446: New Plot, Odd Lot
Dodgy Synopsis
|
450: Hari ando Roketto-dan! Akuyaku Domei Kessei!?
|
Today finds the twerps at the local Pokémon Centre, where all of May's Pokémon have been checked up by Nurse Joy. May asks them if they're all up for the upcoming Contest and May's fifth ribbon, and yes they're all eager and willing. Nurse Joy notices their enthusiasm and starts making chit-chat with May, during which time she drops the bombshell that this is actually May's last chance! Yes it seems that the Grand Festival is to be held NEXT MONTH! That means this is May's last chance, if she doesn't get a ribbon now, she won't qualify!
Oh my, no more going from contest to contest? They're making forward progress! It's.....
They head off for a drink, which May slurps through a straw before moaning that she is under too much pressure. She doesn't know if she is ready for all this, Drew will torture her forever if she loses! Max asks if she's doing this all for Drew, and she mutters no of course not, but she just KNOWS that based on his smarmy attitude the last time they met, he MUST have five ribbons already, and she'll never live it down if she doesn't qualify as well. Ash tells her that he'll help her, then suddenly looks shocked. She asks why, and the answer is.... HARLEY!
Yes it's the delightfully androgynous Harley, who giggles and asks May how her and her "brood of boytoys" are. Brock growls that they should ignore him, but May ignores Brock (as all girls do), leaping up to tell Harley that only one of them will win today and make it to the Grand Festival, and that is going to be her. Harley laughs that she is cute when she is angry, then "accidentally" drops his ribbon case, and when May picks it up she discovers.... Harley already has all five ribbons!
Harley laughs that there is no need for him to compete, but all the pressure is on May now to try to emulate him.
"He's sooooo weird!" gasps Ash.
"You're sooooo.... annoying!" growls May. "I love you too," laughs Harley, then saunters off with a twitch of his hips, as May growls to Ash that it is time to train, and he eagerly follows her, food in mouth. On the field, Combusken and Pikachu drill against each other while Brock explains to Max that Harley has mistakenly fired May up, making her forget how nervous she is.
Elsewhere, Jesse is.... oh my. Oh my oh my.
Meowth and James seem similarly shocked, but for different reasons. She's wearing all of their money! It seems they liquidated all of their assets so that she could afford to dress up like... well, like a popsicle according to James! She laughs that he just wishes he could dress like that....
She then tells Meowth that she wants him for her comic relief, and then falls into her old crazy fantasy world as we see her acting as the "straight man" to Meowth's comedy stylings as the crowd roars with laughter and the Judges swoon over her beauty, Meowth's ability to talk, and their fantastic comedy timing! But as always, the fantasy is ruined when Meowth tears apart her dreams to growl that he makes moves, not comedy!
Harley arrives on the scene (James memorably referring to him as "the Contest.... Thing") and laughs when he realises that "Jessebella" is a member of Team Rocket. Why, who would have thought a loser would be a member of a team of losers. But as she loses her temper, he suddenly grabs her hands and declares that he is a big fan, causing the desperate for attention Jesse to giggle while James and Meowth watch with surprise. Harley says she has such style but always seems to "unfairly" lose, then goes so far to offer her the use of his Pokémon! Jesse is astonished at such generosity, and promises him that she will bend to his every whim....
Harley tells her that her biggest worry is May, and when James asks him why he is so malicious Harley.... oh God.... kid Harley flashback! Yes it seems that when he was just a small androgynous little boy, he used to always save a little snack for the end of his lunch. But as he prepared to have his last little Octillery snack, a little girl who looked JUST like May came running happily along and grabbed up the last snack, thinking he wasn't hungry anymore and deciding innocently to "help" by eating it. With a happy wide smile she skipped off with a giggle, leaving Lil' Harley behind to burst into tears and bury the resentment deep inside to fester and burn for years and years over a completely innocent misunderstanding! James moans that he thought Jesse had issues, while Jesse herself proves once again why she has the worst functioning gaydar on the planet.
She then roars at James, Meowth and Wobbuffet for not being impressed with Harley's sad story, and he sends out his Cacturne and Banette to meet Jesse.... and Cacturne LIKES WHAT IT SEES! It leaps onto her with hearts in its eyes and gropes her all over while Banette looks on with an uncomfortable smile. Harley declares he and Jesse are soulmates while Meowth and James note the disturbing similarity between Cacturne and Jesse. Harley then explains to Jesse that the key to success in a contest is lavishing praise on your Pokémon.
