403: The Scheme Team
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405: Enishida to Batoru Furontia!
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I'm not sure why I was surprised, it's what he does. He takes his sweet ass time getting to a place, then makes a new friend who proceeds to beat him in the quarter finals of the big tournament and then he goes home to his Mum, has a little cry, forgets why he is sad because he's not very smart and then sets off to do the whole thing over again. It's time to put an end to this cycle, dammit; we need to work out a scheme to settle this once and for all. We're going to need....
Having said goodbye to Morrison and Tyson, the twerps are now on their way towards Littleroot Town, and on the way they will.... oh my! Go their separate ways to return to their own homes!?! It's.... it's over!?! Pokémon is over! Oh my God Pokémon ends with Ash losing and going home to become an accountant!
Brock prepares them a meal of sushi, and May and Max are both going to miss Brock cooking for them. Ash and Brock are going to pop in to see Professor Birch before Ash returns to Pallet, and May and Max are going to miss out on that chance but insist that they plan to come and visit him some time.
Following a comedy moment with Munchlax eating their sushi, the twerps move on to a fork in the road where May and Max will go their way and Ash and Brock will go theirs. With a final touch of their hands, they say their goodbyes after months of travelling together and set off for home having failed to achieve their dreams but had a hell of a time on the way - as they say, it's the journey and not the destination.
And then they're off.
Meanwhile.... Team Rocket have returned to Team Rocket Headquarters in Kanto!
Staring miserably at their "castle in the sky" high in rocky mountains, they ramp themselves up by deciding they did a great job in Hoenn and strut up to the guards to report for duty.
Sitting in his giant room overlooking the mountains, Giovanni gets the message over his intercom that Jesse, James and Meowth have returned to report "excellent progress" in the Hoenn Region. With a sigh, Giovanni lets them in and turns to glare at them, nothing like the happy and bizarre homoerotic Boss from the patented Crazy Meowth Giovanni Fantasies we've come to know and love. They enter and try to insist that they've done great work in Hoenn, Meowth almost blowing it when he tells a disbelieving Giovanni that it was worth of shot. They report the disbanding of Team Magma and Aqua (hooray!) and Giovanni grumpily notes that he is already well aware of this, but is finally caught by surprise when Team Rocket insist that THEY are the ones responsible for disbanding both teams. Meowth waxes poetic about how they fought the good fight, and then James blows it by admitting that when they came out of their hiding place the two teams had disappeared, with Jesse hastily covering up by saying that this was due to them scaring the two teams away.
Giovanni could care less after the initial surprise, and tells them that he has a brand new assignment for them! Moments later, we see Team Rocket delightedly walking down the corridors basking in the joy of their new assignment - some place called Antarctica!
Ahahahahaha!
Pig ignorant of where it is, they are bravely talking up their bright futures when two dark spots from the past come zooming towards them on segways.... it's Biff and Cassidy!
"MY NAME'S NOT BIFF IT'S BUTCH AND YOU KNOW IT!" complains Bart.
Cassidy insists they get out of their way, and Jesse brags about their brand new top secret assignment. Cassidy suggests it is taking out the trash, which Jesse thinks isn't a bad idea as she kicks the wheel of the segway and almost causes Cassidy to collapse. They roar angrily at each other, and then a Grunt rushes in with an urgent message for Cassidy and Biff - Doctor Namba needs to see them immediately. They zip off on their scooters, while Jesse leads James and Meowth outside complaining that they need to do something to take Barney and Cassidy down a peg or two, having already forgotten about their "special" assignment to Antarctica from Giovanni.
Their idea to defeat the rampant professionalism of Barney and Cassidy? To get new catchphrases!
Billy and Cassidy come rushing outside and take off on JETPACKS, laughing at Jesse, James and Meowth to eat their exhaust. Jesse roars at a nearby Grunt that they were promised specialised equipment too, and another grunt brings up a covered wagon and reveals just that very thing...... pogo sticks! Soon Jesse, James and Meowth are bouncing away through the mountainside complaining about what secret message Giovanni is trying to send them.
