe me a new pillow case! Ya hear me! You’re not getting away with what you did to me!”

Ami stopped laughing and grabbed onto her brother protectively. “We already did!”

“No, you did not!” Sophocles shouted.

Ami stuck out her tongue, causing Sophocles's fists to shake.

“Once this thing is over,” Sophocles said through a tight-lipped, twitching smile. “I’m going to—!”

“Trubbish! What’s the matter with you? You’re supposed to be helping me protect our turf!”

Saki grabbed Sophocles’s shoulders roughly, pulling him towards her. Sophocles let out a loud groan, wanting nothing to do with the play. He hated the role he was given from the start, but now that he knew the twins were watching, he felt his pride being crushed bit by bit while vengeance burned in his mind. Still, Sophocles had no choice but to perform alongside his classmates.

Sophocles ripped himself from Saki’s grip. He nodded his head, wordlessly agreeing to help defend their “turf.” He continued on and carried himself like he didn’t just shout at two children in the audience, causing Davis to sit with a furrowed brow.

“What was that about? What did that boy say about… a pillow case?” He asked.

Kukui shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Davis found Kukui’s nonchalant attitude strange, to a point where he raised an eyebrow at the man. However, Kukui simply smiled and turned away. Davis shook his head before continuing to watch the play.

“Get off our turf or else,” Sophocles said.

“Oh no! This is really bad!” Mallow shrieked like a damsel in distress.

“I’ll do something about this!” Ash shouted.

Ash charged towards the pair in his giant Pikachu costume, which was a very, very bad idea. He ended up tripping and collapsing onto Saki. He was unable to stand back up within the giant costume. He flailed around like a turtle on its back while Saki struggled to breath.

“Ack! Ash! Ash!” Saki struggled under the weight. “Get off of me!”

“Can’t you see that I’m trying?!”

Eventually, Kiawe had to roll Ash off of Saki. As Kiawe helped the fallen boy back onto his feet, Mallow ran up to Saki’s side.

“Saki! I… I mean Mimikyu! Are you alright?”

“No. I’ve seen the light.” Saki rolled onto her side. “It’s over for me, Steenee. It’s all over. Let the flight of angels sing me to my rest!”

Saki shut her eyes and stuck out her tongue, playing dead. Mallow grabbed the girl’s arm and shook her as if she was trying to wake her up.

Mallow looked up at Sophocles. “Oh no! Mimikyu died! Trubbish! You’ve got to do something about this!”

“What? Why me?” Sophocles jumped back.

“You were Mimikyu’s back up, right?” Mallow asked. “Back her up!”

“Alright! Alright, I will! Watch and learn!”

Sophocles got on his knees, sitting at Saki’s side. He proceeded to place his two hands on her chest and performed CPR.

“Breath Mimikyu, breath! One two three, one two three! C’mon Mimikyu! Live dammit, live! One two three, one two three! One two three, one two three!—”

This went on for a solid minute as the children watched with blank expressions. The other members of the class simply stood back and watched themselves. Saki eventually sat back up and took an exaggerated breath of air.

“I-I’m alive! Goodness, I’m alive! Thank you Trubbish!” Saki shouted.

Mallow, Bob, and Kiawe clapped after Mimikyu’s revival. Lana the tree, believing this disaster posing as a play has gone on from much too long, signaled for Pikachu and Akemi to draw back the curtains. The obeyed, the curtains closing on the play and the actors. The only one left in the audience’s view was Lillie, who was sweating bullets.

“Um… thanks for watching our show! B-bye now!”

Lillie shot forward like an arrow, leaping off the stage and dashing out of the auditorium. The children were oddly silent, as was Davis.  Kukui stopped his recording, slipping his phone back into his lab coat pocket.

Davis turned to Kukui, narrowing his eyes at the man. “You knew something like this would happen, didn’t you?”

Kukui nervously laughed. “Ha ha, what do you mean—?”

“You knew those kids would put on a ridiculous show, didn’t you? That’s why you were filming the show! Admit it!”

“...Bye now!”

Kukui leapt onto his feet and ran out of the auditorium.