ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
595: Uncrushing Defeat!	601: Yukushi no Kage!	Dawn's Weird-Ass Pokémon Circus			Ash gets over his defeat by Paul, Dawn holds a bizarre circus, Brock spots a Uxie	Hilarious, but didn't really think their plan through	Relying on a happy 10 year old idiot to stay depressed is poor strategy

Near the shore of Lake Acuity, beneath the clear water, something shines bright for a second and then fades.

Inside the Pokémon Centre, Ash and the others are watching from behind the window as Nurse Joy tends to Ash's battered and bruised Pokémon. After his first full six-on-six battle against Paul, Ash took a good old fashioned-hiding. He was out-played and out-strategized by Paul whose own Pokémon took a beating but came through it okay thanks to Paul's clever use of substitutions. Piplup is concerned at the obvious beating the Pokémon suffered, but Dawn assures him they'll be okay. But then Ash turns and trudges away miserably, and Brock stops Dawn from going after him. Ash needs some time alone to turn the beating he took into an....



Meanwhile Team Rocket are back to work repairing the Battle Arena and discussing the epic battle between Ash and Paul. They figure that Ash must be pretty miserable at the moment; while behind them Seviper and Carnivine haul around a roller that Wobbuffet is delightedly balanced on. But as James and Meowth commiserate with Ash's defeat, Jesse sees an opportunity! They must prey on the weakest of the twerp herd!

Ash is lying on the grass in the sun, cap pulled low over his eyes as he remembers parts of the battle where his Pokémon took their roughest beatings. Inside the Pokémon Centre itself, Brock is bandaging up Gliscor's claw while Joy tends to the others, and a depressed Dawn settles down on the other side of the glass while Piplup does.... something.... to try and cheer her up.

Something wrong with that bird.

Dawn just stares at the bizarre thing until finally she smiles and figures that it is trying to tell her not to be down. It seems to have worked, because Dawn claims she now has a bright idea and rushes off with Piplup in tow.

Meanwhile inside the treatment room, Nurse Joy makes the mistake of thanking Brock for all his help. He shoots fully erect (standing up straight, you filthy bastards!) and twists around to tell her in full "handsome Brock" mode that he would do ANYTHING for her... and then the handsome miasma fades and he looks down in a panic, to see his fate awaits him no matter how he might try to fight it.

Be begs and pleases that he was just trying to help out and it's all perfectly innocent he swears and finally the pink glow of the Poison Jab fades and it walks incomprehensibly away. Brock breathes a sigh of relief, and then heads into the forest to look for Cheri Berries for Nurse Joy, who wants to use them to treat Monferno.

As he looks though, he comes across Lake Acuity, and is surprised to see the glowing form of Uxie appear before him. But as he approaches, it fades away, and he realises that a tree of Cheri Berries is just by the shore. He returns them to Nurse Joy as Dawn practises with her Pokémon on her idea to cheer everyone up. Joy feeds mashed berries to Monferno and it wakes up, mostly recovered from its injuries now. But as it waves happily to the other Pokémon, outside Ash is still remembering the "lowlights" of his battle with Paul.

He turns over and realises the bandaged Pikachu is beside him, and looking around discovers that all of his Pokémon are there - his wounded losers - who try to cheer him up and end up in a tremendous amount of pain.



He tells them not to overdo it, then chuckles, then laughs as he realises they're trying to cheer him up and jerks up to his feet. He insists he doesn't feel sad one little bit, then turns and gives his version of an inspiring speech. He tells the Pokémon that Paul is TOUGH, real tough, and has his own way of doing things. If they're ever going to beat him, they have to be tough too, but they have to do it in their own way. So it'll be hard, but they're going to work at it and when they meet up with him again, they're going to beat Paul!

How do his battered and bruised Pokémon react to their Trainer's proclamation that he's going to put them through their paces and have ANOTHER go at Paul and his Pokémon? They fucking jump him!

But rather than mauling him to death for suggesting they go once more unto the breach, my friends, they hug him, delighted at the idea of another rumble. Once that is done, they head back towards the Pokémon Centre, Ash's belly rumbling while Team Rocket spy on him from the bushes.

When he returns to the centre, he finds an excited Dawn who tells him that Brock saw it! What "it" is they don't entirely know, but with Nurse Joy's help they look through some books and discover that "it" was Uxie.... or at least a shadowy form of it. Just like Dawn saw Mesprit, and Ash saw Azelf. Nurse Joy tells them that these three Pokémon (allegedly which come from the same egg) help people solve problems. Brock wonders if it is an accident that they have all seen one, and then Ash bursts into weird inappropriate laughter and says this is getting fun.

Dawn is worried that Ash might be trying to take on a little too much, and he asks what she means. She clumsily fobs him off, and then asks them all to come out to see the performance she has decided to put on - Dawn's Pokémon Circus. After stepping out in front of large curtains and explaining that this is Dawn's Pokémon Circus, Ash then asks what Dawn is up to.