Meanwhile, May and Max have reached Petalburg City and their home. Hugging Caroline, May asks where her Daddy is and it turns out he was sent to pick up groceries. They head out to the domed garden and release May's Pokémon to have a look around, where Munchlax tries to eat all of Slakoth's food and Max asks Caroline to make him a hamburger and about a million French fries - an idea that Munchlax happily agrees with.
Ash and Brock, meanwhile, have presumably been to Littleroot, travelled to Kanto and have now reached the fork between Viridian City and Pewter City, and it's time to go their separate paths - for now at least. They head away, apparently not troubled by their departure as it isn't intended to be a permanent one. Ash settles down to a meal by a pond, and when a Poliwag pops out of the water he excitedly calls Max over to see until he realises that all his buddies are gone. They finish their meal and head on, reaching Viridian City and passing by the Viridian Gym on their way to Pallet Town when a sports car pulls up and.... JOHN CANDY EMERGES!?!
JOHN CANDY!?!
He says his name is Scott and he's an Agent, which are both lies because he is John Candy and he's an actor. He asks if Ash is looking for a Pokémon Battle and learns that Ash already has that badge, which makes Scott wonder if he is good enough for the Battle Frontier. Ash is confused, and then an old woman crashes her bike and groceries just behind them. They help her up and Ash offers to carry her groceries for her, and she tells him to bring them into the Gym. He asks if she works there and she does... her name is Agatha, and she's the Gym Leader!
Oh SNAP!
Inside, the Gym has been extensively redecorated since the days when Giovanni ran it and his Mewtwo kicked Gary's ass. She asks how Scot's scouting has been going and he jokes that he can't tell her if he found any likely trainers on Seafoam Island without making her sign a release form first. She then asks Ash if he would like a Gym Battle and he tells her he already has the Viridian City Gym Badge, so Scott says why not just battle.... for fun!
What is this..... fun.... you speak of?
Agatha could do with a proper challenge, she says she had two challengers the previous day and knocked them both out almost immediately. Ash notes that he did just finish in the Top Eight of the Ever Grande Festival, impressing both of them, and Agatha is keen for a one on one battle, with Scott acting as Judge.
Ash sends in Pikachu, and Agatha uses Gengar, recognising Pikachu's quality. The battle begins and Pikachu tries Quick Attack to start, going right through Gengar, Ash belatedly remembering that normal attacks don't work on Ghost Types, making Agatha question how he could POSSIBLY forget that? Ash tries a Thunderbolt instead, and Gengar slides flat onto the ground and zips past an astonished Pikachu.
It blasts at Pikachu with Shadowball, which Pikachu barely dodges before slapping Gengar back against the roof with a quick Iron Tail. Pikachu leaps for Gengar and then decides to stop in midair and wait to allow Gengar to use Shadowball.... just so it can show off by jumping off of the Shadowball for an attempted Iron Tail. Gengar uses Double Team to send doppelgangers flying around Pikachu and freak it out, but Ash has it zap its way through them with Thunderbolt as it tries to unleash a Shadowball. It gets it off, but not before getting smacked in the face by Thunderbolt, and Pikachu dodges the Shadowball and comes in for a final Iron Tail to smash Gengar off of its feet and then finish things off with Thunder..... but then Gengar rises up and uses Hypnosis to put Pikachu under before knocking it out with a massive blast of Dream Eater!
She congratulates Ash for giving her a real run for her money and demonstrating creativity. Ash thanks her but says he is nowhere near as good as her, at which point Scott reveals that she does just happen to be A MEMBER OF THE GODDAMN ELITE MOTHERFUCKING FOUR!
Yes, it turns out that the ACTUAL Gym Leader is still travelling to take over the place, and Agatha is filling in until then. They didn't tell Ash because they didn't want to intimidate him or throw him off of his game, which he happily admits is likely what WOULD have happened if he had known. She tells him that if he keeps training, he will go far, and THAT is one hell of an endorsement.
