459: The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing
Dodgy Synopsis
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463: Haruka Bui Esu Shu! Raibaru yo Eien ni!
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Yes, Ash sits in the hot spring at Nurse Joy's all-purpose Pokémon Centre/Battle Arena/Contest Stage with Max sitting up on a rock in a pair of shorts while presumably a bunch of middle-aged guys in anoraks hang out in the bushes with binoculars. Max asks Ash why he isn't training, and Ash agrees that he knows he is supposed to train, but he doesn't want to start too early, but what if he starts too late? And what is he going to train in? He did everything right last time against Brandon and STILL lost.
Meanwhile, May sits inside the Centre while her Pokémon play about her on the Contest Stage, similarly introspective. She made it all the way to the Grand Festival Final and lost, and now what does she do with her life?
Introspection in a cartoon!?! Oh God, Gentle Dodgers, they need to get over themselves and discover....
Skitty and Beautifly get May's attention and she realises she should be practicing, and as they kick into action she is watched from afar by Brock and Scott, who comment on her form (GETCHA MINDS OUTTA DA GUTTA!). Scott suggests that she is thinking about her own loss since watching Ash lose, and Brock notes that this may be due to her and Ash having such similar styles.
May practices combos with her Pokémon and then Ash and Max come running in, surprised to see the two Pokémon again. May explains her Mum told her Beautifly just learned Psychic and she brought it over to test it out. Max, who has noted Ash and May's problems, suggests they "use each other"; they gotta go at it with each other!
But before anyone can reply, we discover that - like saying the Candyman's name three times - the idea of illegal sex brings Professor Oak into play!
He takes them inside the Centre and lays down his sack (0h dear) as the other trainers staying in the Centre stare in shock at seeing the legendary Professor Oak. Oak opens the sack, explaining that Ash's Pokémon heard how tough he was finding it against Brandon, so they made him a piece of art.... well, kind of, they stood in paint and trooped around on paper before Tracy slashed,"FIGHT!" in the middle.
Ash recognises all of the prints of his various Pokémon, impressing Max who can't believe he's able to pick them out so quickly. The others gather to look and point out the ones they can recognise, and Ash is visibly quite impressed with his Pokémon doing such a thing for him. He thanks Professor Oak who chuckles that all he did was travel across country to bring a gift to the son of the woman who seems to spend every day living at his house. He then opens up a case of food prepared by Ash's mother, which she claims will give Ash more vigour and lasting power.
Then Oak pulls out... oh my! It's Misty's lure!
Oak suggests that Ash just try some fishing to calm himself down, then offers Ash a postcard from Gary, who lives now to the north of Kanto in a place called Sinnoh where all new Pokémon can be found (can you see where this is leading, Gentle Dodgers?).
Ash has a flashback of his older nephew and their last meeting, and Professor Oak decides to choose this moment to drop a wink over his bastard son's feelings for Oak's own Grandson... Geez Professor, what kind of food has Delia been making for you? In any case, Ash remembers Gary telling him he expected him to be a winner because he didn't want to waste his time on a rivalry with a loser.
Ash declares he doesn't have time to waste, he's back, baby! Time to go hard and train! As Ash prepares to "get better" by run around in circles yelling loudly, Scott approaches and Professor Oak recalls him and thanks him for helping give Ash some direction after his last Tournament loss. He treats him with a poem, and then Nurse Joy "Brocks" all over him, gushing over his wonderful poetry and giving him one of his own books to sign... one with an English title (simply Pokémon, apparently that's all Oak decided to title his book, which seems rather arrogant) that is backwards in the Japanese fashion. It's almost like the show is produced in Japan!
As he signs it for her, she gasps that she is a budding poet as well and with the well-practised air of a celebrity he fobs her off with a pleasant but insincere,"Well isn't that nice," reply. Ash meanwhile has stopped yelling and running about and declared to Pikachu that it is time to get back into action, and May smiles. It is nice to see him pumped up again... but what about her? Then something gets her attention and she turns to see Roselia! Which can only mean... yes! Drew! And Nurse Joy brocks it up over him as well! She asks him eagerly for an autograph and he replies with a nervous smile,"Uhhh..... no...."
May and Drew head out to the Contest Stage where May tells him she was thinking of him, and he asks her if they were good thoughts? She blushes and insists it was just because everyone was talking about rivals, and Drew asks her how she is dealing with her loss. He seems to know pretty much how she is feeling, and says they should have a battle. When she asks what for, he grins and says why not? They've got this nice Contest Stage, it'd be a shame not to use it!
He figures a battle will help clear the air following the Grand Festival, since they both suffered losses they're going to have to deal with. Ash roars out from by the stairs for her to go for it, offering mentoring advice that she hasn't needed or really cared about for dozens of episodes at least. Still apparently unclear that May kind of cares about the opinions of an entirely different small boy now, he tries to get her pumped up, Brock and Max agreeing, with Brock insisting that she get up and move and turn her brain off! Nothing quite like a brainless girl for Brock!
They decide to get Professor Oak and Nurse Joy to judge the contest, but then new voices interrupt to tell them to stop! They wouldn't use a fake Pokémon, so why use fake Judges? Instead they should use these real fake judges... it's Team Rocket!
Everyone is confused, they don't look quite like they remember, and May says there is something not right about this.... and then suddenly Cacturne comes out of nowhere and hits the "Judges" with Bullet Seed!
A Cacturne? That can only mean one thing.... HARLEY!?! Why is he here? Why to make May cry, of course, but he doesn't need Team Rocket's help to do that! He told them that nobody messes with the squirt, and he meant it! Team Rocket cheese it, but Cacturne gets in the way and grows heavy spikes, Harley creeping up behind them (very unsettling!) and saying that he doesn't want them to leave, and Jesse can learn a thing or two from watching Drew and May battle. She eagerly agrees and James and Meowth are shocked, she STILL wants to battle? She asks them if they still want to live and Wobbuffet agrees with patient pleasure.
