302: Just One of the Geysers
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As May stares at the rock path, she agrees that it beats swimming, and Brawly tells Ash his gym will be the perfect spot for their rematch. Ash agrees, and then with a grin declares that not only that, he is going to win! They make an odd group, an emotionally crippled dullard, a 10 year old piece of jailbait, a pre-teen bookworm, a horny "breeder" and a Surfer Dude Gym Leader. But perhaps strangest of all is the girl who - despite being older than May - is still most definitely underage but has big boobs shown off by a skin tight pink lycra halter top and tight little pink shorts which leave nothing to the imagination. Even stranger is that the girl's - Shauna's - appearance and clothing seems to go completely unremarked upon by everyone, they treat her like....
Just One of the Geysers!
They begin walking over the rock path towards Brawly's secret practise field, but inside the Gym itself we see various different pieces of exercise gear, a massive fridge, a stocked pantry and.... Team Rocket!
Meowth thinks they might have died and gone to his favourite restaurant, and they look about the fridge and pantry in excitement as they declare declaring that they've "found" Team Rocket's first Hoenn Base. The idea that this stuff packed away in a small rocky island off an inlet of a larger island could belong to someone never seems to enter their heads. But what does occur to them is maybe they're dreaming? Jesse suddenly drifts away in her mind from the fridge, back to flying through the air after being blasted off by Hariyama. Luckily, as Meowth puts it while drifting down holding an umbrella while Jesse has a parachute, they also dreamt up safety devices!
"Then I must be in a different dream!" giggles James, hanging onto Meowth's thigh, causing the cat to sweat drop in horror.
Ahh, Blue Shipping.
Meowth and James fall through a hole and then Jesse lands on them, and they look around and spot a giant refrigerator! They weren't dreaming! They open it up and smile happily at the shining light.
Hang on, what? Was that a dream or not? What the hell just happened?
Dream or not, Meowth has cooked them all a meal, but while he was putting in all that effort, Jesse and James are eating fruit and veges, telling him with great pleasure that he never cooked a good meal in his life.
One would expect Meowth to be insulted by this, but instead he declares that if they put it like that.... then prepares to chow down with them. He grabs a can and tries to eat it, then throws it away for being no good. The can rolls down a path and into Brawly's hand, the twerps asking what it is and Brawly replying with confusion that it is his food. The source of the mysteriously moving food is soon revealed though, when Jesse and James appear on the scene gobbling down his food.
"Prepare for trouble from up on a ridge," declares Jesse, scoffing down food.
"And make it double cause we've raided the fridge!" adds James, his own mouth full of food.
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of a yummy pear!"
"To extend our reach to a chocolate éclair!"
They gulp down their mouthfuls and grin.
"Jesse!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket takes off with all the four food groups!"
"And believe it or not that includes motzah ball soup!"
"Oiiii kavul!" declares Meowth.
"WOBBUFFET!" adds Wobbuffet, displaying his wide-ranging agreement with the policies and issues of Jesse and James.
Brawly demands to know how they got into his sparring area and they reply he's wrong, this is TEAM ROCKET'S secret base, which they like to think of as home... and Brawly and the twerps aren't welcome! They call out Seviper and Cacnea, the latter Cacnea hugging James who appears to be used to getting a nasty prick.
Oi.
Seviper spreads Haze and Cacnea uses Pin Missile, but Ash just....walks away and then walks back and tells Pikachu to take them out.
Wow, Ash just doesn't give a shit anymore.
Brawly again prevents Ash from throwing down, saying they shouldn't just rush in before telling Team Rocket it is time for them to leave. But Team Rocket refuses to leave "their secret base" and James defiantly claims they'll need something more powerful than their silly expressions. Unfortunately for him, Brawly has something else in mind.... and he can hear it coming right now. A rumbling noise sounds throughout the entire gym and James asks if there is a subway nearby, and then Brawly explains that the shape of the island causes geysers, one of which comes out right where they're standing! Team Rocket stare down at the hole in the ground directly beneath them, ask Brawly if this is true, converse some more amongst themselves, argue the merits of a Capital Gains Tax and then the geyser bursts up and Team Rocket are blasted off, angrily decrying the lack of caution signs or indeed a warning of any kind from Brawly.
!
