ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
603: Challenging A Towering Figure!	609: Tawa Taikun! Sono Otoko, Kurotsugu!	Barry's Dad Beats Up Ash			Ash takes on Barry's Dad on the last day of the Twinleaf Festival	As always, a success at legitimate business	Impress your son by beating the shit out of his 10 year old buddy

Palmer - Barry's father - has bought his son, Ash and Dawn back to the Twinleaf Festival after finding them coming down from their ridiculous LSD trip out in the Trippy Forest Circus. Brock rejoins them as Palmer dramatically announces his return to the adoring people of the town - kind of dampened by the fact that Palmer also looks like a borderline hobo. Palmer calls out his Dragonite and poses for all the stallholders, and when Ash learns that Palmer and Dragonite were once the "tops" of Twinleaf, he challenges him to a battle! Dawn then shoves Ash aside to ALSO challenge Palmer, and then Barry loudly proclaims that if ANYONE is going to challenge his Dad, it will be him!

They'll all get their chance at the honour though. It turns out that the winner of tomorrow's Battle Challenge will then face Palmer, who it turns out is a Frontier Brain in the Sinnoh Region and is known as the Tower Tycoon. Ash is excited to hear that he could be facing off with a Frontier Brain (since he is pretty well practised at beating them, and oh God it would be so wonderful if he casually dropped into conversation to Barry that at 10 years old he has defeated multiple brains and TURNED down a chance to become the thing that Barry's father's career topped out at!), while everyone else is also dreaming of....



That night at Johanna's house, Johanna and Dawn are making dinner and talking about Palmer, with Johanna eager to know what Dawn thought of him (hahaha, Palmer totally hit that!). Both Ash and Dawn can only think about winning the Battle Challenge and having a match against Palmer, and then Brock catches them by surprise by pointing out that HE intends to battle as well. He figures that it IS a Festival so he might as well enjoy himself and have a shot at it, and turns to ask Croagunk if it is ready and willing to fight and discovers Croagunk crooning happily over an ugly lady Croagunk on the television.

The next day, Johanna has dressed up for the Battle Challenge (and Palmer!) and thanks everyone who made the Twinleaf Festival a success. She introduces Palmer and..... he is nowhere to be seen!

Out amongst the last remaining stalls, Palmer is happily chowing down on the fried Octillery snacks being sold by Team Rocket. The twerps show up and try to remind him about the Battle Contest, but he is far too busy trying to tell them about the high quality of the snacks. But then he hears Johanna's voice over the PA System and takes off in a panic, piling boxes of Octillery Snacks into Ash's hands. The twerps race off after him, leaving an excited Team Rocket behind who have money on their mind.

They show up to the Battle Challenge to sell the snacks, where they discover that Sayer doesn't just judge their selling quality but also the Battle Challenge itself (Meowth suggests if you've got it, spread it around, which Jesse should really listen to!). Palmer works the crowd up and then the battle begins... and hilariously considering the show's penchant for drawing things out as long as possible, after only a brief montage we see Brock, Dawn, Piplup and Barry on the sidelines grumpily eating Octillery snacks after having been knocked out of the Challenge - having seen only a very brief momentary glimpse of Ash vs. Barry.

Dawn grumbles that somebody is going to get fined, causing Barry to grunt at her and complain that HE was supposed to be fighting his father not Ash!

Oh come on, it's Ash! He beats everyone but brand new friends he meets for the first time a day before a huge Tournament he's been working towards for months!

Palmer is introduced and bravely poses, and Ash tells him not to go easy on him (after all, Ash EATS Frontier Brains for breakfast!), and Palmer sure as hell doesn't, calling out his first Pokémon.... Rhyperior!



Oh snap!

Barry is amazed, Ash is horrified, and Palmer is really being a bit of a dick opening his match against a 10 YEAR OLD BOY with this fucking monster.

Ash takes a moment to consider Rhyperior's possible weaknesses, then in another surprising display of idiot savant style battle genius he figures that Palmer probably has taken Rhyperior's slowness into account and thus he will focus on brawn vs. brawn by calling out Grotle! Everyone is surprised, and Ash opens the battle with Energy Ball.... and it does nothing at all!

Hobo Aging Hipter Palmer knows his shit!

Grotle uses Razor Leaf.... but Rhyperior has used Rock Polish to increase speed and dodge. It gets in front of Grotle and uses Sandstorm to surround Grotle, then uses Rock Wrecker, forming a rock between its huge palms and blasting it straight into Grotle before it is surrounded by Sandstorm once more!

