324: Game Winning Assist
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327: Eneko to Neko no te! Donmeru no bokujo!
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Yes they're in a dark tunnel running in terror from enraged Slugma, which Skitty apparently pissed off by coming out of its Pokeball and "playing with". Ash spots a crack of light in the side of the tunnel and has Pikachu use Iron Tail to smash though and allow them to leave the Slugma behind and run down the bank of the mountainside.... then slip up and tumble head over heels towards the bottom.
We find them lying at the base of the hill as the narrator explains they tried to take a shortcut through the cave known as the Fiery Cave on their way to Lava Ridge Town. May says that was too close, and then Skitty leaps up and runs over to a Numel, poking it and sniffing it happily and bouncing against it as Ash checks it out with Dextina and finds out it is an incredibly placid Pokemon FILLED WITH HOT MAGMA AND LAVA! which luckily never even realises it is being attacked, but also can't stand being hungry.
Skitty bounces off of it and when it fails to get a reaction seems to finally exhaust its kittenish energy, and then May calls it back into its Pokeball.
Numel wakes up and they wonder if it realised it was being attacked, but it then tromps over to a tree to have a bite to eat, while a Furret approaches from behind and then a voice calls out and a girl approaches with three other Numel. Brock gasps in lust as the girl introduces herself as Julie and the twerps introduce themselves back... and then Brock leaps forward to grab her hands and ask her to a cozy lunch, only to get hit by a burst of Steam from Numel. Numel then turns and wonders towards another tree to have another bite to eat, and Julie sends in Furret to divert it, and apparently despite not noticing lots of things, it DOES notice the small Pokemon.
She explains Furret often helps her get the stray Numel back on track, then looks over the twerps and figures they got diverted during their Fiery Path shortcut towards Lava Ridge Town. She offers them a break at her place and leads them to a small cottage on some nice grass lawns, and tells them they have a long journey ahead of themselves and offers to let them stay overnight at hers, she'll even make dinner. But Brock insists he make the meal, and the twerps agree that he is a great cook.
As the herd of Numel are led into their fenced off area, they're watched from afar by Team Rocket sitting up in a tree. Jesse doesn't think they're any kind of treasure but James notes that their internal magma means they great as "heaters" and tells a tale of his rich youth where his room was heated by herds of Numel venting steam in the room.
In some areas of the world, that's called a Dutch Oven!
Jesse agrees then that they should steal them then sell them to the "losers" living up on the hill!
As Julie feeds the Numel, Brock and Max run down the hill and beg to be allowed to help her out, since apparently life as the secondary characters behind Ash and May can be a bit boring. Brock also takes the opportunity for yet another clumsy come-on, saying,"Why not let a big strong man like myself take a bit of the load off of you!"
But as nerdy Max gets his kicks brushing Numel and Brock feeds berries to the Pokemon in the hope of getting a go at a cherry later on.... what about Ash and May? Well, there they are back up by Julie's cottage, a young boy and girl left all alone together, the boy surely feeling at least some of the first stirrings of hormonal imbalance and the girl's rather obvious charms proving she's no pre-adolescent despite her age. What else would two young, healthy heterosexuals be doing at this point, all alone in a farmhouse with no one else around for miles and nothing to do? well, it starts with F and ends with Ing, and when May offers Ash eagerly accepts, only to lose out when Julie shows up and says she wouldn't mind having a go at May herself, it's been awhile for her but she still thinks she can give as good as it gets....
At this point, Gentle Dodgers, there are a number of people reading this sitting on the edge of their seats with mouths wide open, whispering,"Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease," and we're not going to disappoint them. We all know they come to hear about action, more specifically some awesome girl on girl action, and that's what they're going to get. It starts with F and ends with Ing, and it's....
FIGHTING!
Yes, May wants to give Skitty a few real battles to help work off some of its excess energy. They face off over a dirt clearing near her farmhouse as Ash acts as Judge. Skitty is called out and meows happily, and May orders it to watch Furret's moves closely and.... it runs in excitedly to play with the fluffy long fluffy fluff fluff!
Julie orders Furret to stop running as May cries out for Skitty to watches Furret's movements, and it runs right into Furret and tumbles over, looking pissed. May orders Tackle but Furret dodges, so May orders Doubleslap and Skitty tries, but Furret dodges each move and leaves Skitty exhausted. Julie - oddly enough - suggests now might be a good time to use her Pokedex, so she does and looks over Skitty's possible moves, then order Assist and..... it uses Ember!
Well Ash is completely fucking confused!
May orders Assist again as Ash wisely proclaims to Pikachu that Assist is the same as Ember, only for Assist this time proving to be Silver Wind! But Furret dodges both attacks and tackles Skitty down, handing May an asswhipping. Julie explains that Skitty's assist allows it to use moves that any of her other Pokemon use, and she realises that this is potentially a VERY handy move.
Inside, Skitty and Pikachu eat Julie's Pokeblock, Julie explaining she used to be a Pokemon Coordinator and telling May she is impressed by Skitty's speed and attacks and with just a little practise they could be great. Max calls them to dinner, and they find a very nice looking spread set up for them by Brock, who is still desperately hoping that acting like a doormat who acts as everybody's servant and mother will make women desperately want to bang him. They all settle down (Pikachu gets its own seat at the table!) while outside... something odd is happening.