A short time later, the contest is on, with Lillian pumping up the massive crowd, including Harley who is watching with a smirk and.... Drew is there too! Lillian explains how important this last contest of the season before The Grand Festival is, and all the Judges are introduced, including the obligatory Nurse Joy.
Backstage, May looks at all the other Coordinators and notes how determined they are, and considers Ash's words from earlier when he suggested she try to relax and just have fun. "Jessebella" shows up and refuses to shake hands with May, telling her that she is going to win. May refuses to back down though, saying that she needs to win for her fifth badge, and suddenly everyone is glaring at them, May realising that everyone else only has four ribbons as well, and every single one of them is in a MUST win situation. She breaths in and out and then giggles, once again taking Ash's advice to heart and trying not to get too tense and just try to have a good time.
At the start of round one, Drew shows up to watch as Lillian kicks things off, all the trainers introducing their Pokémon and...... HOLY FUCK!
GIVE HIM THE GODDAMN RIBBON KOFFING OH HAPPY HAPPY PLEASURE JOY LIFE SO FUN ALIVE AND HAPPY KOFFING!
Brock is impressed with what he is seeing (KOFFING!) and then Jessebella is introduced. She calls out the love-struck Cacturne which uses Needle-Arm and slices up a vegetable into pieces that fall into a castle shape on a plate held by Jessebella. May watches from backstage and says Jessebella is good, as Cacturne uses Cotton Spore to create a "dreamlike shower of beauty" before Bullet Seed pops the spores and creates a falling sparkling cotton dust rain. The Judges are impressed and then in comes May, who cocks a hip and smiles while Harley whispers into a little microphone hat she is here. May starts spinning to call out Combusken and then.... trips up! May assures Lillian she is fine as everyone wonders if she is overly nervous, while up in the scaffolding high above James and Meowth are directing Harley's Ariados to spin out a thin web of silk that trips up May and Combusken as they attempt to impress.
Combusken's Megakick fails when it is tripped, and when May tries to rush to its side she is tripped herself. Watching from the stands, Pikachu notes the web and rushes off, followed by Ash while May continues to have a bad time of it all, throwing a frisbee that Combusken misses due to Ariados. But then Ash arrives in the roof, sending in Pikachu to stop them only for Ariados to web it down to the railing. As they're distracted though, down below Combusken uses Firespin, creating a giant fire whirlwind as Harley roars at James through his microphone to get to work. The Fire Spin, meanwhile, begins to burn through Ariados' hanging webs, following it up as the Judges and crowd are transfixed by the remarkable display, much to Harley's horror, he's actually HELPING May!?!?!
Ariados moves in to attack Pikachu, but then the fire runs up the web and actually SETS ARIADOS ON FIRE! James beats at it with a sheet in horror, telling it to hold still as it is burnt alive.... kids show, my ass!
Meowth tries to grab at Pikachu as it is burnt free of its webbing, but gets smacked right in the face with Iron Tail, knocking Meowth back into James and sending them smashing through the roof and blasting off again! Ash calls down to a completely oblivious May to keep going, but she doesn't even notice him as she throws out a frisbee and Combusken Sky Uppercuts it out of the flames, then Megakicks the frisbee back to May before landing and posing as the crowd cheers.
The Judges say they were a bit nervous at the outset but quickly became impressed, especially by Combusken’s power and May's recovery. Backstage, May settles down wondering why her first round was so hard and how she'll make it to the second round, and Jessebella is pleased to see her questioning herself, until Ash pops in and tells her that it was Team Rockets fault things went so badly at first. They're then interrupted by Lillian's announcement of those who have made it to the second round, including Jessebella and..... MAY!
Jesse, James and Meowth are reunited with Harley deep in the wings of the hall, where Harley whimpers over his singed Ariados and promises to get it to a Pokémon Centre as soon as possible, then roars that Team Rocket are useless. Jesse insists that it is always "their" fault that their "happy times" are ruined, but Harley is having none of it, growling that it is time they stand up and give May the beating she deserves. He storms out with a wiggle of his hips, while Jesse declares that she WILL make sure she wins..... whatever it takes!
| BEST QUOTES |
 "Brood of boy-toys?"
|
|