With Team Rocket dispatched, Brawly shows the twerps around his sparring gym, then takes them into the battle room, a cavern with spot lights and a rough rectangular rock arena with a moat around it with a circle in the middle. Brawly explains geysers shoot up through the ground at regular intervals meaning Ash will have to battle AND watch the geysers (which is really kind of giving Brawly a really unfair advantage).
But Ash seems unfazed, and tells Pikachu he would like it to sit this battle out as he wants to try out his new strategy, surprising Max who didn't think Ash USED strategy. Brock, May and Max take Pikachu with them and leave Ash ready to fight as Shauna and her over-developed boobs get set to referee. Max suggests to the others that Ash would be smart to use a flying Pokemon for this type of arena, and May follows through on this idea by saying maybe Taillow would be a good idea.
Yeah, that being his only flying Pokemon, May.
Ash and Brawly smile across the gym at each other, Brawly wondering how much Ash has grown since last time.
Depends on how much May or Shauna bend over, I guess.
Brawly recalls Ash's previous tactics which saw him lose, and then Shauna and her prominently displayed crotch declare the rules. It is a two on two battle with only Ash allowed to use substitutions, and as Shauna has battled them both she knows they're both good (or she is really shit).
The rematch begins, Brawly sending out Machop and Ash sending out Treecko, which seems ready and eager to fight. May wonders if Treecko is the right Pokemon to use (it did take a pretty severe beating last time) and then Machop charges in with a Karate Chop which Treecko dodges, leading to one of the many stalagmites around the Gym to be shattered. Brawly is surprised that Ash didn't try to meet the attack head on again and compliments him on improving with age, while Ash declares that he is about to see just how well his training has paid off. He tells Treecko to imagine that this is the forest it grew up in and imagine it is using the trees, and as Machop dives into the attack Treecko does just this. It leaps from stalagmite to stalagmite while dodging Karate Chops, bouncing from rock to rock like they were trees.
May is surprised, this battle reminds her just of another one she has seen and Max agrees, it is just like Ash and Brawly's previous match over the trainers have seemingly swapped strategies. Machop, tried from the constant Karate Chops, tries Cross Chop but stumbles, leaving it open for Treecko to use Quick Attack.
May and Max think this looks good but Brock quickly corrects them, telling them that this is bad! Machop rolls through from the Quick Attack and comes to its feet with a smile, facing off with Treecko again as Brawly reminds Ash of what he told him earlier, a Pokemon has to learn to travel with the ebb and flow of the tide. May guesses he means the geysers as Brawly tells Ash he has to learn to work with nature.
Machop uses Cross Chop again but doesn't move and the ground begins to rumble, then a geyser explodes beneath Machop giving it added impetus so it flies forward with malicious intent. But if Brawly can (rather unsportingly) use his intimate knowledge of the gym and geysers to his advantage, then Ash can use the substitution rule to his! He grabs out Treecko's Pokeball and calls it back, just reducing it to a red flash of light in time as Machop flies through where it was and shatters a massive stalagmite into pieces.
May, Max and Brock are nervous. Ash had to call Treecko back to avoid Machop's power, and Machop doesn't seem to have tired at all following a series of powerful moves.
Things are not looking great.
Brawly says Ash had a lucky escape but will not win by running away, but if Ash is concerned by the way things are going in his rematch, he doesn't show it. Instead he says he knows when to attack, and then calls out Corphish and orders it to use Bubble beam. Bubbles smack hard against Machop, surprising it and staggering it backwards, then charges forward using Crabhammer which Machop blocks with Karate Chop, but that takes its cost and Corphish follows through with a second Crabhammer and knocks out Machop!
Shauna's boobs declare Machop is unable to battle and Ash congratulates a pleased-as-punch Corphish. Brawly is also impressed, but points out that Hariyama isn't out yet. After all, Ash managed to knock out Machop in his last battle too, but never really stood a chance against the massive, sumo-like Pokemon.
Hariyama is called out and immediately moves in for the kill using Arm Thrust. But for one of the few times in his battling history, Ash uses a defensive manoeuvre! He has Corphish use Harden, the crabby Pokemon glinting with light as it increases its defence. Hariyama's massive gloved hands slam into Corphish again and again, Ash urging Corphish to keep up its defence since Corphish is too heavy to keep up it up for long and will soon tire out. But Brawly just grins, telling Ash he is far too optimistic as Hariyama keeps arm thrusting but doesn't slow down or appear to feel any fatigue. The other twerps wonder why it isn't slowing down, and Brawly makes a point that everyone has probably forgotten.
