455: Aipom and Circumstance
Dodgy Synopsis
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459: Eipamu to Osama!
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Today finds the twerps and their Pokémon chowing down on their food like it is going out of style, May the only one showing a little restraint as she notes to Ash that no one is going to steal his food. Ash looks up and notices that Aipom's bowl is almost empty and the Pokémon itself is nowhere to be seen, and looking around he spots it making a crown of flowers. Why it seems Aipom is rather full of itself today, it's....
Having finished his food, Ash asks Pikachu to do some training while Aipom sits by his side grinning adoringly up at him. when Pikachu jumps onto Ash's shoulder, Aipom is horrified at not getting all of the attention, and leaps onto Ash's other shoulder and spins him around, knocking him off-balance and allowing it to grab his hat. Ash demands it back but Aipom just leaps up to a tree, waggles its arm-ass at him and jumps away as Ash gives chase. Brock snaps that this has gone on long enough and tells May and Max to watch the other Pokémon as he rushes off after Ash.
Catching up to Ash, they notice a pyramid like object poking over the treetops and when they move to take a closer look they find a bunch of people apparently doing stretches and dressed in sporty gear. A skinny young boy in an oversized green singlet called Hank explains they're about to compete to see who is the "King" of their village. Basically they have to get their hands on an impressive looking crown and hold onto it until the sun sets, at which point they are named "King" which actually sounds more like a Mayoralty, someone who runs the council and makes important decisions about the day to day running of the village. But the King is also always adored, and when Brock finds out that the King is ESPECIALLY adored by girls he.... oh my. Well he has a very specific idea of what a King gets to do with his days.
Ash shoves him aside and points out that Brock doesn't actually live in the village, but an old man in a toga who looks like a skinny version of Zeus notes that the contest is open to ANYONE and Brock excitedly proclaims he is going to become the King.... and get the ladies!
Meanwhile Team Rocket are watching and.... well lawks a mussy! Jesse has decided that SHE will be the King, King Queen! King Queen Jesse the Kingly Queen! Meowth has other ideas, however, says that if they get the crown they can give it to Giovanni who can then give up on Team Rocket and rule over the town with an iron fist! Jesse and James hiss and roar at him over having such a ridiculous fantasy, so he falls back on the old reliable, a patented Crazy Meowth Giovanni fantasy! This one involves Giovanni in bed wearing a crown, then washing his face with a crown of water instead of a sink, even playing a game of Curling with a Crown! Meowth tells them that nothing says loving like a Boss with a crown, though James says he can think of a few other things (oh my!) before Fantasy Giovanni settles back on his couch, sips his strange purple liquor and declares that words cannot express his gratitude to Meowth and his friends, but dough can!
Well as this is the most incredibly likely outcome, they sing with delight and run off to steal the crown, their disdain for Meowth's ridiculous concepts completely overridden by the idea of getting paid!
Back at the pyramid, Mr Zeus calls for those who want to be King to come forth, and the gates open and a large number of villagers charge in. They're joined by Brock who dives in along with Hank, the two of them promptly getting stampeded. But Brock isn't giving up and chases the crowd up the pyramid, but as the others get there, Team Rocket are waiting! Meowth sends out an extendable arm for the crown, but Aipom gets there first and grabs it, losing Ash's hat to Team Rocket. Jesse tosses the hat away angrily and it falls all the way down to Ash. Up above the startled villagers stare at Aipom holding the crown and ask what happens if it still has it at Sunset, and... and.... Aipom will be the King! It rushes off with the crown and Ash and Brock try to convince it to give it back, but when Aipom sees Pikachu still on Ash's shoulder it pitches a tantrum and runs off. Ash asks Pikachu to catch up as he, Hank and Brock chase, the villagers giving chase as well, slave to a tradition that will see them ruled by a Pokémon if they can't get the crown back.
Having got clear of the villagers, Aipom is trying to enjoy wearing the crown, but it keeps falling off and infuriating the cheeky little monkey. It shoves it down onto its head and blinds itself, running into a tree and falling over, struggling to get the crown off. Pikachu arrives and together they succeed in getting Aipom's eyes clear, but the crown is still stuck on its head. They stand up, and the roving mob of villagers spot them and give chase, Aipom cheesing it and Pikachu chasing after it.
Meanwhile, Ash, Brock and Hank appear to have gotten lost, but then they hear the villagers calling out that they saw Aipom heading for the North Cliff. Ash asks which way is north, then runs straight into Brock, the two of them arguing about which way is north, until Hank interrupts to suggest they could use his Nosepass. It seems that the monstrosity is good for more than just winning Easter Island Statue Lookalike contests, and is able to tell them which way is North. They follow it and run straight into May, Max and all of the Pokémon that got left behind at breakfast. They've been gone close to half the day now without any explanation, so they explain that they're chasing Aipom/being chased by villagers to steal back a gold crown in order to prevent a Monkey from becoming King of the Village for the next year..... which as excuses go is a pretty good one!