Ash pretty much getting his ass kicked right now!

Grotle uses Synthesis next as Rhyperior is seen to be exhausted from its quick rush of attacks. Grotle recovers and uses Razor Leaf, kicking up through the Sandstorm and knocking it out of commission.

Is that even possible?

"Is that even possible?" asks Barry, mirroring the question!

Rhyperior charges with Metal Horn towards Grotle, and Ash plays a dangerous game of chicken as he has Grotle power up Energy Ball and wait for the perfect time to blast it. Rhyperior gets within inches and then Grotle lets loose..... too late, the timing is all wrong! Rhyperior is pushed backwards and Grotle... swallows its own Energy Ball!?!

Green light smokes up from Grotle and nobody (including Grotle!) knows what is going on, and Johanna suddenly figures it out - Grotle absorbed the Energy Ball (that it created, after all) and now is all fired up with that extra power! Dawn is particularly impressed, and Brock explains to Barry that a move like this could prove VERY handy in a future Contest Battle.

Palmer is impressed by Ash's guts, and has Rhyperior prepare another Rock Wrecker.... but then Grotle uses Rock Climb, knocking up a huge pillar of rock into the air underneath Rhyperior and charging up it after the huge Pokémon. The energy-ed up Grotle dodges the flung rock and crashes into Rhyperior, knocking it backwards, then goes after it again and FORCES it backwards with sheer brute force!



The massive Rhyperior has used up a tremendous amount of energy using all that power AND speed, but it isn't entirely done yet as it smashes its tail into the ground to anchor it and holds itself at the edge of the pillar of rock as Grotle tries to push it over the edge.

Palmer is amazed, nobody has ever pushed his Rhyperior that hard before, and he's pleased that he actually bothered to show up. Now it is time to get serious, as he has Rhyperior once more prepare Rock Wrecker and then SLAM IT DOWN FULL FORCE POINTBLANK ONTO GROTLE'S SPINE AND SMASH IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE ROCK PILLAR INTO THE GROUND!

Goddamn Palmer, you just squished a little boy's pet turtle!

The dust and rock clears and Rhyperior is panting roughly while Grotle is.... knocked out! Ash loses, Palmer wins! Palmer is a dick!

Barry is suddenly supremely confident, saying he knew that Ash never stood a chance. Brock notes that Ash is taking it well, and they look over to see Ash with Grotle (which has recovered) talking to Palmer. Palmer is impressed with Ash's performance and notes that he was really caught by surprise when Grotle swallowed Energy Ball, and Ash sheepishly admits that HE was caught by surprise too. Even though Ash lost, he still won the Battle Challenge, and Palmer is proud to present him with the gold trophy. Johanna thanks them both for such an exciting battle, and then declares it is time to celebrate the end of the Festival with a song and dance!

That night, the twerps are sitting eating Octillery Snacks as the big dance is set up and prepared for. As Barry and Dawn both talk about how their Father and Mother respectively have learned to raise their Pokémon with respect, Ash can't help but think about his closest rival - Paul - who doesn't seem to follow this otherwise universal approach to Pokémon Training.

Just then, the "final" song starts up and Barry freaks the fuck out and rushes off because it is a tradition that HE sings the final song with everyone else. As we hear Barry's ridiculous voice croaking out a song in the background, Palmer takes the opportunity to avoid his mad son and have a word with Ash, suggesting that his next Gym Battle be at Sunyshore Gym where he will be sure to "shock" the Gym Leader. He won't specify what he means, but Ash now has a new place to head for, while Dawn is excited about trying out the Energy Ball trick in her next Contest.

Meanwhile, Sayer is DELIGHTED with how well Team Rocket have handled the Octillery Snack sales. He offers them a bonus for their exceptional work, joking that it's enough to buy a rocket if they wanted, and then struts away with a smile on his face, a spring in his step, and a cholesterol count higher than the twerps during their recent LSD Trip.

The night ends with Barry's ecstatically terrible singing, and the next day sees the twerps saying their goodbyes to Johanna who asks the adolescent young boys to keep a close eye on her daughter and her short skirt. They wave their goodbyes, and the Twinleaf Festival is finally over....... except they forgot Barry!

He charges after them and announces that he intends to beat Ash to the Sunyshore Gym, and when the twerps nervously ask if he'd like to come with them, he kind of agrees maybe but also he is still racing them? And in the opposite direction? Who really knows with Barry, the important thing is, we hope to see more of him very soon, the crazy son of a hobo!

BEST QUOTES

"Guess if you've got it, spread it around!"

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