Previously on Oranges to Grapes...
The Pomegranetes plus Samuel sit down to watch the stage show at the Festival of Masks, starting with Act 1 showing how Ogerpon's arrival spearheaded the first Festival before Act 2 starts...
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The old couple sat on their tatami mats as the caretaker narrated. "The elderly couple had no children of their own, despite their best interests. Knowing that their chances had run out, they had been disheartened for their future... but they had something else that gave their lives meaning again: a small Pokemon they adopted as their own son and cared for dearly. And when that Pokemon grew enough, it wanted to repay their love for it so it could have even more..."
One of the kuroko entered the scene with a Pecharunt puppet on one hand, while the other carried a plate of purple mochi dumplings towards the elderly couple. "Cha cha cha," the kuroko said for the puppet as the plate was placed between them.
"Oh, well, thank you, Pecharunt," the old man said with a smile. "My wife and I were feeling a little snacky, weren't we, honey?"
"Yes indeed, dear," the old woman agreed. "Thank goodness our darling Pecharunt is here to tend to our every need, just like we raised him."
"Time to dig in," they both said before they took a bite of the mochi. (which was actually purple potato dango, as a disclaimer carried by two kuroko said while they quietly stepped past the stage) Soon, their eyes lit up, and they ate into the mochi more hungrily.
"Cha cha," the kuroko said happily for the puppet.
The plate was quickly finished, and the old couple said, "Thank you for the meal!" But their eyes opened up, and they were revealed to have purple irises!
"You know, it's the strangest thing," the man said. "Suddenly I feel like getting a boxed Pecha Berry, I don't know why."
"Oh, and my clothes feel a bit worn out and dingey," the woman added as she pulled on her kimono. "If only I had a fresh, new outfit to wear."
"Cha cha cha!" the kuroko piped up for the puppet. It was then carried off outside of the house, leaving the old couple behind before a paper wall was put up, closing the house off to the audience... then the puppeteer kuroko spoke.
"I had a feeling my Binding Mochi would have an effect on the two humans who took me in," the puppeteer began his soliloquy with. "They had just expressed their wants in front of me, and now I can take the steps to satisfy those wants. If this doesn't keep me in their good graces, nothing will. It's a good thing I had the forethought to recruit some outside help." Footsteps were heard offstage, and the kuroko turned the puppet to the side before adding, "Ah, that must be them now."
From stage left came a performer in a full-body Okidogi costume carrying wooden boxes to the porch where the puppeteer stood. "Grrific," the suit actor said as the boxes were placed down in front of the house. "Here you go, Pecharunt, as requested."
"Thank you, Okidogi," the kuroko said for the puppet. "You always do serve me well." The puppet stroked the top of the suit's head, which activated a hidden button that made the suit's tail wag.
"Aw, think nothing of it," the suit actor said with gratitude. "It's the least I could do after you gave me these awesome muscles!" He then flexed his arms, which made the audience ooh and ahh, before footsteps were heard again. "Oh, gotta go."
The suit actor exited stage left before the old couple entered stage right to rejoin the puppeteer. "Is everything alright out there?" the man asked with concern. "We thought we heard something outside."
"Oh, my, would you look at that," the woman exclaimed as she noticed the wooden boxes. "Someone delivered packages just for us... and they're Pecha Berries and new kimonos! Just what we wanted!"
"Pecharunt, did you bring these... for us?" the man asked.
"Cha cha," the kuroko said for the puppet.
"Oh, Pecharunt," the woman cooed. "How thoughtful!"
As the old couple hugged the puppet, the caretaker took over. "And so, the old couple and Pecharunt continued their days together as such. Every so often, Pecharunt would feed the couple his Binding Mochi, they would express their wants under its influence, then Pecharunt would send Okidogi to fetch what was requested... but it wasn't much longer before the couple's requests began to get repetitive, making the cycle grow stale. Happy as Pecharunt was that the love he strived for kept going strong, he started to get bored of the same old things over and over. But just as the cycle was about to get broken... a miracle happened in the form of an outside advertisement."
The porch was empty after the speech, but less than a second later, a hidden arrow popped out from the side of one of the beams with a piece of paper attatched to it. The old man came out to see what the commotion was, and saw the arrow.
"What was that sound outside, dear?" the old woman asked from inside the house.
"Oh, it was just an advertisement, honey," the man assured as he took the paper off of the arrow.
"Oh, typical," the woman supposed. "They always land during dinnertime. Speaking of which, Pecharunt made more mochi for us."
"Coming, honey," the man said, and as he reentered the house, the sheet was taken down by the kuroko, revealing the woman and the puppeteer around another plate of purple mochi, waiting for the man to join them. Once he did...
"Time to dig in," the couple said as they ate the purple mochi, just as before.
"So, dear," the woman queried after her first dumpling, "what was the ad that hit us about?"
