450: Battling the Enemy Within
Dodgy Synopsis
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454: Batoru Piramiddo! Bui Esu Rejirokku!
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Today finds the twerps heading through the forest, Ash concerned that Max has gotten them lost as they follow his PokeNav in search of the Battle Pyramid. But then they spot the tip of the impressive looking structure over the tops of the trees, and May reminds them that once they're done, they're going to the Grand Festival. Ash assures her that she won't have to wait long, the way he is feeling he will win in no time.... and then the ground gives away beneath them and they plummet deep into the dark, where they will soon find themselves....
They find themselves in an old tomblike structure, and Brock says this isn't a Team Rocket pit trap, it looks like old ruins. They see a light down the tunnel and Ash declares that his "detective agency" are on the case, May complaining that he is stealing her bit (It's what the entertainment industry is built on, sweetheart!)
Up top, Team Rocket are looking down the hole the twerps fell down, commenting that it seems like a pretty amateurish deal. But amateurish or not it was enough to capture them as well, as the edge cracks and breaks and they find themselves falling in as well.
Inside the ruins, the twerps have come across a small statue of a Pikachu, and Ash can't resist picking it up even though Max warns him not to. The eyes of the statue glow blue, as do those of a Pikachu carved into a nearby wall, and the others warn him to replace it but despite the ominous noises he insists there is nothing wrong.... and then the wall moves aside to reveal an Indiana Jones-esque rolling ball of doom... in 3D!
As they flee down the corridor, they spot a man ahead of them who shouts out in surprise that he can't believe they set off the trap (and I can't believe his rocking goddamn sideburns!) and calls out his Pokémon.... a Regirock! Yes the legendary Pokémon smashes the rock into shreds with Focus Punch. May checks out the rocky monstrosity with the robotic voice with her Pokedex, learning that the Pokémon is capable of using rocks to repair its own body.
They thank him, and he roars,"NOOOOOO!" as the camera zooms in on his angry eyes, roaring that he isn't "mister", his name is Brandon!
They thank him again, and he demands to know how they got into the ruins. May explains that they fell down a hole. Ash admits he found a Pikachu statue and lifted it up because he's a fucking retard, and Brandon roars,"NOOOOOO!" again as the camera zooms in on his angry eyes, declaring that a Pokémon Trainer should know better than to fall for such a trap. He explains that a looooong time ago, an ancient civilisation known as Pokelantis (nowhere near as awesome as Pokemopolis, my friends, even if there is a Brandon involved!) once sought to take over the world by harnessing the power of the legendary Ho-Oh. Of course this wasn't the best of ideas as Ho-Oh didn't take too kindly to the idea, and instead wiped the civilisation off the face of the planet. The King of Pokelantis vowed revenge (wait I thought he was wiped off the face of the planet?), saying that he would capture Ho-Oh in a stone orb that looked like an ancient version of a Pokeball.
Team Rocket overhear this conversation and immediately decide that since they've failed in close to 450 attempts to capture Pikachu, why not go for platinum coated gold with jewels inside floating in a pool of liquid diamonds and try to capture Ho-Oh!?!?!
Ash figures that they could wander into a Ho-Oh at any time, and Brandon roars,"NOOOOOO!" once more as the camera zooms in on his angry eyes. Ash growls back that he has six Frontier Symbols and can handle a little ol' Ho-Oh, and takes off to find the mythical bird, Brandon chasing after.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket have found a small Smoochum statue, and Jesse angrily ignores admonishments not to pick it up. The eyes start glowing (as do the eyes of a Smoochum carved into the wall) and James gasps that it isn't blinking to flirt with them, as the wall slides aside and they find themselves running from a giant rolling stone.
Ash is still managing to keep ahead of Brandon despite having much smaller legs and not knowing where he is going. He finds a door with odd markings on it, slides his hands over it and.... promptly falls through into a darkened room, the torches lined up along the walls bursting magically into life to reveal the giant statue of a grim King sitting on a carved throne, with the ACTUAL throne sitting between its feet.
Ash approaches the throne and finds a stone orb that looks like a Pokeball on it, and wonders if this could be it, is Ho-Oh inside? Outside, Brandon finds the switch to get the door open, and steps inside just to time to see Ash holding the stone orb over his head and calling for Ho-Oh to come out. The orb glows and a deep, evil voice roars,"LIGHT! COME FORTH FROM THE DARKNESS!" and then......
OH CHRIST!
Well.... this ain't good! While these disturbing turn of events are occurring, Team Rocket have found a suspiciously ordinary looking wooden door. Meowth peeks through a keyhole and sees the shadow of a flapping wing, declaring that it must be Ho-Oh. They open the door and instead find a Pidgey, which angrily chases them out pecking at Jesse's ass.
Back in the throne room, Ash demands in the same deep and evil voice from earlier that they bow down before him and hand over all of their Pokémon. Black tinted smoke-like energy writhes off his body, snaking out and grabbing Pokeballs from the twerps, who snatch them back in shock. They demand to know what he thinks he is doing, and Ash corrects them with a patented evil laugh that Giovanni would be proud of. He is not Ash, he is THE KING OF POKELANTIS!
Brandon realises that the King sealed his "ambition" in the orb because he couldn't capture Ho-Oh.... wait, what? How did he realise that? He even claims it's "all too clear"! Brock asks what they should do, and Brandon says he will deal with this via.... a Pokémon Contest!