A giant Numel stomps up towards the Numel enclosure, a robot inside of which is Team Rocket. They grab the sleeping Numel and pop them into the back of the Numel-bot, the noise attracting Furret sleeping next to Julie. In the guest room (with four convenient bunks) Pikachu wakes up and wakes everyone else, and they pop a look outside to see something out of a nightmare.
Skitty leaps out of its Pokeball and excitedly chases them outside as Julie demands to know what is going on, and gets an answer in the form of a motto!
"Prepare for trouble we've got a Numel-mobile!"
"And make it double because we're making it real!"
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"It's Jesse."
"And don't forget James."
"Team Rocket, landing clean at the speed of light,"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"
"Meowth! Yep, dat's right!"
"WOBBBB-BUH!"
"Team Rocket!" roars Ash.
"What do you think you're doing with my Numel?" demands Julie.
"We don't think we know," smirks Jesse,"We're stealing them all!"
"Yes, these cosy Numel will bring a little warmth to our cold hearts and a BIG BULGE to our thin wallets," grins James.
Ash shouts that he'll bring them warmth and has Pikachu use Thunderbolt, but the Numel-mobile seems unaffected. Jesse blows a kiss and then the Numel-mobile stomps towards them to crush them... and Skitty thanks it is wonderful playtime fun! It runs towards the Numel-Mobile and May has to leap to grab Skitty as robotic arms crash down and vault the Numel-mobile over the twerps before withdrawing the mechanical arms (complete with May and Skitty clinging on) inside before taking off. Ash and Brock tell Max that they'll get her back, and jump into the back of Julie's pick-up as Max provides some social commentary and a public service announcement by saying he hopes she has seatbelts in the back.
HEY TRAINERS WHICH OF THESE IS THE BEST CHOICE TO BATTLE KIRLIA? TOGETIC, COMBUSKEN OR GRAVELER? IF YOU CHOSE COMBUSKEN YOU NEGLECTED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT TOGETIC WILL SWALLOW ALL OF YOUR SOULS!
Inside the Numel-Mobile, May tries to wake the sleeping Numel to no effect, and orders Skitty to tackle the wall, only for it to bounce off it and land on Numel, which wakes up and wakes all the others. In the cockpit, Team Rocket talk about what they'll do with all their money when they're living on Easy Street. Meowth is going to eat all kinds of ice-cream, but Jesse insists he isn't thinking big enough and James sighs (obviously used to her stealing the spotlight) and asks her what her big dreams are.
She explains, as we see her living on a tropical island eating whatever the fuck she wants whenever she wants, 24-7 right from the barbeque!
James and Meowth ask if they can be included in her dream and she just stares at them without answer, the awkward silence finally broken by a banging noise. Inside the Numel-Mobile, the Numel are letting off steam and banging against the walls as May tries to wake the other Numel that are still sleeping. Meowth hits a button that lets off some sprinklers and cools down their interior Magma, waking the last sleeping Numel as the others curl up and go back to sleep.
Meanwhile the twerps are standing up in the back of Julie's pick-up, ignoring all kinds of safety laws and putting AMERICA'S CHILDREN AT RISK THROUGH BAD ROLE-MODELING which is only made worse when Julie speeds the pick-up up.
Numel tries to bang its way through the side of the Numel-mobile but can't, so it curls up to go back to sleep. Skitty tries to get through to it, meowing at its sleeping face, and then May remembers Assist and figures they can use Ember. She calls for Assist but instead gets a Gust which cools down Numel, so they try again and this time Ember comes out... and Numel wakes up and lets loose a burst of Flamethrower that wakes the others up, and they all blast flamethrower at the walls and make them glow red with heat, cooking May and Skitty alive and killing them!
Well, maybe not.
Jesse roars at Meowth for not putting an air-conditioner in but he says he was too busy trying to do everything else. He hits the sprinklers and puts the Numel out, until Skitty double-slaps the sprinkler and turns it of, and the Numel again Flamethrower the Numel-Mobile. The controls overheat, causing the Numel-Mobile to crash down and let May, Skitty and the Numel escape as Julie and the twerps arrive.
Julie and Furret reunite with the Numel and Team Rocket snap they need them to get to Easy Street, and send in Seviper and Cacnea, the latter of course leaping right onto James. Seviper tries Poison Tail on Furret but gets Slammed unconscious, and when Cacnea tries Needle-Arm, Pikachu uses Thunderbolt and blasts it back into Team Rocket and sends them blasting off again, moaning that all their fantasies have gone up in smoke.
As everyone congratulates Ash for doing one thing after the battle was essentially over, Numel suddenly becomes wide eyed and runs away... to eat some berries!
The next day, Julie gives the twerps directions on to Lava Ridge town, and Brock zooms up to her to tell her he hopes they will cross paths again, and Max drags him away by the shirt as Brock screams, "YOU COMPLETE ME!"
So the episode ends, seemingly all filler designed to make up space between May's Contest and Ash's Gym Battle.... with one exception. Skitty now knows Assist, filling the void left by Togepi's (seemingly) random Metronome - a move that can encompass any number of other moves. A move that could (and probably will) soon be known not by the name of Assist, but by what it will inevitably be.
Deus Ex Machina.
| BEST QUOTES |
 "Why not let a big strong man like myself take a bit of the load off of you!"  "Yes, these cosy Numel will bring a little warmth to our cold hearts and a BIG BULGE to our thin wallets." "MY SKITTY!""YOU COMPLETE ME!"
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