(Today, Mew and her friends have stopped at a beautiful spot to enjoy a brief break from their trip to the Johto League.)
Misty: "Wow! What a view! And the weather is just perfect."
(Misty says.)
Brock: "Yeah, and speaking of, this fresh mountain air sure helps you work up an appetite."
(Brock says.)
Tomo: "Mine doesn't need any help."
(Tomo says.)
Mew: "It's a great day to relax on a bright sunny day."
(Mew says.)
Jen: "Yeah. It's really nice."
(Jen says.)
(Just then, Pichu lets out a small sneeze and electricity leaks out of her cheeks.)
(Misty giggles.)
Misty: "Oh Pichu."
(Suddenly, the group hears a strange sound and looks to see something up ahead.)
(A sheep-like Pokémon with fluffy cream-colored wool covering its entire body, as well as a curly tuft of wool in the middle of its head.)
(Its head is blue, and it has black eyes.)
(Its four feet are blue and have two digits on each foot, and it appears to be on tiptoe at all times.)
(Its conical ears and tail have a yellow-and-black striped pattern.)
(It has an orange sphere at the end of its tail, which acts like a small light bulb.)
(This sphere glows brighter the more electricity it has.)
(It seems to have a pink ribbon and a bell around its neck.)
(Next to it, is a smaller version of the Pokemon and seems to be shy that it's hiding the other Pokemon.)
Misty: "Oh, what's that?"
(Misty asks.)
Brock: "I've never seen one in person before, but I think those are Mareep."
(Brock says.)
Jen: "It's cute."
(Jen says.)
Mew: "Let's se."
(Mew says, and brings out her Pokedex.)
(Dexter says.)
Dexter: "Mareep, the Wool Pokemon. And Electric Type Mareep store static electricity in their wooly coats. They avoid battles and have mild dispositions."
(Misty chuckles.)
Misty: "But Dexter didn't say how cute they are."
Tomo: "What's a Mareep doing here?"
(Tomo asks.)
Mew: "It must belong to someone. I think it has a bell around its neck."
(Suddenly, the Mareep with the bell dashes towards the group.)
(The little one follows.)
Mew: "This Mareep doesn't look too mild to me!"
(Mew says, shocked.)
(Before anyone can react, Mareep leaps towards the group, but while everyone moves out of the way, Pikachu and Pichu end up having Mareep on top of them.)
Mew: "Pikachu!"
(Mew cries out.)
(Misty panics.)
Misty: "Pichu!"
(Frightened, both Pikachu and Pichu let out their electric attack, but it causes Mareep's fleece to get larger and larger.)
Tomo: "It got bigger!"
(Tomo says, surprised.)
(Everyone is amazed to see it.)
Tomo: "How did that happen?"
(Tomo asks.)
Brock: "I see. It used Pikachu and Pichu's electricity to puff up its fleece."
(Brock says)
Misty: "Like a hairdryer?"
(Misty asks.)
(Suddenly, Jen and Tomo hear baaing and look to see the little Mareep.)
Jen: "Hello little one."
(Jen says, and gently pats its fleece, match to its satisfaction.)
(Although, it blushes and looks a bit shy.)
(Suddenly, everyone hears thundering hooves, and turns to see a WHOLE HERD of Mareep heading towards them.)
(Everyone duck and panic as the crowd of Mareep surround Pikachu and Pichu.)
Mew: "Pikachu!"
(Mew cries out.)
Misty: "Pichu!"
(Misty panics.)
(Mew shouts.)
Mew: "Hey, get off of them!"
Misty: "Quit it!"
(Misty shouts.)
(Brock shouts.)
Brock: "Knock it off!"
Tomo: "Stop it!"
(Tomo shouts.)
(Pikachu and Pichu use their attack again, causing the Mareep fleece to puff.)
(Soon, the little walks closer and its fleece puffs up.)
Tomo: "Now they're all getting puffed up!"
(Tomo says.)
(Suddenly, someone shouts.)
???: "Stop!"
(Everyone turns to see a little girl with brown hair, wearing a pink shirt, pink vest, and white, green and red skirt running towards them.)
(The girl calls out.)
girl: "Leave that Pikachu and Pichu alone! You all know better than to gang up on another Pokemon like that! Now stop it!"
(The Mareep with the bell around its neck recognizes the girl and does what she says.)
(However, the others aren't listening.)
(The girl continues to try to stop the Mareep Herd.)
girl: "Leave that Pikachu and Pichu alone, I said! That electricity's not for you, now get away! Somebody's gonna get hurt, now, come on! Get away, I said!"
(but gets pushed back by one of the Mareep's tail.)
Mew: "Are you okay, little girl?"
(Mew asks.)
(The Mareep with the pink ribbon and bell walk over.)
(The girl asks.)
The girl: "Fluffy, why won't they listen?"
(Suddenly, someone calls out.)
???: "Mary!"
(Everyone, including the Mareep, looks to see a grown woman with dark brown hair, wearing a similar outfit to the little girl, Mary.)
(She also has a Raichu by her side.)
Mary: "It's mommy."
(The girl, Mary says.)
(The woman calls out.)
???: "Raichu, use Thunderbolt."