A Pokémon circus, you moron!

First up is Buneary and Pachirisu bouncing about on top of Mamoswine. They pull faces and tug on Mamoswine's eyes before it jabs out its massive tongue.... what the fuck kind of circus is this? Whatever kind it is, while this horrible activity is going on, Team Rocket are in the attic building an electricity proof net.

Piplup walks in wearing a clown costume and leaps headfirst into the roof and knocks itself out (what the Christ!?!) and then gets tossed about by the others, its near unconscious face stretched while Mamoswine once again jabs its tongue out.

Jesus Christ, Dawn, what the hell....

So what exactly was Piplup trying to do? Because I'm pretty sure leaping up and splitting open its head wasn't the idea, but the others just go on ahead and keep the show going without missing a beat.

But before Dawn can announce the next act, Team Rocket show up... still in their overalls, causing Nurse Joy to ask if they're the cleaners. Ash stupidly thinks this is all part of the act, while just as stupidly, Team Rocket are still working under the assumption that Ash is incredibly depressed and miserable.

Also, Jesse is goddamn fucking terrifying.

Team Rocket mock Ash for being such a sourpuss suffering from depression, while Ash just stares in utter confusion, still thinking that this is part of the act. To be fair, it's an easy mistake to make since Dawn's Circus is fucking bizarre and Team Rocket aren't wearing their uniforms and are doing musical things! They hold up a bottle with a picture of a crying Ash (where did they get that picture?) which is presumably his bottled tears and begin noisily playing trumpets and drums as Jesse shouts over and over and over and over again YOU STINK YOU STINK YOU STINK YOU STINK YOU STINK! LOSER LOSER LOSER!

They... they really didn't put all that much thought into this.

Finally they kick things into gear, shooting a net that captures Pikachu and tearing off their overalls to reveal their uniforms, then kicking into the motto at last.

"If you don't know who we are, you will soon enough!"
"Watch the twerps go gaga when the going gets rough!"
"Shovel may care!" cries Jesse, pulling out a.... shovel?
"Pick a pair!" adds James, pulling out a pick before throwing it away, as Jesse does with her shovel.
"Want Pikachu?" asks Meowth,"Well HUH!"
"We bring chaos at a breakneck pace!"
"We dash all hope and put fear in its place!"
"A rose by any other name is just as sweet," says Jesse as she and James dangle in scales made up of halves of a Pokéball.
"When everything's worse, our work is complete."
"Jesse!"
"And James!"
"Meowth, dat's a name!"
"Putting the do-gooders in their place."
"We're Team Rocket!"
"And we're in your face!" they finish together.

Nurse Joy STILL thinks this is all part of the act and declares it all such fun. The twerps correct them and she helpfully acknowledges that this is no good then! And then Team Rocket.... crabwalk away.

This is getting kind of weird....er.

They zip away chased by the twerps, Jesse started to get irritated by Ash's stubbornness. She has Seviper use Haze, but Buizel blasts out with Water Pulse, though Ash's standard follow-up of Thunderbolt fails to achieve much since it's inside an electric proof bag. Gliscor uses Sand Attack to surround Team Rocket in sand, but Yanmega Sonic Booms Gliscor away and Carnivine.... tries to eat James.

Pulled clear, it uses Bullet Seed but Grotle and Staraptor use Energy Ball and Aerial Ace to put it and Seviper down. Monferno uses Mach Punch (which apparently involves shooting blue fireballs all over the place now) and frees Pikachu while Meowth and James shock Jesse by revealing that the "idiot" who had the bright idea of taking on Ash at his "lowest" was.... her!



The Pokémon all nod their agreement, but their Bitch Goddess Queen quickly turns the tables, declaring that it is THEIR fault for not stopping her. As they (now small and squeaking) angrily shout their protests, she (not massive sized) roars that she can't hear them. But then they realise that Ash and his Pokémon are waiting to beat the UTTER LIVING SHIT OUT OF THEM WITH ALL THEIR MOVES ALL AT ONCE ARE YOU KIDDING THAT WILL MURDER THEM!



They're REALLY blasting off again, this time!

As everyone celebrates, Dawn suddenly ups and mentions she needs to get training for her latest contest. Nurse Joy warns that Lilypad Town's Contest will be starting soon and she needs to get there as soon as possible. She shows them on a map where it is, while Ash tells the still bandaged Pikachu that he knows they'll be ready for the next time they face Paul. You see, Gentle Dodgers, Dawn was worried that Ash was covering up his depression with forced frivolity, but we know the real truth.

The boy just isn't that bright.

BEST QUOTES

"Loser loser loser loser! You STINK! YOU! STINK! YOU! STINK! YOU! STINK! Have I forgotten something? Oh that's right! STINK! STINK! And that means loser.... LOSER LOSER LOSER LOSER LOSER!"

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