Harley insists they'll just play the part of cheerleaders, and when Max growls that he thinks Harley is up to no good, Harley hits him with a hearty slap on the back and tells him he gives his word, man to man, though he uses the term loosely.
Max gets Nurse Joy and the Professor, and Joy immediately Brocks over Harley as well, and he gasps back that he feels all tingly! Oak isn't exactly sure what they wanted them there for (maybe your boy just wants you to watch a battle for fuck's sake there doesn't have to be a secret agenda!) and they explain that they were hoping they'd act as Judges. Joy is delighted, promising to also MC the event ala Lillian, and they reel in Scott to join them, who makes everyone laugh by lifting his glasses, squinting his eyes and declaring,"Remarkable!"
All the trainers using the Pokémon Centre show up to watch the double battle as well, since there's nothing else going on so a battle between two of the top Coordinators of the recent Grand Festival (who also had the best Contest Battle OF the tournament) isn't really something to pass up!
They're not the only ones watching though, as we see a heretofore impossible thing - Team Rocket, Harley and the twerps all actually sit down together to watch! Jesse is trembling, not from fear but the tension of NOT being the absolute centre of attention, but even so it's all eyes on Drew and May!
May calls out Beautifly and Combusken, Drew calls out Roselia and a.... Butterfree! Five minutes is on the clock, and Combusken starts with Fire Spin and Beautifly with Psychic. A Psychic Fire Spin charges forward, but Roselia uses Petal Dance to knock it back, but May has Beautifly uses Psychic to grab the remains of the fire and send it in. Roselia uses Magical Leaf to create a whirling fire vortex, and Combusken zooms through the fire to attack. But Butterfree uses Gust to blast Combusken with the remaining flames, and Combusken slams into Beautifly and they collapse, and May loses a lot of points.
The two Pokémon gets back up, and May orders them to focus on Butterfree. It uses Psybeam, but Combusken dodges and uses Sky Uppercut, so Roselia uses Petal Dance. Beautifly tries Silver Wing which simply makes Petal Dance more powerful, and May loses even MORE points!
But May isn't giving up, she has Combusken uses Overheat to fucking lose it and blast at Butterfree, which uses Protect to knock back the attack. Then a combination Psybeam/Solar Beam smashes Combusken and Butterfree, knocks them out and.... holy shit, Drew completely obliterates May and she loses!
May is shocked, after all she beat Drew's ass at the Grand Festival. But then she seems to come to terms with it and congratulates her Pokémon on taking a beating like never before. She says she sees things differently now thanks to them... and thanks to Drew.
As the sun sets, May and Drew sit outside the centre watching the sun set and May says she thought she was getting a little overconfident, and taking a beating from Drew has kind of reminded her that she has a lot to learn. She wants to find a new style all of her own, at the moment she uses a style too similar to Ash's.
She asks him where he is going now and he tells her Johto (Oh God no!), to take part in Contests there... in fact he thinks Soledad is going to. May's interest is piqued and then..... "IT'S DAAAAANGEROUS!" giggles Harley, popping up between them,"Two kids alone like this!"
A horrified May insists they were just talking, and Harley giggles that he was just pulling her impressionable leg. It seems he is heading to Johto too, and in a remarkable display of diplomacy he turns and asks Jesse if she is going to come to!
Jesse is shocked, she'd just been standing off to the side along with James and Meowth, all of them perhaps a little unsure how to deal with not being under attack from the twerps. Laughing but touched by the ego-stroking offer, she claims that she has too much in Team Rocket to do, outraging Harley. He demands to know if she is EVER going to get out of her rut and stop being a loser? Jesse is infuriated, insisting she likes her rut! Determined to teach him a lesson, she grabs for a Pokeball but fails to find one and as she struggles away, Harley calls out Cacturne and sends Team Rocket blasting off again! As they soar through the air, Jesse is still trying to get a hold of a Pokeball so she can "show him", while James and Meowth sigh that she has really got him running scared.
Harley calls back Cacturne and asks Drew and May if they should go to Johto together like the happy little family they are? My goodness me, imagine that - Drew and May travelling together desperately wanting to bang each other, Harley in the middle glorying in getting in the way and maybe getting himself a piece of either one... or both! It's be an all new Twerp Trio! But not surprisingly, Drew and May pass uneasily, and he laughs that the last one there will be a little wimp, and it won't be him! He rushes off, leaving behind May to cock a hip in Drew's direction (oh my!) and grunt that she's got another one of her Harley headaches.
The rest of the twerps rush up to ask what the explosion was. She explains what happened, and Drew tells her that he has to get going too. She's a little disappointed to see him go, still not really understanding why her legs go all quivery when he's about. As he leaves he tells her he expects to see her new style the next time they meet, and he waves goodbye and calls out after him that it is a deal. Max wonders where he is going, and she tells them he's off to Johto, which brings back somewhat happy memories for Brock and Ash, who spent roughly 47 years there on their longass meandering way to the goddamn Johto Silver Conference.
May tells Ash they're both on a new path, both trying to figure out a new style that is truly their own. Professor Oak overhears and treats them to a verse, both of them taking it in, both revitalized and refocused after suffering losses to Soledad and Brandon respectively. But while May has time to work on a new style and some leeway to fuck it up and work on it before the crunch comes for new ribbons.... Ash's do or die rematch with Brandon is just around the corner.
| BEST QUOTES |
 "You still wanna battle?" "YOU STILL WANT TO LIVE!!?!"
"Excuse me but I like my rut!" |
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