(Raichu does so and leads the Mareep herd away from the Pokemon.)
Jen: "What's happening?"
(Jen asks.)
(Everyone looks to see the Mareep skip and prance around happily around the attack.)
Mew: "The Mareep are being herded away from Pikachu, that's what's happening."
Jen: "That's amazing!"
(Jen says.)
Brock: "Yeah. It's almost like they're taking a static electricity shower."
(Brock says.)
(Pikachu and Pichu return to their trainers, much to their relief.)
(Then the woman says.)
???: "Alright, Raichu. That'll be enough."
(Raichu stops the attack.)
(Then the woman calls out.)
???: "Let's everybody head on back!"
(With that, the Mareep takes the woman's lead.)
(The woman says.)
???: "Straighten up those lines, now. Back to that corral, and that means no grazing."
(Then turns to see the little Mareep next to Jen.)
???: "Come on little one, that means you too."
(Little Mareep then follows the herd back home.)
Misty: "Wow. I can't believe how obedient those Mareep are being."
(Misty says.)
Mew: "Yeah."
(Mew agrees.)
Brock: "I bet it's a tough job training all those Pokémon at once."
(Brock says.)
(The woman says to her Raichu.)
???: "Raichu, make sure they get back safely."
(Raichu agrees and guides the Mareep back.)
(The woman then turns to Mary.)
???: "Mary."
Mary: "Yes, mom?"
(Mary asks.)
???: "You'd better head back to the house."
(The woman says.)
Mary: "Kay."
(Mary says.)
(Soon, everyone joins Mary and her mother, whose name is Ellen.)
(Ellen says.)
Ellen: "I'm sorry about what happened. Our Mareep love electricity so much, they can't get enough. I hope you all weren't hurt."
Mew: "We're okay and everything worked out."
(Mew says.)
(Then Brock says.)
Brock: "Oh, Misty. Why couldn't she be ten years younger?"
Misty: "Oh boy."
(Misty replies.)
Mary: "I only took my eyes off the Mareep for a second, and they got away from me. Sorry you got shocked, Mew, you too, Misty."
(Mary apologizes.)
Misty: "Oh, that was nothing. Mew gets shocked so much, she practically runs on electricity."
(Misty says.)
(Mew laughs.)
Mew: "That's true."
(Just then, Ellen says.)
Ellen: "Something tells me you were daydreaming about Pokémon battles again. Were you?"
Mary: "Yes."
(Mary answers.)
Ellen: "I told you, you're supposed to be keeping an eye on those Mareep."
(Ellen says.)
Mary: "But mom, the festival starts next week."
(Mary says.)
Mew: "What festival?"
(Mew asks.)
Ellen: "Oh, it's a big event. There are rides and shows, and all kinds of competitions."
(Ellen answers.)
Everyone: "Really?"
(The group asks.)
Ellen: "For as long as anyone remembers, the Mareep in our valley have given us the best wool in the world. And so every..."
(Ellen says.)
Misty: "Let me guess. And so every year, you have a festival to honor the Mareep."
(Misty says.)
Ellen: "Right. It's an important part of our history, and it's also lots of fun, because we have lots of Mareep judging and Pokemon battles."
(Ellen says.)
Mew: "Sounds cool. I wouldn't mind entering it."
(Mew says.)
Tomo: "Me too."
(Tomo says.)
(But Ellen says.)
Ellen: "I'm sorry, but only people who live in the valley can enter."
Mew: "Oh, that's too bad."
(Mew says.)
Tomo: "Yeah. It will be great to battle before we head to the Azalea gym."
(Tomo says.)
Mary: "The Azalea gym?"
(Mary asks, taking an interest.)
Mary: "If you're going to the Azalea gym, you must be on your way to the Johto League!
Mew: "Yeah. I already won a Zephyr badge at the Violet City gym."
(Mew says.)
(Mary becomes excited.)
Mary: "Wow, that's awesome! I wanna learn how to battle, too!"
(Then turns to her mom.)
Mary: "Mommy, can I enter the Mareep Festival Pokemon battle and battle Pokémon like Mew does?"
(But Ellen says.)
Ellen: "You may not."
Mary: "Why?"
(Mary asks.)
Ellen: "I've told you before, you're too young."
(Ellen answers.)
(But Mary says.)
Mary: "No, I'm not!"
(Then Ellen says.)
Ellen: "You're just not ready for battling yet. If you still have trouble handling your Mareep out in the field, how are you going to handle them in a battle?"
Mary: "But, I...."
(Mary says.)
(But Ellen interrupts.)
Ellen: "Mary! The festival is only five days away and you still have plenty of work to do. You need to stop dreaming about battling and concentrate on getting the Mareep ready for the contest."
(Then Brock says.)
Brock: "Excuse me, ladies. If I may, I'd like to humbly offer my assistance of myself and my friends."
Jen: "What?"
(Jen asks, confused.)
Mew: "What are you talking about, Brock?"
(Mew asks.)
Misty: "Since when are you humble?"
(Misty says, confused.)
(Ellen happily says.)
Ellen: "Oh, thank you. We could certainly use all the help we can get."
[To Be Continued...]