"Oh, I have it right here," the man said as he paused his eating to show his wife the paper, and the kuroko angled the puppet to see over their shoulders. "It says that there's a festival going on in some distant land called... Kite o' Cammie, or something along those lines? No, wait, it's Kitakami. Apparently, they're holding it in honor of some special Pokemon and its Trainer, and... Ooh, pretty..."
"What is it?" the woman asked. "And what? Some special Pokemon and its Trainer and what?"
"Look."
The woman looked closer at the flyer, and the couple's eyes lit purple again later than usual because they didn't eat as much as they usually did, but it still took effect as they saw the drawings of four glittering masks on the paper, and were hooked. "Pretty..."
"Cha..." the kuroko said for the puppet, just as spellbound.
"Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your whole life, honey?" the man asked.
"Not that I can say," the woman admitted, "but this is only a picture, so it couldn't possibly do the real thing any justice." She then gasped and added, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, dear?"
"I think I am," the man said.
"We should see the real masks for ourselves!" the couple said together. "Could you get them for us, Pecharunt?"
"Cha cha cha! Cha cha cha!" the kuroko cheered for the puppet, waving it around excitedly.
The caretaker narrated, "At long last, Pecharunt found a request that could send him on a journey, and he was overjoyed that his owners' home recieved that ad. The next day, Pecharunt said his farewells to the old couple and set out for the land of Kitakami, joined by Okidogi when they were out of eyeshot."
The kuroko changed the scenery again, this time to an open field where the puppeteer kuroko and the suit actor were walking in place. "Isn't this exciting, Okidogi? Our first trip outside of the village, and I get to come along with you," the kuroko said for the puppet before adding, "Although, I am kind of nervous that it's just the two of us going so far away from home for this fetch..."
"Maybe not," the suit actor suggested. "Maybe we could recruit some help along the way."
"What do you mean by that?" the kuroko asked for the puppet.
"Remember when you gave me the mochi that made me like this?" the suit actor explained. "Well, once I got these awesome muscles, I was so excited that I got sidetracked and didn't eat all of them. And when I remembered that there were leftovers... the plate was already cleared out. So, some other Pokemon out there may be under your influence and don't realize it."
"Is that so?" the kuroko mused for the puppet as a tree prop was being tugged towards them by some fishing line. "Well, on the one hand, interesting to know that my Binding Mochi's influence can be spread out when shared, but on the other hand-"
"Look out!" another voice called from offstage. "That tree branch is about to fall on both of you!"
"Wha- Who said that!?" the kuroko demanded for the puppet as he and the suit actor stopped, and the tree stopped as well as a branch fell down inches away from the pair!
"AIPE!" the suit actor yipped.
"Mochiwawa!" the kuroko shouted for the puppet. "Whoa, that was a close call! One step further, and we would've been pressed flatter than rice paper! Whoever that was, thank you! You just saved our lives!"
"I had a feeling you'd be grateful," the voice said, "so allow me to introduce myself." Entering from stage right was another suit actor; a much shorter one in a Munkidori costume. "I am known as Munkidori, and ever since I snagged some magic purple dumplings way back when, I have gained the power to see up to 10 seconds into the future. Speaking of which..." He then raised his hands and added, "you might want to step to the side in 4 seconds."
Deciding to trust his prediction, the puppeteer kuroko and the Okidogi suit actor moved to the side, and a large foam rock fell to where they previously stood. "Whoa! Where did that boulder come from!?" the Okidogi suit actor asked.
"Hey, I said I could see into the future, not the past," the Munkidori suit actor shrugged.
"At that moment," the caretaker narrated, "Pecharunt explained that the 'magic purple dumplings' came from him, and offered Munkidori to join him and Okidogi to Kitakami. He did, and the three continued on their journey... but it wasn't long before they ran into more trouble."
The kuroko changed the scenery again, this time to a dark, jagged cave. The suit actors were huddled close around the puppet, which the puppeteer kuroko kept between them. "Boy, it sure is dark in here," the kuroko said for the puppet.
"Tell me about it," the Okidogi suit actor said. "Good thing there's a light coming up at the end of the tunnel."
"That's not the only good thing," the Munkidori suit actor added as he raised his arms. "I can see that in 5 seconds, we'll be meeting someone who will join us."
"Perhaps they- wait," the kuroko started for the puppet before stopping his sentence short. He then sniffed and asked, "Ooh, what is that surprisingly pleasant aroma?"
"Just me," said a fourth voice from offstage... and in from stage left came a third suit actor, this one tall, thin, and wearing a flowing feather outfit. "And my name's Fezendipiti, enchanter of hearts."
The caretaker narrated, "Fezendipiti explained that he got his pheromone powers after picking up a trail of 'squishy, sweet purple rice cakes,' as he put in his own words, which Munkidori admitted dropping, further cementing his status as Pecharunt's third retainer. The group then decided that if they were to be a team, they would need a name... and they settled on 'Pecharunt and the Loyal Three.' With all that, they set off once again for the land of Kitakami, more certain than ever that they would reach the goal of their quest..." As the kuroko cleared out the stage again, the caretaker came back to the easel and flipped the page to the words "Act 3..."
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To be continued.