Ash isn't the only one who has been training!
Ash shows that his training has been effective though, as instead of pushing forward too long with a failed tactic he changes tact and has Corphish leap into the moat surrounding the arena. Hariyama follows and lands on a small rock step in the water, Ash yelling out to Corphish under the water that Hariyama is too heavy to move about underwater. Corphish swims through the water and then launches itself into the air, smacking Hariyama with a Crabhammer and staggering it backwards. But Brawly and Hariyama have a few tricks up their sleeves and Hariyama smashes an Arm Thrust into the water, displacing it and sending a shocked Corphish flying up into the air and completely exposed. Hariyama grabs Corphish and hauls its own massive bulk into the air, twisting around into a Seismic toss and pile driving Corphish directly into the ground, leaving Ash and the twerps aghast.
Shauna's boobs declare Corphish is unable to battle.
Brawly congratulates Hariyama as Ash calls back Corphish and congratulates it for taking a massive asskicking. May can't believe it lost, and Brock growls that it is up to Treecko now, which is a bit of problem as Ash remembers Treecko losing to Hariyama last time despite its valiant efforts to get up from each massive blow. But they've trained hard since then, the stubborn Ash reminds himself, and this time they won't lose!
Treecko comes out and faces off for the first time with the Pokemon that left it hospitalised once before. It is a meeting straight out of a Western with the grizzled, unshaven Clint Eastwood meeting the massive bulk of the powerful foe that vanquished him earlier. But just like Clint, Treecko is a hardass and it stares back at Hariyama with no concern whatsoever. An Arm Thrust from the huge Pokemon is easily dodged by Treecko, while Ash yells out to keep dodging and look for openings to use Pound Attack on Hariyama's legs.
ASH HAS A PLAN!
Treecko moves in immediately, Pounding Hariyama's massive legs with its tail and then dodging another Arm Thrust, dodging and using Pound, jumping off stalagmites and hitting Hariyama's legs again and again. Brock explains to May and Max that Hariyama's strength come from its legs and Ash is trying to leave it powerless.
To strain the Western analogy even further, Clint Eastwood dodges a blow from the oversized villain, steps back and.... begins to laugh. Yes, Treecko is actually laughing at it stares down the massive Pokemon that once crippled it. Like Bruce Lee once destroyed the man who broke his leg, like Clint Eastwood once blew away Lee Van Cleef, Treecko has taken the measure of a once feared opponent and found it wanting. Hariyama's eyes widen, and then it moves in to use Vital Throw at Brawly's command... and stumbles to its knees as Treecko dodges aside.
Treecko is panting roughly, tired but grinning widely at the crippled Hariyama, and Max wonders which will break fist.... and then the arena rumbles to signal the coming off another geyser. Ash yells at Treecko that they're going to need serious power to put Hariyama down for the count and tells it to get ready, and Brawly does the same for Hariyama. Both Pokemon step over holes in the arena as Brock guesses their strategy, exhausted and crippled they both need to use the extra boost the geyser will provide for one last do or die, all or nothing attack. Brawly yells at Hariyama to use Knock Off and Ash calls for Treecko to use Pound, and then the geysers erupt and Hariyama and Treecko are sent hurtling towards each other.
In classic anime fashion their silhouettes pass each other by, the two opponents landing and crouching down as Treecko turns and looks back, cool, collected and confident, and Hariyama..... falls!
TREECKO KNOCKS THE FATASS DOWN! ASH WINS!
Yes Ash has won his rematch and gained his second badge, but perhaps more importantly Treecko has faced the Pokemon that hospitalised it and destroyed it in a knock down, drag out battle. Treecko will continue on safe in the knowledge that while it may sometimes be gotten the best of, given enough time it will always have the measure of an opponent.
So as the sun sets, Ash is handed his Knuckle Badge by Brawly who congratulates him for not just fixing his faults but retaining his strengths. Shauna and her boobs declare him to be a cool dude and a nervous Ash stammers that he was just caught up in the battle. May compliments Ash on his great strategy and Max - who has had precisely ONE Pokemon battle which he was in the process of losing when it was called of - says he isn't sure how much actually WAS strategy. Brock laughs that this is what makes watching Ash battle so interesting.
But the hell with that, Ash is celebrating because after all this time on Dewford Island, he has won his second badge!
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