The King demands to know who Brandon thinks he is, and Brandon retorts that he is a King himself, the King of the Battle Pyramid! He sweetens the deal, saying that if The King can defeat him, then he will get all of Brandon's Pokémon, and be free in his pursuit of world domination.
Team Rocket meanwhile are heading down a cave looking for Ho-Oh, but instead they find a Salamence, which blasts a Flamethrower at them, leaving them to flee in horror once more.
The twerps have left the ruins now and we find them outside of the Battle Pyramid, where they also encounter Scott. Recurring Guest Star Scott doesn't seem to notice that Ash is kind of glowing with BLACK DEMON ENERGY and when Ash declares in a loud, deep and evil voice that he is going in, Scott mutters that it sounds like Ash "has a sore throat." The twerps fill him in as they enter the Battle Pyramid, and Scott explains to them that Brandon is not just a Frontier Brain but a renowned researcher/archaeologist as well, like Indiana Jones but with sideburns.
The referee also doesn't seem surprised by the BLACK DEMON ENERGY and calls for challenger Ash to step up, but The King roars he is not Ash, he is THE KING OF POKELANTIS! .....so the bemused referee agrees with whatever this weirdo kid has to say and then introduces the Battle Pyramid’s King, Brandon.
The rules are at their simplest, only one Pokémon each, fight till one is unable to battle. Brandon uses Regirock, and The King sneers at the sight of it, while else in an inky space-like void, Ash floats confused and unsure of his surroundings (like his normal life!) until he sees through a portal the battle taking place and says to himself that he must be battling, so calls out Sceptile, his words echoed in the real world by The King.
Sceptile immediately uses Leaf Blade, crashing against Regirock's Iron Defence before trying Bullet Seed, which still can't penetrate Iron Defence. The King knows this isn't going anywhere, and looks up at the ceiling and smirks as he comes up with a plan. He orders Sceptile to use Bullet Seed on the ceiling! It gawks at him in surprise, this isn't the type of thing the kid usually does! The King roars at it not to just stand gawping at him, so it goes with the floor and blasts the ceiling and sends debris smashing down around Regirock's Iron Defence, and the King claims he has won! Brandon retorts that he is a coward for trying to win like that, and inside the void Ash hears the insult and instantly gets pissed, and.... WOAH! For a moment at least, Ash tears free of the King's possession, but it doesn't last for long.
Scott tells the twerps that Regirock isn't out yet, and as if on cue it smashes through the rocks and prepares to use Hyperbeam on Sceptile. The King demands that a shocked Sceptile leap behind the referee, and when it does Brandon has no choice but to order Regirock to call off its attack, and the King laughs that Brandon is weak.
Sceptile goes for the legs with Leaf Blade and knocks Regirock down to one knee. Brandon orders Lock-On before Sceptile uses Leaf Blade on Regirock's legs, dropping it to both knees. The King laughs at the now immobile Regirock, which still tries to use Hyperbeam on the agile Sceptile, but it dodges.... and the Hyper-Beam follows Sceptile around, curving and smashing into the tough cowboy Pokémon. This is what his Lock-On was for, and Sceptile crashes to the ground apparently knocked out. The referee attempts to call the battle over, but the King demands silence, then turns to Pikachu and demands a Thunderbolt. The twerps try to get between the King and the horrified Pikachu, yelling for Ash to hear them and do something.
Inside the black void, Ash seems to have finally realised that maybe this isn't the way battles usually happen. He tries to figure out what to do, seeing a confused Pikachu staring up at him and realising what to do.... get his ass blasted! The King's essence emerges to escape the pain as Ash is shocked with thousands of volts of electricity, and Brandon hauls out the stone orb and reverses the spell, returning the King to his trap.
Ash staggers up on his knees and Pikachu hugs him, as Scott congratulates Brandon for knowing only a Pokémon battle would bring Ash back, but Brandon says it was his friends that made it happen.
Meanwhile Team Rocket have reached a massive stone door and say it is too suspicious to be anything but the location of Ho-Oh. But when they open the door it is a Hoot Hoot they find, and a grumpy Jesse pitches a stone at it in fury, and it chases them pecking at Jesse's ass, as we all must at all times whenever the opportunity presents itself. They run onto a spring-loaded trap and get sent flying up into the air, crashing through the roof of the ruins and getting blasted off again!
As the sun sets, Ash thanks the twerps for helping him and May giggles she is going to blush if he keeps thanking her, but then Brandon roars,"NOOOOOO!" as the camera zooms in on his angry eyes.
Brandon angrily tells Ash that the King was drawn to him by his arrogance, and Ash hangs his head and admits that maybe he is just a foolish kid.... but he still wants a match, and an official one! Brandon stares at him as the referee arrives and tells him that they're ready to leave, and the King of the Battle Pyramid tells them that the Pyramid is about to move on to the next set of ruins. Once they've settled down he will send word, however, and Ash will get another chance at completing the Battle Frontier.
Then, before the twerps astonished eyes, the Battle Pyramid actually lifts up into the air thanks to several massive propellers, and sails off into the distance. As Ash watches it depart, he vows that he will prove to Brandon that he isn't a foolish kid, and then May notices something and they turn to see...Ho-Oh!
Ash reminds Pikachu of the first time they saw it, so long ago back at the start of their journey. He declares that he is going to start fresh, and they HAVE to win. He's not the only one with a goal though, Max asks May if she is ready for her next match too, and she says yes, as determined as Ash. Ash will have to wait for his next chance at Brandon, but for May, the Grand Festival can't come soon enough.
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