654: In the Shadow of Zekrom!
Dodgy Synopsis
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660: Isshu Chiho e! Zekuromu no Kage!
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Yep, no heading straight out to a new adventure picking up impressionably young jailbait on the way, Ash is going on a nice family vacation for a change with just family - Pikachu, his mother.... and of course, Professor Oak!
Oak pulls up outside in his convertible, wearing sunglasses and an atrocious Hawaiian shirt, declaring that he wants to get Delia in the mood! It seems he is going to the Unova Region for a series of conferences, but in-between is his ME time, and he means to enjoy it (and probably Delia too!).
Meanwhile, at Team Rocket Headquarters.... oh my! Jesse, James and Meowth have actually been rewarded with a face to (hologram) face meeting with Giovanni! Dressed in the traditional black uniforms which make Jesse's tits look gigantic (and make James look like he has a B-Cup!), they are reciting the number one goal of Team Rocket, which is to capture powerful and rare Pokémon and use them to take over the world. Giovanni explains that they are currently in the process of putting together an exceptionally powerful team to enable them to accomplish this goal, and wonder of wonder, he's actually giving the three of them the chance to play an integral part! He's sending them to the Unova Region as an advance party, more will join them later. It's a surprising vote of confidence in the calamitously inept trio, but perhaps there is good reason for it - with the conference over, Giovanni's aide steps up to remind him that a mysterious organisation is currently operating in Unova. Giovanni is confident that once Jesse, James and Meowth start poking their nose around in there, the other organisation will reveal itself, which means he either mistakenly believes their reports that they singlehandedly destroyed Team Magma, Aqua and Galactic... or he knows that once they get involved anywhere they leave a trail of destruction and calamity behind!
An amphibious aircraft takes off out of the ocean with Ash, Oak and Delia inside - Oak and Delia happily watching their boy gaping joyously out of the window. Further down the plane across the aisle, Team Rocket are onboard in "disguise", wearing dark clothes, hats and sunglasses. They're pleased to see the twerp onboard, figuring that it's a good sign and they'll be certain to capture Pikachu and achieves Giovanni's goals as well. Though Team Rocket are still stuck in "capture Pikachu!" mode and Ash is back into,"Gonna see new Pokémon and get those Pokémon gotta have more Pokémon where are the Pokémon!?!" mode - this is a new start for all of them, and we can only hope their enthusiasm and optimism isn't eclipsed....
A short, disturbingly cheap-looking and needlessly 3D new opening gets the show going, with people singing about how hard it is when a journey begins and having to meet new friends and the power is inside and all of that bollocks... but the hell with that, the actual animation of the show itself is looking nice and it's time for us to get started!
The aircraft travels through thick rain-clouds and emerges out into sunlit sky, and Unova is revealed before a delighted Ash. Getting clearance to land at the docks from an air traffic controller who has to spend all day doing that for a job while 10 year olds run around homeless and cockfighting and get lauded in the national media for it. Ash and Pikachu excitedly rush off the plane, stepping foot on Unova... but Pikachu suddenly stops and turns, getting Ash's attention. He rejoins it, not noticing the dark storm clouds rolling in over the horizon as a new type of fish Pokémon leaps out of the water and gets his attention. As he rushes up to see it, joined by Pikachu which momentarily forgets its concerns.... Team Rocket step off the plane and spot a 10 year old boy alone and realise it's time to strike (thank goodness they're not a different type of criminal!).
Once more Pikachu notices the storm rolling in, lightning catching Ash's attention too... but then a restraint captures up Pikachu, binding it in place as a mechanical extendable arm tries to draw it back to Team Rocket, prevented by Ash who grabs hold of it and demands to know who they are.
"Who are you is the question indeed!"
"We'll answer you as we feel the need!"
They tear off their disguises to reveal their uniforms (still wearing the dark, traditional Rocket uniforms), and Ash wants to know what the hell they're doing in Unova! They could ask him the same thing, of course, and he decides he doesn't want to stick around for an answer, demanding Pikachu Thunderbolt the fuck out of them. The mechanical arm has a disc that seems to cut off the electric attack though... but what it does do is attract the attention of the menacing storm cloud, which is about the scariest thing I can think of, a storm that is AWARE of you!
The storm closes in fast, the eye of it glowing blue, the sound and fury attracting the attention of the other passengers inside customs, including negligent parents Oak and Delia. A massive blue burst of energy smashes out of the eye of the storm, crashing into Team Rocket and Pikachu, shattering the restraint around Pikachu and sending Team Rocket disappearing into the blue, perhaps blasting off and perhaps not. Pikachu may be free but it is in considerable pain. Lashing out, it blasts Thunderbolt back up into the eye of the storm, and..... oh God oh Jesus no!