Outside of the Gym, Team Rocket have ditched the pogo sticks and gone back to the tried and true method of a Happy Buddha Face Meowth Balloon, watching Ash and Pikachu leaving the Gym through their binoculars, Jesse admitting that as much as it pains her to do so, she has to admit that Pikachu really is quite a Pokémon, they overheard (somehow) Agatha endorsing him.
Outside of the Gym, Scott is chatting with Ash about the Battle Frontier, overheard by Team Rocket as well who are VERY interested. Scott explains the concept of the Battle Frontier - 7 "Frontier Brains" who are every bit as strong as Agatha are in charge of seven different Battle Facilities spread out across Kanto. If Ash can defeat a Frontier Brain, he gains a Frontier Symbol (like a Gym Badge) from them. If he can get six Frontier Symbols, he will be given the location of the 7th and final Battle Facility, the hardest and toughest of them all, and get to challenge that Frontier Brain.
Ash is enthralled, as is Team Rocket overhearing who believe that Giovanni meant Frontier Brains when he said Lamebrains to them earlier! Ash tells Scott he means to take part in the Battle Frontier and fight 7 of the best trainers in all of Kanto.... and then his fat pet rat gets stolen!
"From beyond the stars, a nasty surprise!"
"An evil as old as the galaxy!"
"Sent here to fulfil our destinies!"
"PLUS DERE'S ME!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jesse."
"And James."
"And Meowth are da names! HA!"
"Anywhere there's peace in the universe!" proclaims Jesse.
"Team Rocket!" adds James.
"Will be dere!" throws in Meowth.
"To make everything worse!" they all finish together.
"WOBBUFFET!"
"CHIIIIME!"
Hey.... that's a new motto!
Scott wants to know who they are and Team Rocket mistakenly believe he doesn't know because they changed their motto. Ash shouts for them to stop and then.... Pikachu is cut free by Agatha's Golbat!
Oh shit, pissed off old lady!
She tells them to leave while they can and Jesse stupidly doesn't take the advice, and her and James try to fight her with Seviper and Cacnea (James asking if it's happy hugging shouldn't have gone out with the "old" Team Rocket) only for Ash to get the now free Pikachu to batter the shit out of Seviper by itself, ending up with Jesse get a mouthful of Seviper's head (Oh be nice, Gentle Dodgers) which causes Scott to chuckle,"Woah! Right in the kisser!"
Cacnea uses Pin Missile, but Golbat Supersonics them back at Team Rocket, before it and Pikachu team up to send the "new" Team Rocket blasting off again, Jesse complaining that the new Team Rocket is getting the same ending as the old one!
With them gone, Scott heads off in his sports car, telling Ash he'll see him soon, and finally Ash moves on from Viridian City. He travels through the wilderness towards Pallet Town as the narrator tells us that he is thinking about his adventures in Hoenn (or more precisely, nothing!). He reaches town and heads down to his house, entering and calling out to his mother, and out comes..... Misty!
Woah, Morrison lost his fat and his balls!
Ash looks hilariously confused as to why Misty would be there (hahaha) and completely negates her attempts to make him jealous by showing off her Azurill and telling him that Tracey gave it to her. Professor Oak is there too (of course, haha!) and Delia and Mr. Mime have made up a big meal for Ash. He wants to eat immediately, as Misty mutters that she was kind of hoping he could tell her some travel stories. A honk of the horn outside gets their attention and they head outside to find Professor Birch in his ACTION Jeep and.... Max!?!
What the hell is Max doing there? Will Misty go to bed crying again? Where is May? What about Brock? And what about this new Battle Frontier?
Most importantly of all.... what about Team Rocket's new motto!?! It's all new (and old) again, Gentle Dodgers, looks like things aren't ending for us JUST yet!
| BEST QUOTES |
 "We were battling 'em toof and nail... for awhile dere it looked like we were gonnahs but we never gave up and finally our bravery and cleverness triumphed!" "And when we came out of our hiding place they'd all just disappeared!" ..... :O
"Those two think they're so cool with their little scooters!""They were kind of cool...."
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