Aipom and Pikachu reach the North Cliff and find themselves basically stuck, the villagers fast approaching. Pikachu notices a cave and runs into it along with Aipom, which gets momentarily stuck before being pushed in. The villagers arrive at the crack and peer in, resulting in a shot that looks straight out of The Shawshank Redemption.
Aipom and Pikachu come out the other side on another cliff, this one jutting out of the side of the mountain and apparently they're trapped, until the twerps and Hank show up, much to their relief.... but the sun is going down!
Ash tries unsuccessfully to pull Aipom's crown off, then tells Aipom that if they can't get it off, he'll just hang out with King Aipom until the year is up. When the twerps mention Brandon and his rematch, he says it is too bad, but they can't just leave one of the family behind, and Aipom seems quite taken with that offered sacrifice.... suddenly, a mechanical Fearow attacks!
Well, who honestly didn't see that one coming!
It tries to grab Aipom by the head, held back by Ash who has Pikachu zap it only for Ash to jump up and grab Aipom, ordering Pikachu to zap it, and the Fearow flaps away but leaves the twerps confused, what was that thing?
"It's a machine built for a King!"
"An evil as old as the galaxy!"
"Sent here to fulfil our destiny!"
"Wif Meowth, hey dat's me!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Hey hey hey, Jesse!"
"Aha hahaha! James!"
"Ho ho, Meowth's da name!"
"Wherever there’s peace in the universe!"
"Team Rocket!"
"Is dere!"
"To make everything worse!" they finish together.
"WOBBBBBB-UH!"
"Mime Mime!"
Yes it was Team Rocket behind it all, appearing at the top of the mountain and revealing they have not one mechanical Fearow, but a whole mechanical flock!
Ash struggles to cover up Aipom and protect it, calling for Pikachu to Thunderbolt the attacking Flock. Meowth says to leave it for another cartoon, calling the Fearow off and clear of Pikachu's Thunderbolt. They swoop back in but Ash sends out Swellow, which flies up and take's them all on... and kicks their asses! Jesse and James are horrified, but Meowth is confident they can recover, they are robots after all! They keep coming back and Swellow keeps knocking them down, but they come back and back, finally overcoming Swellow and knocking it down towards the treetops. But Swellow is a drunken, angry Scottish bastard who doesn't go down as easily as that, and it keeps coming back for more itself until Ash calls it back. Hank apologises for interrupting but asks if Aipom can use Double-team, and Ash doesn't understand why he would want to do that. Brock, May and Max insist it is a great idea though, telling Ash that Aipom can use the move to confuse the enemy, and a blushing Ash gasps that he was just about to think of that!
Team Rocket haven't gotten a clue which is the real Aipom and so use the Fearow flock to try and smoke it out, flying through all of the Aipom until only one is left, then trying to grab the crown off of its head while Ash and Pikachu try to keep it in place. So Hank makes yet another suggestion, thinking they can disrupt the remote controlling the Fearows by using Nosepass' Thunderwave. The move seems to work, frazzling the Fearow-bot which flies back up and infects the rest of the flock, which fly about in confusion while Team Rocket complain to Meowth for not being able to operate the remote, millions use one every day!
Pikachu uses Thunderbolt and Aipom uses Swift, and Team Rocket.... well, you can guess. As they blast off, Jesse moans she can't be a Queen without a crown and James offers her three of his bottlecaps, the best he can do. She tosses them aside indifferently and James gasps how could she do it!?! Meowth knows the score though, this Queen is a Royal Pain.
But with Team Rocket defeated, the sun has almost set and it seems Aipom is destined to be the King, the twerps and they make another effort to try and pull the crown free. But it is no good, it seems Ash is stuck in this village for the next year (oh great it's Johto all over again) because there is no way to get Aipom free of the crown by recalling it to its Pokeball or anything crazy like that! But then Hank has yet another idea, and grabs out a giant purple berry and tells Ash to get Aipom to eat. It gobbles it whole and doesn't seem overly impressed by the sour fruit, grabbing at the sides of its face and making a giant sour face.... and the contortions of its face allow Hank to grab the crown and finally, pull it free!
Ash hugs his naughty monkey (insert your own spanking joke here, Gentle Dodgers) and says everything will be fine.... but please stop doing crazy stuff, and Aipom blushes happily.
The other villagers arrive carrying Mr Zeus on a platform, and they see the sun is setting and Hank is holding the crown.... Hank is the new King! The villagers grab a knee and Mr Zeus says the village is counting on him, and the twerps all point out that he did a great job of getting them out of trouble today, and his dream has come true! His dream of achieving power not through merit or public acclaim but by random chance!
And thus, with the twerps having established an unqualified youth into a position of ultimate authority that will surely lead the village down the road to bankruptcy, recession and despair, they set off happily once again for the Battle Pyramid.
| BEST QUOTES |
 "I know they're small but they're the best I've got!"
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