In the blackness.... something is stirring....
Far off from the dock up high in the trees of a forest, a young woman with dark skin and HUUUUUUUGE hair pops her head out of the branches along with her Pokémon, which looks like a sock puppet with fangs so large that it's like it is trying to swallow a banana the wrong way around. It's an Axew, but who is the girl and... why the fuck does she excitedly declare the massive storm far off in the distance is,"SOMETHING GREAT IS GOING ON!" before leaping to her death from the top of the tree down hundreds of feet to the unforgiving forest floor?
Somehow she grabs a vine as she falls and manages to swing forward without tearing her arm from its socket, so it seems she isn't entirely dead yet. Ash may be though, as back at the docks Delia freaks out as she finally realises that her son is outside in that storm. For his part, Ash is just staring up with wonder at the monstrous, unfathomable thing! at the heart of the storm, and then it unleashes a massive burst of blue lightning and.... is gone!
Ash sits up confused (no change from normal then), the storm is gone and it's a beautiful sunny day again. Then he spots Pikachu lying unconscious and rushes up to it, picking it up to check if it is okay.... and it is! Seemingly none the worse for wear, it smiles at Ash who assures Delia and Oak that they're both fine. Pikachu's pouches spark up momentarily, seeming to surprise it, but then it rushes up onto Ash's shoulder and seems to be okay again. Ash mentions the Pokémon he saw, but Oak says from where they were all they could see was the storm (happily he doesn't try to claim that there was no Pokémon), and then all he can see a new conquest as they're joined by Professor Juniper, and.... goddamn no wonder Delia insisted on coming along on this trip!
Juniper apologises for being so late while Oak insists everything is fine, happily introducing them to Delia and Ash while Delia just STARES at this woman, this.... THIS FUCKING SLUT!
They drive on through the forest roads, Juniper driving and Oak sitting next to her while Delia is relegated to the backseat with Ash and a forced pleasant smile. As they drive, Ash is ecstatic, spotting all kinds of new Pokémon he hasn't seen before. Juniper asks what he thinks of them all, but then Pikachu's cheeks spark up again and even these dim fools can see something isn't entirely right. Juniper says she'll check out Pikachu when they get to their lab, Kanto Pokémon are very rare in Unova and none of them have ever seen a Pikachu in the wild before (and they still haven't, Pikachu isn't wild!) so she'll have all sorts of questions for Ash and for Oak.
They drive around a lakeside road, Ash and Delia checking out swan-like Pokémon taking flight, and when he excitedly notes to Pikachu that they're seeing Pokémon they've never seen before, Delia's face falls for just a moment, one blink and you'll miss it moment. She's no fool, she knows her son, and she can already tell the little bastard won't be coming back from Unova with them.
WHO'S THAT POKEMON!?! Oh my God it's 1999 again! We get to see a Pidove in silhouette before it is revealed to a breathless world, and then we return to find that Juniper has brought them to Nuvema Town, and her rather prestigious and modern looking laboratory. They put a rather miserable Pikachu into a tube hooked up to some wires to test out whether it is having any problems. According to all her data, Pikachu is fine, but she'd like to just do a few more tests to make absolutely sure. A fatass lab assistant comes into the lab and tells Juniper that a new trainer is ready to begin her journey, and Oak explains to Ash (and by proxy any new viewers!) that part of her duties - like himself - is to issue Pokémon to all new trainers. Ash comes along as she goes to meet the trainer, a young boy about Ash's age with long sandy blond hair and a camera he is taking snaps of the lab with. His name is Trip, not Snap, and he looks like he might be a reasonable enough person but still.... douche-chills, you know?
As Trip exchanges pleasantries with Juniper, Ash can't resist blurting out that he bet he couldn't sleep last night from the excitement and he was the exact same way! He beams happily at Trip who stares at him and, quite rightly, asks,"Who are you?"
Juniper introduces them and when Trip hears he comes from Pallet Town and the Kanto Region, he smirks and notes that he certainly did get the impression that Ash was from the boonies.
Juniper tries to make peace, pointing out that the rude little shit that it's the first day of his Pokémon Journey so make it a happy day! To be fair, Ash has kind of barrelled in uninvited to what is probably the most important day of this guy's life so far!
Juniper shows off the three Pokémon that Trip has to choose from. They're Tepig - a oinky happy faced fire piglet that gets freaked out when Ash approaches and scuttles away before sneezing a snot spray of fire; Oshawott - a wobbly-eyed clown otter; and Snivy - a smug ass looking.... uhhh..... thing.....
