“Hello again, ladies and gentlemon!” shouts Ringmaster Raichu at the center stage. “Welcome to Ringmaster Raichu’s Big Top Circus! It’s so good to see you all back again for yet another fine evening!” The audience cheers and claps. “Enough of my humbo jumbo! Shall we get started?!” Every pokemon yells with a “yeah!” “Then, let’s start the show!” The corny music and spotlights aim. Various pokemon come out to perform and do their skits. Yeah, you know the deal… Fast forward toward the end, all the performers ready themselves retreat behind the ring. A new performance is about to commence. “Now, for the grand finale, Folks! And for this, it is with great pleasure as we welcome back one of our greatest performers of all time. Ladies and gentlemon, please help me welcome back Zach the Rambunctious Riolu!” The crowd roars. He extends his paw up to the diving board up high, which also directs the spotlight up there. Zach, with a baby’s bonnet and rattle, stands over the long, wooden board, which stands several feet in the air. Behind him is a background of a building on fire. The performers below rush out from on top of Richie the Mammoswine; all donning fire helmets. The whole act is about saving the “baby riolu” from a towering inferno as a means to “shake things up” as the ringmaster had intended. The “makeshift fire brigade” scramble about on the ground floor, incompetently spraying water and bumping into each other. The audience chuckles and laughs upon their comedy. As part of the final scene, they all gather around a large trampoline, holding it near the tower and prompting the riolu to jump. Zach, nervously looking over, slowly starts to back up. However, he is “helped over” from Betty squirting her stream of water from behind, causing him to fall four stories through the trampoline and into a vat of pie filling, which was under it. The spectators all stand and cheer, clapping and roaring with excitement. Zach slowly emerges from the vat, revealing to be covered from head-to-toe in pie filling, prompting the entire circus to laugh and chuckle at his misery. His ears droop down and a frown occupies his face as the goop slides off like his pride and happiness.
***
Later, Zach sits in a metal bathtub of soap and water. His expression hasn’t changed since that act. Elle is beside him, helping wash away the pie filling from his body.
“That was really something, Zach!” She says with a smile on her face. “You’ve still got it!” The riolu sniffles and huffs, remaining silent. “Aw, don’t feel down, Zachy. You were incredible out there! They loved you!” More huffing occurs, with the addition of tears streaming down his cheek. “Aw, come on, Zachy… Cheer up…” The riolu keeps silent, sniffling as more tears drop.
Betty appears and comes in. “Oh, hey, Elle. Zach… How you doing?”
Elle stops and looks at the brionne. “Hi, Betty.”
The brionne faces the riolu next. “Heard you flunked at the academy. What happened over there?”
Elle stops washing the riolu and flies over to the seal pokemon. “Now’s not the time to discuss this, Betty… Zach’s upset about the whole thing…”
“Why? He afraid of admitting he’s nothing but a screw up?”
“Betty, please…”
“No…” The girls turn to hear him utter in a lone tone. “Maybe she’s right…” He turns to them. “Maybe I am a big screwup… Maybe I do belong here…”
“Zach…” Elle flies over to the riolu. “Come on, now… Don’t think like that… So what if everything didn’t turn out at the academy? You’re still an adventurer and hero in my eyes…”
Zach turns to his girlfriend. “You’re not disappointed in me? You’d still love a pathetic loser like me?”
“You’re more than a pathetic loser, Zach… Besides, what happened at the academy wasn’t your fault. Cindy set you up!”
Betty raises an eyebrow. “You know?”
“I was there… I saw it happen… Cindy used her dirty magic to sabotage Zach.”
“That… doesn’t surprise me…” claims Betty. “She’s always used her telekinesis tricks when she was here to prank other pokemon.”
“I’m guessing she wanted me to think Zach was a loser and break up with him by getting him kicked from the academy. It won’t work, though… Zach has a wonderful personality and he’s shown he can be caring and loyal. It would be hard for Cindy to break us apart.”
Zach manages a smile. “Thank you, Honey…”
“You’re not afraid of your sister’s wrath?” asks Betty. “Aren’t you scared she’ll harm you in any way?”
“I’ve put up with her behavior since we hatched,” Elle tells her. “I know her too well. Whatever she tries, she’s not going to get me to break up with Zach.”
“Excuse me,” calls a voice from the entry. The pokemon look and notice a togetic with a mail carrier bag and hat come in. “I’m looking for a riolu named ‘Zach.’”
“Uh, right here…” Zach gets out of the bathtub and wraps a towel around his waist. He then walks up to the messenger in front of the girls. “What do you need?”
“I have something for you…” The carrier reaches into the bag by their side and pulls out an envelope. “This is for you.” Zach grabs it from them. “You have been served…”
“W-what? What does that mean…?” The togetic turns and exits the dwelling, leaving the three pokemon to ponder what’s been received. Upon opening the packet, the riolu looks at the contents within. He drops the letter, frozen with shock, before collapsing onto his seat. “Oh… Arceus…”
“What?!” cries Betty. “What is it?!”
Elle picks up the letter to review what the riolu had read. “It’s a court summons… They want Zach to appear in court on… Huh, okay…”
“A court summons?!” Betty looks to Zach. “Was the school incident really that bad?!”
“It’s not about the academy… It’s Delilah the Lucario… She pressed charges against Zach…”
Betty looks at the shiny celebi. “Who is Delilah? That name seems familiar…”
“She was known as the ‘Runaround Riolu.’”
“Her?! Why would she press charges against Zach?”
“I’m guessing she wants to keep Zach away from her and her family.” Betty asks her how Zach would know her. “She’s Zach’s biological mother…”
“Oh, damn…”
Zach remains sitting on the floor, dripping with water. “I just wanted to reconnect with my biological family… I constantly went up to her just to talk with her… I wasn’t expecting her to do this…”
“Apparently, she did not think that way…”
“Don’t worry, Zach,” Elle tells him. “I’ll be by your side for the case.”
Zach turns to his girlfriend. “Y-you will?”
“Of course.” She kneels to his level and holds his paw. “I’ll be by your side, always..." Her smile helps give the riolu some hope inside.
