Ariel finds a bottle with a message inside. The message is from someone named Simon asking for help, saying that they are a prisoner in a sea monster’s cave. On the other side of the note is a map showing where the cave can be found. Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian head out to find the cave, unaware that enemies of Atlantica are preparing to cause trouble by disguising themselves as anemones.
Ariel’s group soon finds the sea monster’s cave, and a lanternfish offers to shine the way for them, as the cave is very dark. In the cave, the group encounters several unfamiliar creatures. Ariel makes friends with each of them, but a giant squid warns them not to go down the deep path of the cave, as a sea monster lives down there. Ariel continues in that direction anyway, since she still needs to help the author of the message. The passageway ends with a door that looks like a clamshell. Sebastian thinks they should turn around, but the door then opens and the current drags the friends down into the deepest part of the cave. Ariel and her friends land in a big dish full of seaweed. They hear a loud roar and footsteps and try to escape from the cave, but before they can get anywhere, the sea monster arrives, a huge reptilian creature. The monster eats a seaweed taco (almost accidentally eating Sebastian in the process), and soon finds the group. Ariel and her friends escape through a passageway too small for the monster, but they then get caught in a giant anemone. The monster soon finds them and delightedly says they’re just in time for dinner. Ariel asks what happened to Simon, and the monster reveals that he is Simon. He wrote the letter in the bottle because he is lonely and was hoping someone could come by to be his friend. Ariel agrees to stay for Simon’s party, to his excitement. Simon says that everyone is afraid of him and he doesn’t fit in anywhere, but Ariel encourages him to come out of this cave and think more positively.
Simon comes with the group back to Atlantica, though Sebastian has some misgivings about this idea. When Triton sees Simon, he initially thinks Atlantica is under attack, and when Simon tries to fit through the doors of the palace, he gets stuck and makes the whole building shake. Triton soon guesses that this is the result of another one of Ariel’s misadventures. When Ariel explains that Simon just needs some friends, Triton allows Simon to stay for the time being, though he looks worried about the idea.
Because Simon is too big to fit inside the palace, he spends the night outside in the sea anemones, accidentally thwarting the attempted infiltration by the enemy anemones when he lies on top of them. Simon tries to please King Triton by serenading the palace with his yodeling, but no one is very pleased by this, not even Ariel.
The next morning, the whole palace shakes when Simon practices his exercises right outside. Simon soon senses that he isn’t liked, and slinks off, feeling depressed again. Triton goes after Simon to apologize.Once Triton is gone, the enemy anemones attack Atlantica, but Simon and Triton soon return and send them fleeing.
Triton names Simon a friend of Atlantica and says he is welcome here anytime. Simon decides to go and make friends with every creature in the sea.
Tropes
- Ambiguous Syntax: When the monster catches Ariel and her friends, he says they’re just in time for dinner. Sebastian thinks he’s going to eat them, but it turns out the monster just wanted some friends to join him for his dinner party.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Simon’s huge size makes it difficult for him to be around the smaller sea folk without scaring them or accidentally breaking their things.
- Gentle Giant: Simon is a friendly monster, though his huge size sometimes makes him accidentally dangerous to those around him.
- Message in a Bottle: Simon sends messages in bottles to attract people to his lair, in the hope that they will become friends with him.
- Sacred Hospitality: Triton feels a sense of duty to be a good host to Simon, despite Simon’s obnoxious behavior.
- Walking the Earth: At the end, Simon decides to leave Atlantica and make friends with every creature he comes across.