Ash is continuing to stomp all over Trip's day, not shutting the fuck up as he babbles on about what a tough choice it is, while a barely tolerant Trip reminds him testily that it is HIS choice, not Ash's. Trip looks them over, takes out his camera and snaps a shot, then declares he has made his choice, he'll take Snivy.
Tepig is upset and Oshawott is utterly devastated. Juniper hands Trip a Pokedex and he scans Snivy with it, sliding it away from a disappointed Ash when he tries to take a look. Juniper gives Trip five empty Pokeballs and Snivy's, and he recalls Snivy to the Pokeball, thanks Juniper and heads out the door. Ash rushes out after him with a stupid, happy beaming smile, completely oblivious to Trip's attitude, and asks him if he is going to go for any Gym Battles. Trip smirks that this is "basic", which appears to be his catchphrase, explaining condescendingly to Ash that trainers compete for Gym Badges and once they have eight they can enter the Unova League. Ash is wide-eyed with awe at the reveal of this entirely basic and utterly unsurprising information, noting that this is just like it is in Kanto (and Johto, and Hoenn, and Sinnoh!).
Just then Pikachu comes running out calling his name, jumping up onto his shoulder. For the first time, Trip takes an interest in Ash, or rather in the Pokémon on his shoulder. He checks Pikachu out with his Pokedex and then snaps photos of it with his camera, snapping at Ash when he asks what he is doing by declaring this is why they don't like people from the boonies - a Pikachu is a BIG DEAL! Ash laughs this off, claiming that no it isn't (way to make Pikachu feel special, you jerk!), Pikachu is "just" his number one buddy. Trip seems surprised to hear this, then asks if Pikachu is strong, and Ash happily agrees it is.... then asks Trip if he wants to see, as he finally gets what he wanted all this time, a Pokémon battle!
Trip sends out Snivy (no shock there, it's his ONLY Pokémon), then starts snapping photos of it. Ash asks why he is always doing this, and Trip's answer is honestly pretty reasonable, he's keeping a photo journal of his journey, and this IS Snivy's first battle after all. An Oshawott is watching from the trees, though whether it is one of the three starters from Juniper's lab or just a wild one isn't made clear. Ash notes that as he is a guest from Kanto, he'll be going first, and sends Pikachu in with Quick Attack. Snivy braces confidently to dodge... and gets sent flying when it learns just how quick Quick Attack is!
It recovers well considering it is level goddamn one and has like 2 hitpoints though, and comes back with Tackle. Pikachu dodges the move easily and prepares to unleash Thunderbolt..... and nothing happens! It is hit by a tackle from Snivy which does pretty much no damage, and tries Thunderbolt again, exhausting itself but doing nothing. Confused, Ash tells it to use Volt Tackle and it storms forward... but then staggers to a stop, sweating and barely able to catch its breath. Trip is incredulous, is this some bizarre strategy where he calls out moves his Pokémon doesn't know? Ash doesn't know what is going on, but is relieved when he calls for an Iron Tail and Pikachu is able to execute this one properly, whatever is wrong it seems to only be affecting Electric-Type Moves. Pikachu's Iron Tail animation has changed, it still glows white but now the tail literally appears to turn to iron as it crashes down... but Snivy dodges! He tells it to use Leaf Tornado and it spins about on its head, Trip arrogantly pleased to see that Ash doesn't know the move. It spins up a giant leaf tornado and catches Pikachu up in it, then crashes it down to the earth like a fist and smashes a giant furrow into the ground, leaving Pikachu down and out.... beaten by a level 1 Pokémon in its first battle!
Trip smugly notes to Snivy that he thinks they synced up pretty well and that he's glad he chose it. He recalls it to its Pokeball and calls out to Ash that he thinks he needs to work on the basics, somewhat surprised that Ash just runs off clutching Pikachu before smirking again and heading off, utterly convinced of his bias that Ash is just some dumbass kid from the boonies who doesn't know what the fuck he is doing.
Ash takes Pikachu back to the lab and they do some more tests, and THIS time Juniper actually registers that Pikachu has suffered an electric overload. Why she didn't notice this before isn't mentioned, but regardless it seems that absorbing that attack of blue lightning has completely overloaded it and it can't use electric attacks for the moment. For how long though?
Just then, the storm cloud rolls in once more, appearing from nowhere, and a surprised Juniper gasps that it is just possible that it might be Zekrom, the legendary Pokémon who is said to hold up the sky and cast down judgement on those below. Suddenly Pikachu sparks up violently in reaction to the storm, and electricity blasts out of its body and all over the lab before the astonished Ash, Delia, Oak and Juniper. What is going on? What does Zekrom want? And more importantly.... what judgement has it cast on Pikachu?
| BEST QUOTES |
 "I bet you were so excited last night that you couldn't even sleep a wink! I was the exact same way!" "..... who are you?"
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